Disciples Live in This World: Empowered by the Holy Spirit
- Disciples live in this world by pursuing an immersive relationship with the Holy Spirit, not just routines or techniques.
- Acts 2 presents a bold vision where God pours out His Spirit on all people to transform and equip His church.
- Through the New Testament, believers learn the Holy Spirit is a person who leads, fills, and shapes them into Christlikeness.
How do disciples live in this world? Here’s the answer we’ll explore:
Disciples live in the world, but they are not of the world. They are distinctive even as they permeate a dark world with light—and that light is the light of Christ.
Think about this passage from the “kingdom parables” or “disciple making parables.” Matthew 13:44 says:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
So, how do we make disciples and have this kind of impact?
1. Start with Prayer
There are a lot of ideas about how to start making disciples, but let’s look at how Jesus started. Since Jesus is our model, we want to imitate him. Jesus started his ministry with 40 days of fasting and prayer. Then he invited people into his life and got to know them. Some people think there was a group of around 90 people before Jesus spent the night in prayer and, after praying all night, chose the 12 to invest in.
The first thing we want to recommend to everybody is that when you decide you want to make disciples like Jesus, start with prayer. Pray about it for a while, really seeking clarity that God would lead and guide you.
2. Invest in a Few
The second thing we would recommend, again following the example of Jesus, is investing in a few people. Not only did Jesus invest in the 12, but there were three—Peter, James, and John—whom he especially focused on. Paul gives us a similar example when he tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2:
“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
What you have is Paul to Timothy, Timothy to reliable people, and reliable people to others. That’s four generations of disciple making!
But it starts small. Find a few people and invest in them. 
3. Think Smaller Than Small
When we think small, we often think of a small group. And if your church is like most, a small group means 12, 14, or 16 people who meet for an hour a week and maybe do a little more.
But when Jesus thinks about disciple making, he’s thinking even smaller than that. Remember the “kingdom parables” where Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven being like a mustard seed? He describes it as the smallest seed in the garden. It’s tiny, something you can barely hold between two fingers. But when you plant that seed in the ground and let it grow, that little beginning becomes a tree that can be 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Birds find shelter in its branches. All of a sudden, you can’t call it a bush anymore. It’s a tree! It starts small, but with God’s power, God’s influence, and the Holy Spirit, you begin to see that God is able to do incredible things with something small.
When we think back on our lives, we think about the investment of discipling our children. Are you discipling your children? We’re fortunate that our children follow Jesus. Then I think about the other people we’ve invested time in over the years. In some cases, I can see multiple generations of disciples making disciples. We invested in a few people, going small but going deep, and then God made it really big.
“We invested in a few people, going small but going deep, and then God made it really big.”
4. Make the Commitment to Become a Disciple Maker
At this point, the big question is: Are you convinced that disciple making is the core mission of the church? And if it is, what does that require of us?
When I discover that disciple making is what the Great Commission is all about—that it’s taking the Great Commandment and putting it into practice—I have to ask myself, “How do I go about becoming a disciple maker?”
First, pray about it. Fast and pray. Make sure that when you begin this journey, you’re committed to it and that God’s fingerprints are on it. Then find somebody at your church you can talk to about it. Maybe it’s an elder or somebody on the ministerial staff. Tell them, “I think I’m ready to do this. I’ve got to do this.”
Since disciple making is the core mission of the church, we encourage you to connect with your church about it. Hopefully, your church already has a disciple making process in place. If not, consult with your leaders and say, “I want to do this, but I want to do it in sync with you.”
Get a plan, find some people, and make the commitment.
Once you begin, it’s such an exciting journey. It’s incredibly meaningful to look at people’s lives and realize that you’re not the same person you were a year ago, and they’re not the same people they were a year ago. And quite frankly, over time, your church isn’t the same church it was a year ago either.
“It’s incredibly meaningful to look at people’s lives and realize that you’re not the same person you were a year ago, and they’re not the same people they were a year ago.”
5. Begin Making Disciples Who Make Disciples
It all begins with intentional, relational formation. We want to challenge you to make that beginning. Pray. Fast. Talk to somebody. And ask yourself this question:
What would it look like for me to be a disciple who makes disciples who make disciples?
We’re convinced that’s the core mission of the church.
