Matthew 28:16-20 “16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Let’s fan the flame – take a minute to remember when the Lord first called you (and you said yes) to be where you are now. Whether you are a ministry leader, pastor, teacher, preacher, evangelist, missionary, etc. – a person of faith who has a desire to follow God’s will. Remember that prayer. Take a minute and praise God for those moments of call and response. We get to be a part of this Great Commission: making disciples of all nations, baptizing, and teaching them to obey Christ’s commands. As my husband and I journal our years in ministry, it is so easy to forget the depth and consecration that happened in those beginning-of-ministry-life moments. As we remember hearing his heartbeat when He first called us, our hearts become open to hearing it now. Making disciples is paramount to the Kingdom of God. The overflow of your heart for Jesus will direct your lifestyle, teaching, and preaching; and simply by proximity, your disciples will catch that all-consuming love for Christ and take up their own crosses to follow wholeheartedly.
There are so many beautiful things that happen when Christ is the focus of church ministry, as He should be. Disagreements are resolved without backbiting. Pettiness is dissolved (most of it, anyway). The kingdom, God’s will and desires, becomes the driving force and momentum for Christian living. Everyone wants the same thing: to love God and spread the gospel! There is a sweetness and depth in people that only happens from knowing the Lord closely for a long time, and when those anchored people are together on a mission for God, there is no stopping them! The kingdom of God is advanced, and society benefits from the Lord’s people united in action.
Foreseeably (we’re working against the darkness here) – whenever there is an attempt to focus on Christ, there is instant resistance. The reasons, obstacles, and distractions come into play – there’s no time, no money, no energy, no big picture in mind, no silence, and barely any attention span. (Most likely, I don’t need to tell any of you this – you have lived it). We forget our first love – we forget the moments at the altar that made us weep for the lost. The focus becomes many things – anything other than Christ. Ourselves. Each other. The programs. The ministry. Growth. Decline. The building. Anything other than Christ. And sadly, disciples who have the desire and passion for God are ill-equipped to go and make more disciples. An army with plastic weapons is a vulnerable army. Seeds trying to grow in shallow soil (Matthew 13:5-6).
As ministers, pastors, and disciples of Christ, it is our job to invite, challenge, and teach our disciples to focus on Christ. When we are Christ-centered, we can help them again and again and again look to the Father simply because that is where our gaze is held. Jackie Hill Perry calls it “Beholding Him” (Perry, 2025). Focusing on his goodness, remembering his powerful miracles, and recalling his love for us.
Psalm 77 journals the struggle of refocusing, and says “my heart meditated and my spirit asked…has His promise failed for all time? …Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand’” (Psalm 77:6, 8, 10). In our fight to focus on Christ, we have to remember the years we have experienced his presence and heard his heartbeat. Even in the darkest storm, we can remember and be sure of the Lord’s character, and that can motivate us to forge ahead.
If we have fought for this concentration, if we have consistently realigned ourselves to his heart, then we will reap the benefits of it: Christ-centered disciples in our church and its ministries! This intense focus is a sweet aroma to the Lord, and the believers become an army to be reckoned with. Strong armor and sharp weapons.
If you are a vocational minister, it is part of your job description to minister (make disciples) with humility and love to your people. As a student, is there anything more refreshing than a humble and loving teacher? They give an invitation to grow. The more time we spend with Christ, the more this love and service will become our heartbeat. Our time in his presence and sitting at his feet overflow into our everyday interactions. How would you describe your service to others? How’s your minister’s heart? Are you focused on Christ, spending time in his presence, remembering his goodness, and studying his word? If your life and/or ministry were a garden, what would you be reaping? The harvest gives us a fairly accurate report on the state of the garden. Our goal is to raise up new believers who encounter the Lord and surrender to his will!
Perfect discipleship isn’t possible – we are humans trying to do good in a broken world. We’re going to miss things. There will be gaps in your preaching and teaching. We need one another to keep us encouraged and accountable as we build the kingdom together! It takes a village. I’m not saying that the perfect community plan can save someone – we partner with the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel, but it is a person’s own choice to accept and continue in the faith. I am saying that as we build the kingdom together, the elements of discipleship can’t be optional – whoever is doing the discipling has to consistently realign their focus to Christ and his kingdom in order to be fruitful.
Pastors, Shepherds, Leaders, Mentors: Can we take a minute and double check our discipleship structures? Please hear this from a heart of encouragement and not condemnation. Burnout is real, blind spots are plentiful, drifting can be imperceptible, and distractions are often disguised as good intentions. We can be so enamored with a program that we lose sight of our goal. Our focus has to remain on Christ and obeying his commands. Are we making disciples? Do we have structures, plans, lessons in place to help people grow?
Can we take a moment for a ministry maintenance check? Reassessing can enrich your ministry at best, and at worst, save you from dangerously falling asleep at the wheel. Discipleship is critical – take time to adjust and readjust until you are confident that you are fulfilling the Great Commission. Dive deep, recall, reflect.
Here are some questions as you seek to make disciples:
- Are you a disciple? We need to be an example of a good disciple by having mentors and teachers who can hold us accountable, challenge our faith to go deeper, and celebrate our victories. We need to be a part of a family larger and wider than the ministry we are serving – simply to remind us of our place in the kingdom of God (ego. destroys. ministries.), and encouraging us to walk in both confidence and humility.
