What is a disciple? What does he look like? What attitudes does she portray? What skills does he possess? How does she spend her time? What are his priorities? Without a clear answer to these questions, we work in a fog. We are painting a picture without a clear image in our mind as to what the picture should look like. We may win with the numbers, but we lose where it really counts. Unless I can point to men and women, boys and girls whose lives have been radically changed by the Gospel, I have not done what my Lord told me to do. I have not made disciples.

Those who have a firm grasp of God’s word and make it their home are on their way to being Christ’s disciples.

Juan Carlos Ortiz asks the pointed question, “If I have 300 baby Christians this year and a year later I have 600 baby Christians, do we call this progress?” He warns against the doctrine of the “Eternal Childhood of the Believer”.5

If the members of your group are characterized by love for each other, you are doing your job of making disciples.

What is a disciple? Jesus gives us a glimpse into the answer to this question in three passages from the book of John. The first is John 8:31, “If you hold to my teachings you are really my disciples”. It is interesting that He says this to those who had already believed in Him. The Word for hold is used in other contexts to mean, “abide, live, dwell, to be at home.”6 Those who have a firm grasp of God’s word and make it their home are on their way to being Christ’s disciples. This is the first mark of a disciple: abiding in Christ. The second mark has to do with the body.

John 13:35 says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This is such a direct statement, it needs no explanation. If the members of your group are characterized by love for each other, you are doing your job of making disciples.

In many cases, the world perceives us as being more judgmental, critical and condemning. No wonder we are not taking a nation for God.

I have asked a number of groups if they thought outsiders perceived believers to be more loving or less loving than the world in general. The resounding answer I have received is that there is little difference, that we are no more loving than the world. In many cases, the world perceives us as being more judgmental, critical and condemning. No wonder we are not taking our nation for God. The world would beat our doors down if they thought they could find love here. You could not build buildings fast enough; you would not be able to start services often enough; the nets would be bursting if you could create a church that truly loved. I am not talking about some ethereal, high sounding out-there love. I am talking about the love that has someone over for dinner. I am talking about the love that gives a cup of cold water. . . or iced tea.

The first characteristic of a disciple is abiding in Christ. The second is love. The third is fruit bearing.

The world would beat our doors down if they thought they could find love here.

John 15:8 says, “. . . that you bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciples.” Eugene Petterson paraphrases this verse in a beautiful way, “When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.”7

Implicit in the idea of fruit bearing is reproduction. The seed is always in the fruit. One of the marks of maturity is the ability to reproduce. People reproduce after like kind. Teachers reproduce teachers according to 2 Timothy 2:2. (“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”) More on this in the section on reproduction.

A disciple is one who is:

☞ At home in the Word.

☞ Functioning in loving relationships

☞ Bearing fruit.

Josh Hunt, You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, 1995.