Learning to disciple like Jesus

In Matthew 28, Jesus gave his disciples one of his final commands: to go and make disciples of all the nations. Many Christians know this, but not many know how to do it. Since Jesus is the master disciple maker, we must fix our eyes on him, do as he did, speak as he spoke, and make disciples as he made disciples. Mark 3:14–15 and Matthew 9:35–10:8 reveal some simple but crucial principles of making disciples like Jesus.

The model

Mark 3:14–15 shows us four reasons why Jesus called the twelve:

1. That they might be with him
2. That he might send them out
3. That they would be sent out to preach
4. That they would be sent out to have authority to cast out demons

All these things they learned through being with Jesus. They lived with him, traveled with him, and observed him in all that he did and said. Jesus was, in essence, reproducing himself in them.

They did not merely spend time with him, however. Jesus was always about his Father’s work, and therefore the time the disciples spent with Jesus included a lot of time working “in the harvest.” They learned how to do the works of Jesus and to preach his message by watching him doing it.

This principle of modeling for disciples is also seen in Matthew 9:35–10:8, and it reveals a few more principles as well that I’ve summarized under the words See, Pray, Work, and Train and Release.

See

Jesus modeled how to see as the Father in heaven saw things. He saw the crowds with eyes of compassion. His heart broke for them. He saw them as precious sheep who were harassed and helpless.

Jesus also had eyes to see a plentiful and ready harvest (see also John 4:35–36). Jesus taught and modeled for his disciples to see beyond their circumstances. Jesus’s only critique of the harvest was that there were not enough laborers! I am fully convinced that the same is true of Japan today; there is a profound lack of laborers to bring in an abundant harvest that the Lord has already prepared for us!

I’ve found that prayer walking is one effective way to practice this sort of seeing. As we walk and pray together, we notice things about the neighborhood, the city, and the people we pass. Prayer walking has led to meeting old acquaintances, to meeting seekers who later believed, to meeting neighbors who have invited us to visit again, and even to seeing miracles of healing through prayer.

Once while prayer walking, we saw emergency vehicles rushing to a small train station. In the pouring rain, we went to see what had happened with other onlookers and discovered there had been an incident with a pedestrian and a train at the crossing. We had a long conversation with one young man who had witnessed the incident and prayed for him. He also opened up and shared about difficulties his family was going through.

Pray

Jesus was himself a man of prayer, and in Matthew 9:37–38, he tells his disciples to do the same—specifically, to pray for more laborers to be sent out. It was a prayer of faith based on the expectation that what Jesus said about the plentiful harvest was true.

Some of us have set our phone alarms to 10:02 (Luke 10:2) and others to 9:38 (Matt. 9:38). When the alarm goes off, we pause what we are doing to pray for more laborers. One young disciple observed us regularly doing this and began doing the same. In her boldness, she would even pause while spending time with her unsaved friends to pray, and a couple times, this led to sharing the gospel with them!

Work

Jesus didn’t stop with prayer. He also went and did the work for which he prayed: “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction” (Matt. 9:35, ESV).

Jesus didn’t wait for people to come to him, but he went to them in their cities and villages. He met people in the conditions that they were in. The disciples observed Jesus touching and healing the lepers, delivering those oppressed by demons, eating with tax collectors and sinners, and even ministering to and proclaiming to the despised Samaritans.

While sitting and eating ice cream cones at a park with another disciple, we overheard a couple talk about the distant prefecture that they had come from. This happened to be my friend’s home prefecture. I encouraged him to use that as a conversation starter, but he was shy, so I initiated. The conversation went smoothly, and we discovered even more common ground. Afterward, the disciple and I talked about how to take notice of common ground opportunities and use them to initiate conversations. He was amazed at how well the conversation with the couple had gone and was inspired to try again!

Many others have been equipped by joining outreach at train stations, parks, or in-country mission trips. They start by observing how we approach people, how we transition to the gospel, and how we share the gospel itself. Then, little by little, they join the process until they are doing the whole process from start to finish. Finally, we pair them up with other believers to model the same process for them.

Train and release

After modeling for his disciples, Jesus then sent them to do the work. As they went out proclaiming the kingdom, they also had confidence to cast out demons and heal every disease and affliction because Jesus had given them authority in his name to do so. It is important to note that these disciples were still immature and among them was Judas, who would later betray him. Yet this did not stop Jesus from entrusting authority to them so they might do as he had done.

The believers we disciple also need us to release them with authority to go do the work themselves or they will always remain in our shadows. Like teaching a child to ride a bike, we have to let go. We entrust them to the Holy Spirit and are ready to encourage them, put them back on the bike if they fall, and celebrate all of their successes with them.

To this end, we strive to provide simple, biblical, and reproducible ways to get them started. Some of these include a simple testimony, a simple gospel presentation, and training to baptize and disciple new believers. We point them to their direct connection to the Father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit in them. We direct them to their new identity in Christ and its implications for their lives. We model for them a simple way to study the Bible with seekers or new believers where the answers can be confidently discovered directly from the Word. We help them set goals of obedience and lovingly check back with them.

Through this process, one Japanese sister began regularly seeking ways to share the gospel. She would use her company’s social time after work (飲み会) to talk about Jesus. Another time, she met a seeker at church and invited her home for tea, shared the gospel, opened the Word with her, and led her to faith in Christ. Additionally, one of the Christian friends that she discipled went on to disciple another person as well!

Conclusion

Let us take time to be with those we are discipling and to disciple them on the go. Model for them and train them to see as the Father sees. Show them what prayer looks like. Take disciples along when sharing the gospel and ministering to the sick and the downtrodden. Go with them to minister to their families and friends. Then entrust them to the Holy Spirit and send them out to be ambassadors of Jesus and make disciples.

As we read the gospels, Acts, and the epistles, let us continue to ask ourselves how Jesus and his apostles went about engaging with people. How did they proclaim the gospel and make disciples? How did they empower and release disciples to thrive on their own?

Jesus is our example. He is the master disciple maker. By the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, let’s learn from him and follow his example until Japan is saturated with his disciples!