- Are you teaching them to obey Christ? Jesus says we are to be “teaching them to obey all my commands.” We get to teach with intentionality, love, correction, and grace, consistently refocusing on Christ and the Kingdom of God – beholding Him together. We go to Him again and again, returning to learn how to better love him. A lifelong pursuit. Pastoring in the prodigal moments. Walking with them when they are crushed with suffering. Admonishing them when they are stubborn or unyielding. Celebrating with them when victories are won. All this comes with the act of teaching, and what beautiful fruit we harvest from it! 3 John 4:4, “There is no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth!”
- “How is this going to help us make disciples that are focused on Christ?” A healthy ministry is structured in light of the Great Commission. Between your calendar and budget, you should be able to tell where priorities lie. Every service, event, outreach, prayer meeting, and dollar bill needs to go through the filter: “How is this going to help us make disciples that are focused on Christ?” If we can’t find an answer that lines up with God’s word and serves our church or ministry well, then we don’t need the system. Put your time, attention, and money toward things that will build up your people to be strong spiritual warriors and have Christ-like character.
- What kind of plan helps you the most? What strengths and structures are serving your ministry well? Use whatever you have in your hands to minister to your disciples. Without becoming a Pharisee, can you use that platform, program, checklist, or roadmap, to help keep you focused and effective? Think about Moses and his incredibly hefty commission to lead the Israelites. There is a point in Exodus 18 where his father-in-law comes and observes that his governing is wearing him out. He helps Moses to see what he already has (tribe leaders) and puts them in places where they’ll be more effective, lessening the overall strain on Moses (Ex. 18:23). I think God gives us creative organizational abilities so we can be fruitful in our discipleship. Being a Pharisee would take this structure too far – making chains instead of wings. Our structures need to serve our people, not the other way around. But, following Christ gives us both the strength in our hands to do the work well and the grace in our hearts to handle interruptions and be discerning through change.
- Is there depth to your discipleship? This would be ranging from basic things like introducing spiritual disciplines and helping keep them accountable (prayer, bible reading, sabbath, meditation), to the heavier (but just as important) things, like learning apologetics, gaining a biblical worldview, speaking tough truth in love, wrestling with suffering, trusting God when He’s silent, and fulfilling the great commission.
- Are your disciples serving? We need to cooperate as a body of Christ, so our disciples can see their own worth and value as working parts of the body of Christ. (This is not suggesting their worth and value come from serving – it comes from being God’s son/daughter – here, I am talking about realizing that as you work alongside one another, your contributions have a positive effect on the whole family) If one person does all the work then the rest of the family becomes indifferent, ungrateful, and/or entitled. I’ve personally witnessed that people who are new to your church family are more likely to grow in their faith if they are serving and contributing in some capacity. Disciples shouldn’t be wallflowers – invite them to a place where they can use their strengths to build up the body of Christ, and watch them start to desire more of what God has for them. Fire spreads, passion grows, souls are saved!
I am the first in line to say I haven’t been as active a disciple-maker as I want to be. Please hear my heart – I hope that these questions encourage you to revisit your personal ministry’s discipleship plan and efforts. I hope that your focus on Christ dictates your direction in every part of your life, not just what you offer to those around you, but also for your own heart and mind. I hope they encourage you to pursue growth in your personal life, and that through your faith, others are strengthened.
2 Timothy 1:5-7 says, “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
I hope we all can live in a mindset of constant redirection and surrender to Christ. His goodness does not depend on you; His love isn’t conditional on your servitude; His call goes beyond your position. What can we do but respond with worship? Let’s bask in his goodness and rejoice in this amazing love he has for us!
Every ministry looks different, and every ministry leader has their own deep beliefs about God and his kingdom, but I hope that as Christian leaders, we can unanimously agree that making disciples is what matters most of all. We can’t afford to skirt around this or dismiss it as overly ordinary. We get to live this life of ministry to others. I hope you always recognize that we love because he first loved us, and we serve and generously give our time, attention, money, and affection, because of who He is. A loving Father, a righteous judge, the Prince of Peace, and the promise keeper. He has all the authority, he entrusts us with this great commission, and he will be with us always.
“Go and make disciples…”
Resources:
Jackie Hill Perry, video sermon. Revive Our Hearts Women’s conference, October 3rd 2025. https://www.reviveourhearts.com/events/true-woman-25/session/behold-the-living-word/?srsltid=AfmBOooLlG3zANHoaaz5CcL3OC3R2L7SGM33ePySOQ9snXDoVw3XebqG
Recommendations for further study on making disciples:
- The One Jesus Loves, book by Robert Crosby
- 2. Along the Way, book by Josiah Smith
- 3. The Art of Pastoring, book by David Hansen
- 4. “With the Perrys,” podcast with Preston and Jackie Hill Perry
- 5. “The Bible Dept.” podcast with Dr. Manny Arango
- 6. Jesus Revolution, movie from Lion’s Gate Entertainment
- 7. They Smell Like Sheep, book by Dr. Lynn Anderson
Bio: Lydia Jay is a wife, mom, and minister who loves learning about the Lord and helping people. She and her husband Joe served in youth ministry for about ten years before transitioning four years ago into the lead pastor role at their church in Harrison, OH. Lydia loves spending time baking and laughing with her four daughters and husband, all of whom steal her heart every day. Thank you, Jesus
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