Beyond The Basics

Don’t make converts. Make disciples.

We hear that a lot in churches, especially in churches that are particularly good at making disciples. Maybe, also, in churches that are particularly good at making converts but not so much at making disciples.

Don’t make converts. Make disciples.

But what is a disciple? I mean, really? The word “disciple” is a word that is completely unused outside a church setting. No one else in the entire English speaking world uses this word for anything other than a follower of Jesus, particularly one who was alive when Jesus walked the earth. Now, I recognize I have readers in other nations, and I don’t know how this word translates in your language. Maybe it isn’t such a useless word in other parts of the world. But in English, the word “disciple” is basically worthless. No one knows what it means.

Don’t make converts. Make disciples.

Great. Real helpful.

Before I started my current job, I was a union sheet metal worker based in Minnesota. I went through a five year long apprenticeship during which I would work side by side with a journeyman every day while going to sheet metal classes one day every two weeks. The concept was simple, especially in the first year or two of the apprenticeship: watch what the journeyman was doing, learn from him, and then go and do it myself. I did this every single day; five, six, sometimes seven days a week, ten hour days, twelve hour days. Sometimes more. The vast majority of my life was centered around learning this trade. As I progressed in the apprenticeship the expectations on me were higher to spend less time watching and learning and more time doing so that once I became a journeyman I would be able to reasonably and competently do just about anything I was asked to do, but the concept remained the same.

Watch. Learn. Do.

In John chapter 13 Jesus decided to show His disciples the importance of becoming a servant to others. During supper, he got up and started washing the feet of the disciples which was a task that was generally left to the lowest servant in the house. I mean, think about it. The streets in those days were shared by humans and animals alike. Need I say more?

The disciples, especially our boy Peter, rebuked Jesus for doing this until Jesus told them, “Y’all ain’t comin’ with me unless I do this.” After a brief exchange, Jesus said:

“Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:12-15)

I don’t know about you, but an apprentice (or former apprentice) can see exactly what’s going on here. Jesus is the Journeyman, showing the twelve disciples how to do something, asking them to learn from what He did, and then go and do the same thing. In fact, we might be more accurate if we call Peter and his crew the twelve apprentices.

Watch. Learn. Do.

As an apprentice of sheet metal, I spent most of my waking life learning a trade that would provide a good living for me and my family. I put in the time, I worked the hours, I jumped through the hoops of going to classes and making projects and taking tests, I watched carefully and learned as much as I could from guys who had been doing it for decades. And after the five years was over, after finishing a program that was designed to prevent many people from finishing the program, I was recognized as a sheet metal journeyman and was then able to teach and train other apprentices as they started their careers.

As a disciple (or apprentice) of Jesus, I spend most of my waking life learning how a Jewish Man from Nazareth lived His life, how He talked to His Father, how He loved the marginalized and the oppressed, how He sacrificed and emptied Himself completely for a people that would reject Him. I put in the time reading about Him, I work the hours praying to Him, I take the classes and do the service projects and go on mission trips and teach others and watch other apprentices who have years on me to see how they do it. And I do this my whole life because, if I endure, and finish a race that is designed in such a way that few people will finish, I will be counted worthy to bear His name as part of a resurrected Bride.

Watch. Learn. Do.

I don’t know where this awful word “disciple” came from, but I propose we remove it from the English lexicon and use a different word. A better word. A word that actually describes what we’re doing as disciples. A word that people actually understand when we use it.

Don’t make converts. Make apprentices.

FTFY