09. Dalibinka na farko watakila tuni yana kusa da kai
Can You Be a Disciple and Not Multiply Disciples? · Part 09
Many believers imagine disciple-making requires finding a stranger, traveling overseas, or starting a ministry. But their first disciple may already be in their household, family, workplace, neighborhood, or existing circle of relationships.
Who has God already placed near you whom you could begin helping follow Jesus?
Many Christians want to make disciples. But they imagine they must first find someone far away. A stranger. Someone from another culture. Someone who walks into a church building. Someone who appears spiritually interested.
But your first disciple may already be near you. They may be sitting across from you at the dinner table. Working beside you every day. Living next door. Calling you a friend. God may have already placed your first disciple in your life.
Jesus Often Began With Relationships
When Andrew met Jesus, he did not immediately organize an outreach event. He went looking for his brother.
“He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah!'”. John 1:41 WEB
Andrew had found Jesus. Then he found someone he already knew.
When Jesus delivered a man who had been controlled by demons, the man wanted to travel with Him. But Jesus gave him a different assignment:
“Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.”. Mark 5:19 WEB
Go home. Go to your friends. Tell them what God has done. The first mission field Jesus gave him was not a distant nation. It was his existing network of relationships.
Look at Who Is Already Near You
Who already knows you? Who already trusts you? Who has seen the difference Jesus is making in your life? Who comes to you when they need encouragement, prayer, or advice? Who has shared their struggles with you? Who has asked you questions about God?
We often pray for God to send us someone to disciple while overlooking the people He has already placed around us.
Your spouse may need you to pray with them. Your children may need more than transportation to church. They may need you to personally teach them to hear and obey Jesus. A coworker may be open to reading a Bible story during lunch. A neighbor may welcome prayer in their home. A friend may be waiting for someone to invite them into a simple journey of following Jesus.
You do not always need to create a new relationship. You may need to become more intentional with the relationships you already have.
Disciple-Making Can Begin With One Invitation
Disciple-making does not have to begin with a program. It can begin with a conversation: “I have been learning how to follow Jesus more closely. Would you like to learn with me?”
It can begin with a question: “Would you be interested in reading a story from the Bible together?”
It can begin with an offer: “You mentioned that your family is struggling. May I pray for you?”
You do not need to have every answer. You do not need a classroom. You do not need to call yourself a teacher.
Open the Word together. Ask what it teaches you about God. Ask what it teaches you about people. Ask what you will obey. Then ask: “Who else could you share this with?”
That is how an ordinary conversation can become the beginning of multiplication.
Don’t Make Yourself the Center
Your goal is not to make someone dependent on you. Your goal is to help them depend on Jesus.
Teach them to read the Word. Teach them to listen to the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey what Jesus says. Teach them to share what they are learning with others.
From the beginning, help them understand: What God gives to us is meant to pass through us. Your first disciple should already be looking for their first disciple. That is the difference between merely transferring information and beginning a movement.
Your Household May Be the Beginning
Throughout the Book of Acts, the gospel frequently moved through households and existing relationships. Cornelius gathered his relatives and close friends. The Philippian jailer brought the message into his household. Lydia opened her home. The gospel traveled along relational lines. Person to person. Family to family. Household to household.
That same pathway is still open today. Your household may not be the limit of your ministry. But it may be the beginning.
The person near you may eventually reach people you could never reach. They may carry the gospel into another family, workplace, neighborhood, culture, or nation. But that multiplication has to begin somewhere. It can begin with one person. One conversation. One invitation. One step of obedience.
Who Is Your One?
Do not wait for the perfect person. Do not wait until you feel fully prepared. Do not overlook the people who are already near you while dreaming about reaching people far away.
Ask the Holy Spirit: “Who have You already placed in my life?” Write down one name. Begin praying for that person. Look for an opportunity to listen to them. Share what Jesus is doing in your life. Invite them to discover and obey God’s Word with you.
Your first disciple may already be near you. The question is: Will you recognize them. And will you begin?
Kana son koyo yadda ake yin almajirai waɗanda su ma suke yin almajirai? Shiga Horon Zúme →