DISCIPLESHIP: Ophunzila Omwe Atumidwa

Kukaphinzitsa Ena/Kukachita Chiphunzitso

Reading: Mathew 28: 19 – 20, Acts 1:8
People ask
What is meant by discipleship and why is it
important?
Tanthauzo la Kukhala Uphunzila/ Wa chiphunzitso

The Great Commission

Utumwi/ Kutumizidwa Kukagwila Ntchito Yophunzitsa

What is the difference between a Christian and a

disciple?
Kusiyana kwa Nkhilisitu and Wophunzila wa Yesu
Christu Yemwe watumizidwa Kukaphunzitsa

………………………………………
What is discipleship in Christianity?
Tanthauzo la kuphunzitsa mu Chichristu

What are the characteristics/qualities of

discipleship?
Maonekedwe/Makhalidwa a Atumwi ophunzitsa

How would you define discipleship in your life?

Mungafotokoze bwanji Moyo wanu pa ntchito yomwe
Yesu anatituma Kukaphunzitsa

What is the purpose of discipleship?

Cholinga Cheni Cheni cha Kuphunzitsa

What are some examples of discipleship as displayed by

Jesus Christ?
Zitsanzo Zomwe Yese Christu Anaonetsa pantchito
Yophunzitsa/ Yautumwi
Question: What is the Great Commission?
Kodi Utumwi/ Kutumizidwa Kukagwila Ntchito
Yophunzitsa Ndi Chiyani

Answer
Matthew 28:19–20 contains what has come to be
called the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end
of the age.”
Jesus gave this command to the apostles shortly before
He ascended into heaven, and it essentially outlines
what Jesus expected the apostles and those who
followed them to do in His absence.
The only direct command in Matthew 28:19–20 is
“make disciples.” The Great Commission instructs us to
make disciples while we are going throughout the
world.
The instructions to “go,” “baptize,” and “teach” are
indirect commands.
How are we to make disciples? By baptizing them and
teaching them all that Jesus commanded. “Make
disciples” is the primary command of the Great
Commission. “Going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” are
the means by which we fulfill the command to “make
disciples.”
The command in the Great Commission to “make
disciples” means to teach or train people to follow and
obey Christ.

Many understand Acts 1:8 as part of the Great

Commission as well: “But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
The Great Commission is enabled by the power of the
Holy Spirit. We are to be Christ’s witnesses, fulfilling
the Great Commission in our cities (Jerusalem), in our
states and countries (Judea and Samaria), and
anywhere else God sends us (to the ends of the earth).
Throughout the book of Acts, we see how the apostles
began to fulfill the Great Commission, as outlined in
Acts 1:8. First, Jerusalem is evangelized (Acts 1 — 7);
then the Spirit expands the church through Judea and
Samaria (Acts 8 — 12); finally, the gospel reaches into
“the ends of the earth” (Acts 13 — 28).
Today, we continue to act as ambassadors for Christ,
and “we plead on Christ’s behalf: ‘Be reconciled to
God’” (2 Corinthians 5:20, CSB).

We have received a precious gift: “the faith that was

once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 1:3).
Jesus’ words in the Great Commission reveal the heart
of God, who desires “all people to be saved and to
come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). The
Great Commission compels us to share the good news
until everyone has heard.
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Question: What is Christian discipleship? Who is
a disciple

Answer
A disciple is someone who receives instruction from
another person; a Christian disciple is a baptized
follower of Christ, one who believes the teaching of
Christ.
A disciple of Christ imitates Jesus’ example, clings to
His sacrifice, believes in His resurrection, possesses the
Holy Spirit, and lives to do His work.
By definition, a disciple is a follower, one who accepts
and assists in spreading the doctrines of another. A
Christian disciple is a person who accepts and assists in
the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Christian discipleship is the process by which disciples

grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and are equipped by the
Holy Spirit, who resides in our hearts, to overcome the
pressures and trials of this present life and become
more and more Christlike.
This process requires believers to respond to the Holy
Spirit’s prompting to examine their thoughts, words
and actions and compare them with the Word of God.

