For two thousand years, the words of the Great Commission have echoed through the corridors of church history: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19, NIV). Few commands are more familiar to Christians. Often quoted, yet so misunderstood in practice.
Statistically, most Christians would say they believe in making disciples, yet nearly 80% confess to not experiencing it in practice — that’s on either side of the divide, whether being discipled themselves or discipling someone else. Despite our churches preaching about it, building programs around the principle, and including “disciple making” in their values, few Christians even know where to practically begin.
It’s not so much that believers are disobedient as much as disoriented.
They know the “what” — make disciples.
They even know the “why” — because it expands the kingdom.
But without the “how,” they’re unable to mobilize themselves into actually doing it.
This explains why the movement Jesus launched seems to be moving far more slowly than it should. But our confusion about how to make disciples has compounded in mistaking discipleship for disciple making, as if they were the same thing … and they’re not.
The Subtle Confusion That Changed Everything
Discipleship is good. It’s the necessary ongoing process of growing as a follower of Jesus. It takes place as we learn Scripture, develop spiritual disciplines, discover our gifts, and mature in healthy community.
But here’s the part we often miss: discipleship is not what Jesus commanded in the Great Commission. It was disciple making.
Deconstruct the Great Commission with me, and the difference becomes glaringly obvious:
- Go — that’s externally focused.
- To all nations — that’s mission talk.
- Baptizing them — that’s what you do when someone converts.
- Teaching them to obey all I’ve commanded you — that’s life transformation, changing the way you live.
- And I will be with you until the end of the age — that’s what you tell people when you want to comfort their fears.
What, after all, is frightening about discipleship? Sitting in a small group on Tuesday nights, going through a Bible study, facilitating discussion, and eating coffee cake are anything but scary.
At the risk of appearing to reject one and praise the other, a contrast must be made. Both discipleship and disciple making are good, but each of them accomplishes something different. Disciple making is outward facing, helping others (often people who do not yet follow Jesus) learn what it means to follow him and obey his teachings. Disciple-making multiplies disciples. Discipleship matures them. Two sides of the same coin. Disciple makers come out of discipleship, and disciple making leads to the need for discipleship.
Somewhere along the way, the church began using these two terms interchangeably. Because discipleship was happening inside the church, we assumed that the Great Commission was being fulfilled. But the results tell a different story. Many churches are strong at forming believers yet weak at mobilizing them. We have turned a command that was meant to move outward into one that primarily turns inward.
Jesus did not say, “Stay and grow,” but “Go.”
Jesus Did Not Leave Disciple-Making to Chance
One of the most striking things about Jesus’s ministry is how intentional it was. He did not rely primarily on crowds, sermons, or religious institutions to accomplish his mission. Nor was he improvising. Instead, Jesus intentionally invested deeply in a small group of ordinary people and modeled a clear and repeatable process, one we can still observe in the gospels today. Over the course of his three-year ministry, Jesus formed his disciples through three core rhythms of disciple making.
When all three rhythms overlap, they produce mobilized disciple-makers.
Time: Where Disciples Are Formed
Jesus spent an extraordinary amount of time with his disciples. He did not simply teach them in formal settings. He invited them into his life. They walked with him, ate with him, traveled with him, and watched how he lived.
Transformation happens in community. Time takes us out of the crowd and into proximity with others, as real life happens. It is in those everyday moments, not just formal lessons, that disciples are formed.
But as all leaders know, community also brings friction. When people spend real time together, weaknesses and rough edges surface. That friction is not a flaw in the process, it is the very place where growth and transformation occur … where the pressure, over time, produces the diamond.
This is why Jesus primarily used the first year to spend time with his disciples in Capernaum. But all that changed in the second year, when Jesus took to the road on a teaching tour.
Teaching: Where Disciples Are Trained
No one disputes that Jesus was a master teacher, but his teaching was never merely informational. He did not aim simply to increase knowledge; he created transformational experiences. He even promised the early disciples that if they joined him on his teaching tour, he would make them fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). They left their nets and found the road out of Capernaum was a journey to disciple making.
That entire second year, Jesus not only taught the message of the kingdom, he brought it. Every miracle was extra grace. Early grace. Grace you experienced before you believed.
The disciples watched and learned. They didn’t do anything. Not yet. That would be reserved for year three, the Tactical year.
Tactics: Where Disciples Are Sent
We call it tactile learning — learning by doing. The final rhythm is often the most neglected. Jesus sent his disciples out before they felt ready. He gave them real responsibility. He allowed them to try, to fail, to return, and to debrief.
Long before the Great Commission, Jesus was practicing it with his disciples. Mark 3:14 (ESV) says, “And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.” Sending was not an optional add-on to Jesus’s process. It was essential. Without it, discipleship never becomes disciple-making.
Mobilization Always Comes Before Multiplication
The book of Acts inspires us with stories of rapid growth and bold witness, but that movement did not appear out of thin air. It was the result of three years of intentional disciple making by Jesus himself.
Mobilization precedes multiplication. That’s why Jesus started in the gospels with disciple making, rather than parachuting into Acts and planting churches.
The gospels show us how Jesus mobilized a small group of disciples. Acts shows us what happened once they were sent. When churches attempt to multiply without first mobilizing people, they often reproduce structures rather than disciples. But when ordinary believers are trained and sent, movements begin to form.
Jesus understood this. That is why he focused so much attention on a few. He knew that if those few were properly mobilized, the impact would extend far beyond them.
Disciple Making Is Not Just for Leaders
One of the most damaging myths about disciple making is that it is only for pastors, missionaries, or especially gifted Christians. Jesus chose fishermen, tax collectors, and skeptics. He hand-picked twelve ordinary people who wouldn’t make the cut on the easiest of leadership assessments. But that’s the key to understanding disciple making. It’s about following Jesus and taking someone with you. And anyone can do that.
The apostle Paul captured this beautifully when he wrote, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV). Disciple making is less about having it all together, and more about following Jesus together. In his first year of ministry, Jesus only called three disciples, but each of them called somebody else to follow Jesus with them.
John called James.
Andrew invited Peter.
Philip introduced Nathaniel to Jesus.
That’s what my book Discipology teaches people to do. Is it evangelism? No, but it involves some. Is it discipleship? Not exactly, but it definitely feels like it. It’s Time, Teaching, and Tactics blended together as you pour into someone, proving to them that they matter to God, because they matter to you.
Returning to the Way of Jesus
The truth? The church does not need a new disciple-making strategy. We need to rediscover the one Jesus already gave us.
When we reclaim his rhythms of time, teaching, and tactics, mobilization takes place. Everyday believers, learning to follow Jesus and take someone with them.
To help us return to Jesus’s model, I’ve developed a system of practical tools:
- Discipology: The Art and Science of Making Disciples — A book to help leaders catalyze disciple making.
- Journey to Disciple Making — A daily journal to help you take the first real steps in making a disciple.
- Through the Word Bible Plan — An interactive tool that lets you collaborate with a partner and discuss Scripture with your new disciple.
The question before us is not whether disciple making matters. Jesus already answered that. The question is whether we will continue talking about making disciples or actually learn how to do it … the way Jesus modeled and passed on to us.
