Know, Follow, Go: What It Means to Make Disciples

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Was it a professional athlete, a famous musician, or an actor? A career that seemed exciting and different, like an astronaut? Chances are, whatever it was we wanted to be, we probably spent a lot of time wondering and imagining what our future would be like and what we would do. Thankfully, when it comes to following Jesus, we don’t have to wonder what Jesus wants us to do. 

After Jesus’ resurrection and during his time leading up to his ascension, He has a moment with his disciples at the end of Matthew 28. In this moment, Jesus tells them exactly what he wants them to do once he ascends to heaven. This task was not only for the original disciples - it is something all followers of Jesus throughout church history and across the globe today are to do. This call from Jesus, known as the Great Commission, is found in Matthew 28:18-20:

“Jesus came near and said to them, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (CSB)

The main command Jesus gives us in this passage is to “make disciples.” This is what Jesus calls all of his followers to do. We are to go into every nation, all over the world, to as many people as possible, and tell them about Jesus. And notice here that Jesus doesn’t give any qualifiers to this command. It’s not make disciples if you’re a pastor or some kind of leader in the church. It’s not make disciples if you know everything there is to know about theology. It’s not to make disciples once you reach a certain spiritual level or knowledge of Jesus. It’s not to make disciples as long as you have a specific spiritual gift. It’s just to make disciples! If you’re a follower of Jesus, you are to make disciples. For the rest of this post, I want to explore what this means and how we can follow this command today. 

A Simple Definition

Before we dig into how we make disciples, we first have to define what we mean by “disciple.” A simple definition is someone who knows and follows Jesus. A disciple has to know Him. Knowing Jesus is more than just knowing about Jesus. It is knowing him deeply, personally, and spiritually. Knowledge of Him means we have put our faith in Jesus and have trusted in Him for our salvation. Second, a disciple is someone who follows Jesus - the natural next step to knowing Him. When we know Jesus and see Him for who He truly is and all that He has done for us, we should want to obey His commands and live like Him in all areas. This is what it means to follow Jesus. If you’re interested in learning more about what it means to be a disciple and following Jesus, then check out this other piece.

How do I make a disciple?

Now that we know what a disciple is–someone who knows and follows Jesus–we can look at how we make a disciple (help someone know and follow Jesus). There are two parts to making a disciple–evangelism and discipleship. Evangelism is helping people know Jesus, and discipleship is all about helping them follow Jesus. Let’s look at these two concepts, evangelism and discipleship, a little deeper. 

Evangelism - Go and Tell

Evangelism is simply telling another person who doesn’t know Jesus about Him. That, however, is far more easily said than done for most believers. Two of the biggest obstacles to sharing our faith are usually not knowing what to say or how to start telling someone else about Jesus. Before we get into how to start or what to say, we first have to be willing to go. Jesus’ command to make disciples begins in verse 19 with the word “go.” If we’re going to make disciples, we have to go to the people who don’t know Jesus. We can’t make disciples without going to those who don’t believe. Too often when talking about the Great Commission, we skip over verse 18 and jump right into “Go therefore and make disciples…” Take a minute and look again at verse 18. What does Jesus say to us right before his command to make disciples? He speaks of his authority. He tells us all authority has been given to him. This serves as a reminder that as Jesus’ followers we are to obey his commands, no matter what they are. But his authority goes beyond just telling us what we’re to do. Here it’s also a reminder that we are sent out with Jesus’ authority. When we go out into this world to make disciples, we carry with us Jesus’ power and authority. This means we can have confidence that nothing will stand in His way or deter his mission–not the culture, not kings or politicians, not Satan or his schemes. So when we go, we can go with confidence that Jesus will accomplish His purpose. This doesn’t mean that everyone we tell will put their faith in Him. But it does mean that we can trust Jesus with the results of our going and our telling. 