This requires that we be in the Word daily—studying it,

praying over it, and obeying it.

In addition, we should always be ready to give

testimony of the reason for the hope that is within us
(1 Peter 3:15) and to disciple others to walk in His way.

……………………………………………
Question: What is the difference between a
Christian and a disciple?

Answer
The terms disciple and Christian are related but not
synonymous.

The Greek term for “disciple” in the New Testament is

mathetes, which means more than just “student” or
“learner.”

A disciple is a “follower,” someone who adheres

completely to the teachings of another, making them
his rule of life and conduct.
The Pharisees prided themselves in being disciples of
Moses (John 9:28). Jesus’ followers were called
“disciples” long before they were ever called
“Christians.” Their discipleship began with Jesus’ call
and required them to exercise their will to follow Him
(Matthew 9:9).

Jesus was quite explicit about the cost of following

Him. Discipleship requires a totally committed life:
“Any of you who does not give up everything he has
cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Sacrifice is
expected: “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would
come after me, he must deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me’” (Matthew 16:24).
Not all of Jesus’ followers were able to make such a
commitment. There were many who left Jesus after a
while. “From this time many of his disciples turned
back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66).

Jesus used the term disciple but never Christian. The

first instance of the word Christian is found in the book
of Acts: “The disciples were first called Christians in
Antioch” (Acts 11:26). Most Bible scholars agree that it
is unlikely that the believers themselves thought up the
name “Christians.” The early church had other names
for themselves, such as “disciples” (Acts 13:52; 20:1;
21:4) and “saints” (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1;
Ephesians 1:1) and “brothers” (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1
Peter 3:8).
The name “Christian,” meaning “belonging to Christ,”
appears to have been invented by those outside of the
church. It was most likely meant as a derogatory term.

Only two other times does the word appear in the New
Testament (Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). The idea that the
term Christian was originally a pejorative finds some
support in 1 Peter 4:16: “However, if you suffer as a
Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you
bear that name.”

Biblically speaking, a Christian is a disciple of Christ. A

Christian is someone who has placed his faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12). A Christian has been born
again by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3). A
Christian “belongs to Christ” and is daily being
transformed into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians
3:18).
A true Christian (and not one in name only) will have to
be a disciple of Christ as well. That is, he has counted
the cost and has totally committed his life to following
Jesus. He accepts the call to sacrifice and follows
wherever the Lord leads. The Christian disciple
completely adheres to the teaching of Jesus, makes
Christ his number-one priority, and lives accordingly.
He is actively involved in making other Christian
disciples (Matthew 28:19–20).

A true Christian disciple is a believer in Christ and

possesses new life through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Because he loves Christ, a Christian will also be an
obedient disciple (John 14:15). Paul describes the
reality of being a Christian disciple: “I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me” (Galatians 2:20).

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QUESTION: What are qualities of discipleship?

Qualities of discipleship include going to share the

Good News to non-believers, teaching, loving God,
loving others, standing out, denying ourselves, being
firm in God’s word, fellowship with other believers,
imitators of Christ, dedicated, steadfast, and
investing in missions.
Below I will talk about each quality of discipleship and
how we can implement them in our lives to help further
the Kingdom of God.
1. Go
To make disciples we need to go, we can not stay in our
comfort zones and hope to exemplify to others what it
means to be a follower of Christ.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:19,20

We read in Matthew that Jesus commands us to go, as

Christians, we don’t have the choice to stay still and
watch from the sidelines, we are called to be active.
2. Teach
Reading the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19,20
we also hear the command, “teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you.” We should be
educating others on what we know about God and his
word.
Looking in the Bible, Paul’s letters to Timothy and
Titus are for them to instruct those who do not know or
do not understand the gospel. As we disciple others,
we should take this command seriously and teach
others to help them grow in their walks with Christ.
3. Love God
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:5

