The Common Question We Should Ask
Jesus’ last words ought to prompt us towards a first question: Who are you discipling?
Imagine if this was the common question among our gathering, in our small groups, throughout our individual interactions, and around the dinner table? Just think of the missional drift we’d prevent, both personally and congregationally, if Christ’s final words, which are in each of the first five books of the New Testament (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21, Acts 1:8), were our first concern in our everyday conversations. This simple question—Who are you discipling?—is a game changer when it permeates the conversational and relational culture of a church.
I wonder if one reason more of us don’t ask this question proactively is because most of us don’t want to be asked this question personally. Admittedly, it can seem initially uncomfortable to have a friend ask us for something so specific and straightforward, like a name; an actual person we know and are spiritually developing so they will do the same in the future. Yet, that’s precisely the intentionality needed in order for the disciplemaking to be normal, not novel.
To move the disciplemaking needle from novel to normal, consider this two-fold challenge today. Commit to 1) answering that question, then 2) asking that question. Start with yourself, then work outward with your closest relationships. Inquire of those with whom you are the safest first. They’ll hear you well, and will engage in a fruitful conversation probably.
Then, begin humbly asking others with whom you are relationally connected this same question. And ask this question, not as a test, but as a prompt. Do so to elevate the topic of disciplemaking, making it normal to talk personally, not merely conceptually, about our one job as Christians and as a church.
Multiplication will always seem a million miles away until we move towards personalizing the Great Commission with concrete names. Becoming a people ready to reproduce will only be collectively palpable when we get individually comfortable with this question being common: Who are you discipling?
Pastor Todd