Where Does Discipleship Begin?

23And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled (Luke 14:23)

I'm all in favor of discipleship. It is the mandate of the church. I believe that Christians should make progress and grow up in their spiritual journey. I’m for theological discussions, Biblical exegesis, Solo Scriptura, and all kinds of other big words. And my KJV can beat up your ESV slim line Bible too.

But somewhere along the way we have FORGOTTEN that the process of making disciples BEGINS with SOMEONE who is NOT a disciple – you know, lost people. There are too many churches that are only interested in making disciples out of those who are ALREADY disciples.

The verse above reminds us to look for society’s downtrodden as candidates for the gospel. Here we are told to go out into the community and compel people to come for the purpose that God’s house might be full. Yes, the process of discipleship begins with those who are not disciples - the lost.

We are not very good at evangelism (or even something as simple as inviting sinners to church) preferring instead to sit around in holy huddles engaged in discussions about MISSIONAL CHURCHES verses ATTRACTIONAL CHURCHES while the lost & crippled sit at our doorstep. Please don’t make excuses as to why sinners don’t come. We are supposed to go get them. Our excuses will not matter in eternity.

God not only expects faithfulness from His people, but He also expects fruitfulness.