The second part of evangelism after going is telling. When we go to people who don’t know the Gospel, we then have to tell them about Jesus. A helpful way to think about telling people about Jesus is to frame it as displaying and declaring Jesus (or the gospel) to others. When we display Jesus to others, we are showing them who and what He is like. We are showing or reflecting his attributes and character to those around us. We are to show his love, compassion, mercy, grace, forgiveness, patience, and many others through our words and actions. We do this by any number of acts of kindness towards those around us. We can display Jesus by:

• Volunteering in church, nonprofits, schools, etc. 
• Helping out a neighbor when they’re in need
• Giving generously towards others
• Speaking up for those around you who may be marginalized or facing some type of injustice
• Protecting the vulnerable in your community
• Offering free babysitting to the young couple down the street 
• Befriending someone new at church or in your neighborhood, or the person at work who doesn’t really talk to anyone
• Inviting neighbors over for dinner

These are just a few of the many ways we can display the heart and character of Jesus to those around us. And once we display Jesus to those around us, we then declare Him to those around us. All this means is to explain why we’re doing what we’re doing–we explain the why behind our displaying. We tell why we’re volunteering, serving, giving, befriending, or welcoming in. The reason why we do any of this is Jesus. We give, serve, love, give grace, forgive, and advocate all because He does those things for us and calls us to do them for others. When we are displaying Jesus to others, it will open up opportunities for declaring, for simply telling why, and that will always lead back to Him. 

Discipleship - Baptize and Teach

After evangelism, the second part of making disciples is actual discipleship. Evangelism helps people know Jesus, and discipleship helps them follow Him–to grow as a follower and to live like Jesus more and more each day. There are two aspects of discipleship in Matthew 28:19-20: we are to baptize new disciples and teach them all about Jesus. 

The word for “baptism” in the New Testament simply means to be immersed in water. Baptism was practiced by Jews as a symbol for repentance and purification (think of John the Baptist’s ministry–Mark 1:4). In obedience to Jesus’ command here, early Christians baptized new disciples as a symbol and public declaration of their faith. Romans 6:3-4 describes baptism this way: 

“Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.” (CSB)

As we are immersed in and raised out of the water, it is a symbol for our old life being put to death and the beginning of our new life in Christ. I believe this is why Jesus includes it here in his command to make disciples. While baptism doesn’t make us disciples, it is a way to publicly mark the beginning of our lives as His disciples.  

The second part of discipleship Jesus includes here is “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (v. 20). Once someone puts their faith in Jesus and becomes His disciple, Jesus tasks us with coming alongside that person and teaching them what it looks like to follow Jesus well. Think of all the things you have learned in life. How many of those things were taught to you by someone else? Being taught is one of the primary ways we learn something, and this is exactly what Jesus calls us to here. So what are we to teach them? We’re to teach them to observe all of Jesus’ commands. The word used for “observe” means to keep, obey, or fulfill–and the way it’s used here means to continue on or persist in obedience. This is what it means to follow Jesus. Every moment of every day we seek to walk in obedience to Him. And new disciples need a guide, they need help, they need a teacher. Thankfully, we don’t have to figure out the content of our teaching. Jesus has given us His Word, the Bible, as our teaching guide. When we teach new disciples, we teach them the Word. We teach them how to read, understand, and apply it to their lives. We teach them everything as Jesus says here, not some things, not the easy things, not the things we like, but everything! As we teach we also support and encourage new disciples. We invite them into a community of believers (a local church) for additional support and discipleship. 

This is the path for fulfilling the Great Commission: we go to those who don’t believe, we tell them about Jesus, when they put their faith in Him we baptize them, and then we teach them how to follow Christ. This is what Jesus calls every single believer across the world to do. This is our calling, our holy task. 

Jesus is with You

As we go all over the world to make new disciples, it will be challenging, scary, and discouraging at times. In those moments, it is important to remember how Jesus ends this Great Commission. At the end of verse 20 Jesus says this, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

Christ’s command to go and make disciples is couched with his power (all authority) and his presence (I am with you). 

Is it scary to go and share the gospel? Yes, sometimes it is.

Will following Jesus’ command here lead you to some hard and uncomfortable places or moments? Yes, it probably will. 

In those moments, remember Christ is with you. The one who has all authority and power. The one who conquered sin and death. He is with you! He is always with us and will never leave us. He is with us and He empowers us. He will empower your going, your displaying and declaring, your teaching, and your discipling. 

He is with you, always, and he will see his mission through, he will accomplish his work. That’s the beauty of it. Jesus does all the hard work in making disciples, and all we have to do is be willing to follow His lead. 

So will you follow?