Discipleship’s Most Fatal Flaw

by Oct 5, 2017

   There are countless approaches and plans for discipleship these days. Churches have various processes for making disciples and publishers have produced mounds of curriculum for disciple making. There is simply no shortage of methods for disciple making in today’s world.

There is, however, one fatal flaw to any discipleship methodology. Any discipleship effort that focuses on the individual rather than on Christ is the wrong approach. You see, the goal of discipleship is to make a person more like Jesus. Becoming more like Jesus is what makes you a better you!

A discipleship plan that only focuses on making you a better you and does not help you become more like Jesus is the wrong plan. The goal of discipleship is to develop more of Jesus and less of you. A discipleship plan that makes you increase rather than decrease would never be approved by John the Baptist. In John 3:30, John said of his relationship to Jesus, “I must decrease so that he might increase”.

Discipleship is not about you finding your purpose or experiencing a better or more fulfilled life. The end product of discipleship is not about you being a better or more highly productive you. The end product of discipleship is about dying to you! Paul’s said in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ, I no longer live but Christ lives in me.” Paul might argue that discipleship is about getting rid of as much of you as possible.

I suggest to you that becoming a disciple is ultimately about becoming more like Jesus. When you find a discipleship group and a discipleship plan where you are encouraged to “take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow Jesus”, you are in the right place.

At Impact Ministries, we want to help you discover true discipleship. Check out more about disciple making principles that center around Jesus at impactdisciples.com.

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