This is a very important verse we should love God

completely. We even see in the New Testament that
Jesus reiterates this verse in Matthew when he is asked
what the greatest commandment is. If we cannot love
God completely then we cannot lead others to love God.
Disciples of the Lord must love Him with their whole
heart. They must set aside idols and obsessions and give
their whole heart to the Lord.
4. Love Others
We get to love others because Christ loved us, and with
this love we want them to know about God’s plan for
salvation. Jesus even tells us that the second greatest
commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself”
(Matthew 22:39). Throughout the Old and New
Testament, we see the need to care and love for others.
In John 13, Jesus says that we will be known as
disciples of Jesus, and our love for others is what
will set us apart. Our love for others is an important
quality when discipling others.
5. Stand Out
As much as we sometimes want to fit in with the world
around us, we as Christians should desire to stand out
and truly look different so others know that we are
followers of Christ.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so
that they may see your good works and give glory to
your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16

Jesus calls us a light we want to shine because of our

actions and how we love one another. Our actions and
how we set ourselves apart from the world will be a
testimony to our faith sometimes more than the words
we tell those we are discipling.
6. Denying Ourselves
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow
me.
Luke 9:23

We as Christians, especially when we are discipling

others, no longer live in a world that has a “me”
mentality. Instead, we live for a bigger purpose as
Christians to help share the gospel by making disciples.
Jesus encourages us in the New testament to “take up
his cross,” we are not signing up for an easy life as
Christians but get to live as a part of God’s Kingdom
and share the good news with others.
7. Firm in the Word of God
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If
you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32

God’s word is a guide for us as Christians and when we

are rooted in the scripture then you can more effectively
share the gospel and disciple others. When we abide in
God’s word we can know God.
The Bible is God’s word to us, any Church or Christian
mentor will encourage you to dig into God’s word.
God communicates to us through His Word. Without
knowing God through His Word, we cannot effectively
teach others about the truth of the scripture and the
benefit in our lives.
8. Fellowship with Other Believers
God created us with a need for relationships.
Fellowship with other believers can help us in our
Christian walk and can help those we disciple grow in
their faith.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the
prayers.
Acts 2:42

In the early church, we see an emphasis on fellowship.

We see those in Acts regularly meet together break
bread preach and fellowship, we do the same thing
today in Church and are often involved in small groups.
The relationship we make in small groups helps us
grow in our faith and we can gain much wisdom from
those around us.
9. Imitators of Christ
Our goal as Christians is to be more Christ-like, in all
that we do we want to look and act as Jesus did. When
we look like Jesus we can help others to imitate Jesus as
well.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1

Paul encourages us to look at those of faith who imitate

Christ and learn from them. We want to love the way
Jesus loved, and to teach the way Jesus taught. It is
amazing what we can learn from simply living as Jesus
did, for others and not ourselves.
10. Dedicated
Reading through the Gospel we can see Jesus said some
pretty hard things to his disciples. He let them know
that he did not have a home-like other people and
animals did, he told them that they needed to pick him
over their family and that they would be persecuted
because they followed Jesus.

When following Jesus and discipling others we need to

be dedicated to what we are doing, we cannot give half-
hearted work when teaching others.
Jesus warned us what it would cost to follow him, and
we need to keep this in mind when teaching others the
importance of what it means to follow Christ.
11. Steadfast
Our walk with God will be met with many challenges
but how we deal with these challenges will be an
example of our faith.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58

Paul writes to the Church of Corinth and to Titus to be

steadfast, he tells that our work for the Lord is not in
vain. God will work through us even though we might
not see it, this encourages us to be steadfast no matter
what the circumstance.
12. Missions
Being a Christian is more than just exemplifying our
faith on Sunday or Wednesday. We should always be
on mission in our day to day life. If we do not live our
life as Christ would every day we cannot be an example
to those who are being discipled.
We are called to be watchful and to pray throughout
scripture. Living on missions means looking for
opportunities for the gospel all the time and
exemplifying the life of Christ in all situations.
Looking at Jesus’ life and those whom he discipled
gives us a good view of how the discipleship process
should work today. We get to play a part in furthering
the kingdom of God while living in a way and
exemplifying the qualities of discipleship.
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END