As I make disciple making cultures in Dayton area churches, I encounter the same lies time and time again. Little by little, I’m shining light on them in this series, “Lies We Believe”. Last time we unearthed the lie “I can’t make a disciple, that’s God’s job”. Today we’ll dig up, “I’m not called to make disciples, I’m called to ______________ (lead worship, care for kids, counsel the hurting, etc.)”. Another variation of this lie includes, “My gift is to _______ (encourage, give, administrate, etc.), so that’s what my focus needs to be.”

Like most lies, this lie is difficult to separate from the truth it’s cozied up with. It sounds true, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t people follow their passions and employ their unique gifts? Didn’t Jesus and the disciples have a team of people who tended to their needs? Didn’t Paul teach that very thing when he taught about the “body of believers”?

To get to the bottom of it all we need to answer just two questions. First, why did Jesus call the Twelve to follow Him? Second, what’s the purpose of our diversity in design and gifting?

The bookends of Jesus’ ministry make His intentions with the Twelve clear. Making disciples was Jesus’ goal from the moment He invited His first disciples by saying, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The offer is to be made into something (disciples). Jesus is the maker. The disciples were the ones to be made. This appeal is made to a few fishermen, so He personalizes the concept of disciple making by saying “fishers of men”. While there are different types of fishermen, all fishermen are broadly focused the same thing. This is significant for our purposes because Jesus is making them into the same thing. If Jesus were making widgets, He’d only be making one type, not lots of different widgets.

The final bookend of Jesus’ ministry, Matthew 28:19-20, offers more detail on their purpose of disciple making. In just two verses, Jesus clarifies the what (“Go and make disciples”), the who and the where (“of all nations”) and the how (“Baptizing…And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”). The when is communicated by “Go” which in the Greek is in the present continuous tense. In other words, as you’re going, make disciples.