•Men, women, and children stream forward at the conclusion of an evangelistic crusade. •The pastor reports that several individuals prayed to receive Jesus Christ this week during home visitation night. •A fellow church member responds to an invitation during the worship service, declaring her recommitment to Christ.

It always warms our hearts to see people follow the call of God in their lives. But why do many who indicate decisions for Christ at a crusade meeting, or in their homes, never make it to the sanctuary? And why, not even a year after rededicating her life to the Lord, does that person in your church again approach the altar in an attitude of surrender—as if the first time didn't "take"?

Years ago, a highly publicized national evangelistic campaign excitedly reported that thousands of people had given their hearts to Christ during the year-long effort. Follow-up research showed that less than five percent of those who professed faith in Christ had become part of a local church.

What's going on? Why do so many people seem to slip through the evangelical cracks? I believe the problem lies in our failure to properly understand and implement the Great Commission.

CONVERTS OR DISCIPLES?

If we look closely at Mt. 28:18-20, we discover that Jesus never told us to make converts. Just before He ascended from earth, while giving His followers their last-minute instructions, the Lord clearly directed that they should "go and make disciples" (Mt. 28:19, emphasis added). Lest we dismiss this as simple theological hair-splitting, we need to know that the Greek word Jesus used for "disciples" is totally different from the Greek word for "converts"—a critical distinction.

A convert is essentially one who has turned from and turned to. It implies the same action as the military term about face. However, a person can become a convert without ever responding to the follow-up command, forward march. A disciple, on the other hand, is one who responds to that second order by becoming a learner and a follower, as Webster's definition tells us.

SIX REASONS TO MAKE DISCIPLES

But why the distinction? What did Christ mean by His emphasis on making disciples? Certainly, many people converted to belief in Jesus Christ through one-on-one evangelists, church services, and large evangelistic crusades will learn how to share their faith with others. Isn't that good enough? Good, yes, but enough? No. I have learned six major reasons why Jesus commissioned His followers to make disciples.

To confirm decisions for Christ.

Over the years I have had opportunities to discuss the gospel with a number of nonChristians through my involvement in the Christian Business Men’s Committee, my local church, and interacting with friends. I've even seen some of them pray to invite the Lord into their lives. But unfortunately, a verbal prayer does not necessarily mean a true commitment.

Sometimes people will pray the "sinner's prayer" to get rid of a persistent witness. Consider a man who has just finished dinner and is preparing to relax and watch a ball game on TV. Suddenly, the doorbell rings and two smiling strangers are standing on his front porch. Too polite to tell them what he really thinks, he listens to what they have to say—something about the Bible and Jesus Christ—and desperately tries to figure out their objective.

When they suggest that he pray to ask forgiveness for his sins and invite Christ into his life, he thinks, Anything, just to get these people out of here. After he "prays," the strangers shake his hand, give him some literature, and leave rejoicing, while the man rushes over to the TV set, hoping he hasn't missed much of the game. Without follow-up designed to disciple this new "convert," his counterfeit commitment may never be discovered.

At other times, people pray to accept Jesus Christ without clearly understanding what they are doing. Their prayer is simply a cry for help, recognizing problems in their lives that need to be resolved and hoping that what the Bible teaches will prove to be the answer. I have a friend who sincerely prayed at a businessmen's outreach luncheon to give his life to Christ, but later admitted, "It can't be true. It's too easy." We began meeting once a week in a discipling relationship and eventually he concluded that what he had heard was indeed the truth, even if it did seem "too easy."

Some nonbelievers will pray a "sinner's prayer" in faith—faith in the person they are talking to, not in the Person of Jesus Christ. A woman might think, Well, my life's a mess and I've tried everything else. This lady seems sincere. It certainly won't hurt to repeat what she's asking me to say.

This woman is receptive to spiritual truth; she just doesn't understand enough to make an eternal decision of mind, emotions, and will. In her case, the discipling process could begin even before she becomes a convert, as someone begins to show her how to read, study, and apply God's Word to her life.

Of course, many people who respond to God understand what they are doing, at least to a degree. That leads to the second reason for making disciples.

To nurture new believers toward spiritual maturity.

Years ago, I came across a cartoon in a book by Michael Green, Evangelism Then and Now, that underscores this point. In the cartoon a nurse stands at the door of a maternity ward, waving at a baby in diapers crawling away outside the door. "You're on your own now!" the nurse cheerily calls to the infant.

Ridiculous? Certainly. A newborn child is helpless, unable to care for itself during the early stages of its life. It has to be fed, bathed, diapered, and burped. In a real sense, a babe in Christ needs the same kind of care. He may seem fairly independent physically and mentally, but his spiritual life is totally new. "What do I do now?" he asks.

A human baby doesn't know where to look for food or what to do if it finds some. The spiritual baby isn't very different. In 1 Pet. 2:2 the apostle wrote, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

I first heard the gospel explained when I was seventeen, but did not commit my life to Christ until I was thirty. Then, even though I attended a church where the Word of God was faithfully and effectively taught, I didn't start becoming a disciple until nearly two years later. Through a small group Bible study I began to understand how to apply biblical principles and personalize them. Until then, my life Monday through Saturday probably looked much like those of my nonChristian coworkers, friends, and neighbors.

