Discipleship is a form of spiritual warfare called force multiplication.
Jesus commissioned the church to go and make disciples and duplicate itself in others who will be able to multiply our efforts and carry on when we are not present or after we physically die.
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. 2 Timothy 2:2 (NKJV)
God’s first commandment after creating Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply. Our Lord never rescinded that command. It applies both to biological reproduction and discipleship. The devil hates all forms of reproduction and tries to convince people to refrain from having children at all or at least very few. He even works to convince people that it is to their advantage to abort children in the womb for a variety of reasons. Satan tries to convince people that children are an inconvenience, too expensive, or barriers to pursuing our personal goals. Rather than viewing children negatively, God sees all children as precious and the key to the future.
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3 (NLT)
His desire is for the earth to be filled with people who will become part of his eternal family. He wants us to be part of that process by winning people to Christ through the gospel and discipling them to do the same.
Even some in the church have also been affected by a negative view toward spiritual reproduction.
We may prefer the convenience and comfort of relating to our spiritual “clique” instead of accepting the challenge to go out into the world to “catch” people and disciple them. Obviously, this something for which we should repent.
The psalmist wrote:
Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. 5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates. Psalm 127:4–5 (NLT)
An arrow extends the ability of the archer to inflict damage on the enemy.
Children, both natural (if they become disciples) and spiritual, extend and expand our impact in spiritual warfare.
US Army Special Forces operate behind enemy lines to carry out guerilla operations and to train and equip indigenous guerilla fighters to continue warfare after they leave the area. This is a fine example of force multiplication which parallels Christian discipleship.
If we fail to make disciples, when we physically die, who will be left to carry on the work? The church will cease to exist without the continuous making of new disciples. But we are not to be concerned with merely continuing to exist. Our job is to participate with God in growing the church and expanding the kingdom of God through evangelism and disciple making.
Parents and spiritual leaders are charged with teaching children and disciples how to love God, love people, make disciples, and successfully negotiate this thing called life.
Disciple making simply means that we teach others to live and serve God as we do.
Whatever we prioritize will likely be adopted as being important by our disciples. If we only pay lip service to some aspect of the Christian life, it will likely be viewed as non-essential by those we influence.
Special forces operators are some of our most elite and best trained soldiers. When they make disciples, they make them in their own image.
The better the trainer, the better will be the disciple.
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. Luke 6:40 (NKJV)
The more joyfully committed the disciple maker, the more committed will be the disciple. We can train people to be full of joy in their service to God or to become dour legalists.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15 (NKJV)
We cannot escape the law of sowing and reaping when it comes to discipleship. We can only give away what we have. We can only reproduce after our own likeness. God is calling us to commit to becoming the best disciples possible and duplicate ourselves in our followers.
The longest lasting action in spiritual warfare is making disciples.
The goal of evangelism is to add people to God’s family. The goal of discipleship is to multiply workers who bring people into God’s family and continue to multiply workers.
God’s plan is for his kingdom to expand and fill the earth, and this can only happen through making disciples. It is not enough for us to find eternal life for ourselves. This would be equivalent to viewing our time here on the Earth as being only for our own personal enjoyment, without regard to our commission to be fruitful and multiply. God wants us to accept the commission to make disciples and then ask him to assist us in carrying it out.
I believe we should earnestly ask God to give us disciples. If we have young children in our home, we should ask God to help us do the best job we can to teach them to be disciples of our Lord. This means we should also ask the Lord to help us to be the best disciples and disciple makers we can be. Jesus taught quite a lot on what is required for his disciples, most of which is extremely challenging. In fact, it is quite impossible to be a disciple without the help of the Holy Spirit.
The first step of using discipleship as an act of war is to make the decision to become a committed follower of Christ.
This requires us to evaluate our willingness to accept the associated costs.
Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Luke 14:31–33 (NLT)
Once again, as we face the challenge of discipleship, we must turn to the Holy Spirit for help. The Christian life was never meant to be lived on our own. We are dependent beings designed to be led and empowered by God.
When those who look to us for leadership see that we are willing to pay the cost associated with discipleship, it will encourage them to do the same.
If we are unwilling, we will likely produce disciples afflicted with the same lack of commitment.
We will only be able to teach others to obey Christ in those areas where we obey him.
Disciples learn more by what we do than from what we say, if our words are not backed up by actions. Paul wrote;
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. 1 Corinthians 4:16 (NASB95)
Paul modeled discipleship in a multitude of ways.
But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. 11 You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—but the Lord rescued me from all of it. 2 Timothy 3:10–11 (NLT)
This is how we pass on to others what we have. We cannot give away something we do not have. Unless we live as a disciple, we will not be able to make disciples.
Jesus told us that continuing faithfulness to his Word makes us his disciples.
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31–32 (NLT)
Therefore, it is an act of spiritual warfare to read, study, meditate upon, and put into practice Christ’s teachings, since that is the essence of discipleship. This fits perfectly with the Great Commission in which Jesus taught us to teach others to keep his commandments. We can only teach others to keep what we keep.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:13–16 (NASB95)
The more closely we attend to our own walk with Jesus, the better we will be at making disciples.
