What is a Disciple?

A disciple is someone who is learning and living the ways of Jesus, and leading others to do the same.

Becoming a disciple doesn’t happen all at once. It happens over time as we are being formed by the Holy Spirit. Disciples aren’t perfect. After all, even the Apostle Paul described himself as a ‘wretch’. But a disciple is in the process of being transformed. And if any of the three elements [learning, living, leading] are missing, that should get our attention.

What is the Process of Becoming a Disciple?

Jesus led his disciples through 3 basic phases: Explore, Develop, and Multiply. At each stage, he invited them to take a ‘next step’.

  • Explore: ‘Come and See’ is the invitation to explore who Jesus and discover what it looks like to be a disciple.

  • Develop: ‘Follow Me’ is the invitation to learn and live the ways of Jesus.

  • Multiply: ‘Feed My Sheep’ is the invitation to lead others in learning and living the ways of Jesus.

The process can be illustrated like this:

Progress through the process isn’t measured by information. It’s measured by obedience which demonstrates itself in life change. So, our process isn’t focused on content. Instead, we look to develop outcomes by integrating habits into our lives.

In the Explore Phase, we anticipate the following outcomes:

  • Desire to be a disciple. The individual demonstrates a desire to learn and live the ways of Jesus, and lead others to do the same.

  • Responding to the Gospel. The individual receives God’s gift of grace by faith and invites Jesus to be his/her Savior and Leader.

  • Baptism. The individual gives public testimony of his/her faith through the ordinance of baptism.

These outcomes are facilitated through the following habits:

  • Church Community. The person is regularly engaged in Christian community. This doesn’t necessarily mean attending worship services or other church programs. But it does mean being part of a community that is exploring what it means to be a disciple together.

  • Bible Reading. The person is learning who Jesus is, and about what it means to be a disciple. This reading is primarily focused on the Gospels.

  • Prayer. The person is learning how to interact with God through prayer.

In the Develop Phase, we anticipate the following outcomes:

  • Walk. The person is walking in the power of the Spirit.

  • Talk. The person can share their story and God’s story.

  • Feed. The person is feeding themselves from God’s Word.

  • Clean. The person is living a transformed/holy life.

  • Identify. The person understands who we are and whose we are in Christ.

These outcomes are facilitated through the following habits:

  • Obedience to Scripture. It’s not enough to know what the Bible says. It must change how we live.

  • Spirit-led Prayer. Jesus gave us the outline. The Spirit leads us into becoming a person of prayer.

  • BLESS Practices. Disciples live missionally. BLESS is a great strategy.

  • One Anothering. The ‘One Anothers’ of Scripture provide a guide for experiencing relationally connected lives.

  • Serving. God has given us gifts, passions, and a story that He expects us to use to serve Him and the world.

In the Multiply Phase, we anticipate the following outcomes:

  • Intentional Relationships. The person is investing in intentional relationships that lead people to salvation and through multiplication.

  • Spiritual Reproduction. The person is being used by God to lead at least one person to Christ every three years.

  • Producing Disciple Makers. The person is responsible for 2-3 streams of disciple making activity that have reproduced to the 2nd or 3rd generation.

These outcomes are facilitated through the following habits:

  • Spiritual Accountability. Being transparent and accountable to others about one’s own spiritual journey.

  • Relationships with pre-Christians. Actively and intentionally building relationships with people who are far from God.

  • Intentional Disciple Making. Leading 3-6 people through the Disciple Making Process.

Click here to access our disciple maker toolkit, which provides resources that will help you develop these habits.

Putting it into Practice

Having a plan does nothing. Working the plan changes lives. Here’s how we see this working.

For an Individual:

  • Ask this question: “What’s the invitation I hear Jesus giving me? Maybe it’s exploring who Jesus is and what a relationship with him looks like. Maybe it’s developing as a disciple by learning and living the ways of Jesus. Maybe it’s multiplying disciples by leading them to learn and live the ways of Jesus. What invitation do you hear?

  • As you consider the invitation Jesus is giving you… ask this question: “What are the outcomes that are lacking in my life?” Even those of us who have walked with Jesus for years likely have at least one “Develop” level habit to lean into. For example, many of us struggle to live missionally… sharing the Gospel where we live, learn, work, and play. If that’s true of you, the BLESS practices would be a great next step.

  • Now, ask this: “Who do I know that can help me?” Becoming a disciple was never intended to be a self-improvement project. Only the Spirit can transform us, but Scripture calls us to lean into each other for encouragement and accountability. So, who do you know who is at least one step ahead of you? Ask that person to help you take your next step in learning and living the ways of Jesus, and leading others to do the same.

For a Disciple Maker:

  • If you’re discipling someone, you simply help the person you’re discipling to hear the invitation Jesus is making and discern their next step. Remember, this isn’t about information. It’s about obedience. And that doesn’t happen by taking a class. It happens by living in relationship together. So, take your time. Point people to resources that will help them develop habits which result in forming outcomes.

  • Invest in them. Share life together. In the process, each of you will become better at learning and living the ways, and leading others to do the same.

For a Group:

  • Stop asking, “What do we want to study next?”. Remember, the goal isn’t to just learn about the ways of Jesus. The goal it to learn and live the ways of Jesus, and lead others to do the same.

  • So, instead of starting with content, ask the question, “What habit do we want to see develop within this community? Maybe it’s developing relationships with pre-Christians [Multiply Phase] or growing in Spirit-led prayer [Develop Phase]. Figure out the goal.

  • Then, take 3 steps:

  1. Choose content that will establish the habit you want to see develop. For example, if the habit you want to develop is growing in prayer, content such as the “Prayer Hand” or the “Prayer Wheel” can be great resources. Both of these resources are available on the MtP website [mtp-church.org/disciple-making].

  2. Make the missional shift of moving from information to obedience by using “I will” statements. For example, rather than just learning what each finger of the “Prayer Hand” represents, create a commitment to practice, beginning with “I will…”. These commitments should be very specific, such as “I will pray for at least 5 minutes each day, using the Prayer Hand outline as a guide.”

  3. Find a way to help each other make sure obedience is happening through encouragement and accountability. For example, you could create partnerships of 2-3 people who text or call each other daily to check in our progress. If you do this for 4-5 weeks, you’ll be amazed at the progress you can make.