The Great Commission

After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and before His ascension into heaven, He appeared to His disciples in bodily form on several occasions to convince them that He has risen. During this period of forty days He gave them extra attention in view of the task ahead. Even after His ascension, Jesus continued to physically manifest Himself to the church in some spectacular manner to show that He is alive and that He has been enthroned King forever.

Human witnesses who had encounters with Jesus after His resurrection were many. Some of those recorded in the scriptures are as follows:

Mary Magdalene saw Jesus in the garden around the tomb and mistook Him for the gardener (John 20:14-18).

The ten disciples saw Jesus and talked with Him while they were locked up in the house. Thomas was not present at this encounter (John 20:19-21).

In His second appearance to the eleven disciples, Thomas touched Jesus and confirmed the marks and wounds (John 20:26-29).

Cleopas and one other disciple met with Jesus on the road to Emmaus and talked about the recent events of the crucifixion, without knowing that it was Jesus, until He left them mysteriously (Luke 24:13-31).

Several other disciples were mentioned to have seen the resurrected Christ at various instances

Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 NKJV

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

For a period of forty days He appeared to them, fellow-shipped with them and encouraged them. These contributed to strengthening their conviction and resolve to carry on with the ministry of Christ.

The post-resurrection ministry of Christ is very significant in the history of the church. It was during this time that the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ was declared. This is perhaps the final time they would see Jesus just before He ascends into the clouds.

He give us last minute marching orders in order to carry out the primary mission objective. The mission is simple, Go, Make Disciples, and Teach them to observe the commandments of Christ.

Read Matthew 28:16-20

Matthew 28:16–20 NKJV

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

As Christians, we know that we’re told to “make disciples.” For this is the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to us who follow Him and believe in Him.

Now even though we are told to be disciple makers, we oftentimes, don’t know exactly what that looks like. We call a lot of things disciple-making that aren’t really disciple-making at all.

At its simplest form and explanation, disciple-making is one person helping another person to know and follow Jesus.

The process is simple, but people are complex. As a result, disciple-making can be hijacked easily—hijacked means seizing control of something by force in order to direct in a different direction. So, disciple making can then easily be morph into something else altogether.

This morning I want to share with you what disciple making is not in hopes that you will see what disciple making really is. And what Jesus meant when He commission us all to Go and Make Disciples.

Here are some common disciple-making hijackers we need to avoid becoming or following:

The Therapeutic Discipler.

Christians aren’t immune to emotional pain. And, a number of legitimate reasons exist for counseling, therapy, and even medication. But, disciple-making isn’t another form of therapy. A disciple could easily expect his or her mentor to be a spiritual therapist—someone who will simply listen to all their struggles. As a result, a discipler might wrongly assume it’s his or her job to “fix” the other person or his problems. Though it’s completely appropriate to share struggles with those we’re learning from,

disciple-making isn’t therapy —it’s the process of learning to obey Jesus in order to help others obey Jesus.

So avoid being a Therapeutic Discipler…then there is the

The BFF Discipler.

Friendship is great. Many guys I’ve discipled have become some of my dearest brothers and friends. Believe it or not, it’s actually biblical. Jesus called his own disciples “friends” (John 15:15)

Read John 15:15

John 15:15 NKJV

15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

and Paul called Timothy his “true son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2).

Read 1 Tim. 1:2

1 Timothy 1:2 NKJV

2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

But, the goal of discipling is not to simply gain friends—it’s to make disciples and other disciple-makers.

Jesus and Paul spent considerable time with a select few, but don’t miss the fact that both of them loved their friends and trained them for mission. So, if we’re spending more time “just hanging out” than we are training and growing, we’ll lose focus.

We hijack disciple-making when we love our friendship more than the mission.

So don’t be a BFF Discipler, now lets move on to the next hijacker in dicipleship...

The Helicopter Discipler.

Most of us have heard of helicopter parents—the moms and dads who constantly hover over their kids keeping them close, making decisions for them, shielding them from consequences, and even doing assignments for them.

Even the best parents are tempted to do these things.

Disciplers face the same temptation towards those we’re leading. We might conclude “they’re not ready” or “they need more time,” but every disciple must experience responsibility, risk, success, and failure in the mission of God.

Even the best disciple-makers want to keep their strongest leaders as close as possible for as long as possible. But, we hijack the disciple-making process by unnecessarily hovering over those we’re leading.

Don’t be Helicopter Discipler, then there is...

The Co-dependent Discipler.

Disciple-making is a deeply personal experience—both for the discipler and the disciple. Think about it. You’re studying matters of eternal significance, sharing deeply personal information, praying with one another, and probably meeting together on a regular basis.

It was designed this way, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The challenge comes in that, though the biblical process is healthy, the people who go through the process sometimes aren’t. Consequently, we must guard ourselves against unhealthy attachments with those we’re leading or following. An unhealthy amount of time together or feelings of jealousy, dependency, or attraction are all red flags signifying that the disciple-making relationship has been hijacked and might even be morphing into something else.

Also be aware of what your primary mission is all about. Don’t be a co-dependent discipler, all of us must be dependent on Christ not on each other.

Lastly, there is the...

The Dead-End Discipler.

We must never forget that the goal of disciple-making is not simply to make disciples—it’s actually to make disciple-makers. Scripture teaches us, “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also”(2 Timothy 2:2).

Read 2 Tim. 2:2

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Did you catch that?

We’re taught in order to teach. We receive in order to give.

Someone invests in us so that we might invest in others. The Christian mission is not adding more disciples; it’s multiplying more disciple-makers.

When we don’t give that challenge—and give it early in the process—we hijack the disciple-making process and risk erecting a dead-end sign on the missional pathway of our personal ministry.

Let’s beware the temptation of becoming a disciple-making hijacker. Grow significant relationships but stay healthy. Enjoy the process but keep the mission of Jesus central.

The Great Commission of our Lord Jesus was heard by 500 witness just before His ascended into the clouds to sit at the right hand of God the Father.

If you are not moving toward the process of making disciples you are not fulfilling God’s primary purpose in your life. The greatest Hijacking of Disciple making is perhaps the one that is most practiced and that is Not discipling at all.

Let us all pray to we will seek others whom God brings into our circle of life and become the disciple maker God intended for us be.