Years ago I saw a Charlie Brown cartoon where Charlie Brown was shooting arrows into a wooden fence. In the next frame, Lucy asked Charlie Brown, “What are you doing?”. In the final frame, Charlie Brown had a can of red paint in his hand and as he was painting circles around the arrows he said to Lucy, “I am shooting bull’s eyes”.
My experience is that most churches are “shooting lots of arrows” and then defining what disciple making looks like. Perhaps there is a better way. Maybe we should let Jesus be the target and then let our activities line up with what and how he made disciples?
In my opinion, Jesus is the “bull’s eye” of how we should define a disciple and how we should develop disciples. Jesus gives us the target to which we all should be aiming. If you are making disciples that look like Jesus and making them the way Jesus did it, then you have hit your disciple making target! If not, you are simply painting bull’s eyes around your activities.
In order to help you define what a disciple of Jesus looks like, I recommend that you read our small booklet called, “Disciple? The Seven Marks of a Disciple“. This booklet takes a look at the marks of a disciple that are seen in Jesus, in his disciples and in their disciples. A discipleship trait that is seen in multiple generations of disciples is a pretty strong indicator that it should be developed in us.
Defining what a disciple looks like today should not be difficult. A disciple in today’s world should have the exact same traits as the original disciples had. Having a world filled with disciples that look and act like Jesus changes the planet! This is exactly why Jesus modeled what a disciple ought to look like and why he made disciples that would make more disciples.
Imagine what would happen if we simply got back to hitting the bull’s eye of disciple making? I pray that you will commit yourself to making disciples and sharing this simple concept with as many other people as you can. More than ever, we need a movement of disciple makers!