Too often, "discipling" consists only of handing new Christians the schedule of church activities and hoping they will attend faithfully. But even showing up regularly will not suffice. When was the last time you heard someone interrupt a Sunday morning sermon by saying, "Excuse me, Pastor Smith, but I don't understand what you just said. Could you run through that one more time, slowly?"

Walter A. Henrichsen, a strong advocate for discipling over the years, calls it "spiritual pediatrics." Not only does the disciplemaker help the new believer with the basics, such as where to find specific books of the Bible and how to have assurance of salvation, but he also helps the "baby" discover how to relate the Scriptures to various areas of life such as finances, marriage and family, work, ethics, even leisure time. This often requires a combination of "show and tell," which brings us to point three.

To set an example for the new Christian to follow.

In 1 Thess. 2:8 the Apostle Paul wrote these caring words, "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." This was not hit-and-run witnessing; the Apostle Paul recognized the importance of investing his own life into people who responded eagerly to the call of Christ. Later, he advised Timothy to "set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12).

It is said that most important concepts are more easily "caught" than taught. Making disciples is not a "do as I say, not as I do" enterprise. As I have watched the three disciples I'm closest to—my three daughters—grow up, I have been humbled (and sometimes dismayed) to discover how readily they imitate my actions. Spiritual disciples also model themselves after their disciplers. They listen to our words, which experts say make up only 37 percent of all communication. They also pay attention to the way we say things and watch our body language, which together comprise the remaining 63 percent.

Being an example may seem like an awesome responsibility for one desiring to make disciples. It is. But without our example of commitment to Christ, flaws included, who will set the pace for new Christians? We can't leave that job up to the pastors. They're human, too, and besides, we rarely see them except behind the pulpit. Fledgling Christians need to learn from someone they can observe in the trenches of real life.

But we need not feel like the weight rests on our shoulders alone. We have not only the greatest resource of all, the Lord, but also other members of His Body, which leads to disciplemaking reason number four.

To incorporate new believers into the Body of Christ.

The initial experience with Christianity can be a culture shock for many people, especially if they come from secular or non-church backgrounds.

Suddenly they are confronted with new traditions, different music, unfamiliar worship forms, practices that may seem very strange, even a new vocabulary. The disciplemaker can serve as a buffer from the old to the new, guiding the new Christian through the initial adjustments.

Succeeding in making disciples, however, does not require being a know-it all. Many times it is best to call on a fellow believer with more skills or better training in areas of particular need, such as financial planning, business management, or marriage and family counseling.

As he interacts with a variety of believers, the new Christian can begin to appreciate the depth and variety of the Body of Christ—those men, women, and youngsters who make up His Church. Disciplemaking should not be a "Lone Ranger" enterprise. God doesn't ask us to make clones; He wants to use us to help others realize the gifts and spiritual potential He has given them.

Once we have confirmed decisions for Christ, started the new believers on the road to spiritual maturity, set an example for them to follow, and succeeded in bringing them into the Body of Christ, we find yet another motivation for making disciples.

To teach them to reproduce spiritually.

In 2 Tim. 2:2 the Apostle Paul wrote these words to the man he discipled, Timothy: "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." This verse includes four categories of believers: Paul, Timothy, reliable men, and others. Here we see the "bottom line" of Christ's commission: He not only wants us to help others become more adept in practicing their faith on a daily basis, but He also wants us to equip others so they, too, are able to make disciples.

As the new believer experiences the process of spiritual growth in his own life and sees his patient mentor lovingly show how to develop a prospering relationship with his Savior and Lord, he will develop a keen sense of what it takes to make another disciple.

Being a disciplemaker doesn't require that we have all the answers. If that were so, only Christ Himself would be qualified for the job. But as we saw earlier in Mt. 28:19, He delegated that job to us.

Sometimes questions have no clear cut answers. That's the problem of trying to understand an infinite God with a finite mind. But even that is a positive learning experience for the disciple—he discovers that the successful Christian life is still possible without knowing all the "whys" or "hows" or "whats." That gives him the confidence to seek out his own person to disciple without the fear of not knowing enough.

And that, I believe, directs us to the final, most exciting reason for disciplemaking.

To enable the disciplemaker to grow spiritually.

To my delight, I've learned that often the disciplemaker grows the most in a discipling relationship. The disciplemaker benefits from both the preparation for each session and the interaction with the new believer.

In Psalm 51, King David wrote, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation." One of the best ways for doing that is meeting with a new Christian, observing the freshness and excitement of his new faith, and having that fervor rekindled in our own life. Sometimes, after years of walking with Christ, we lose the sense of childlike wonder that we had at first. Truths that once thrilled us become old news; a kind of spiritual indifference sets in.

A new Christian can be an antidote for that apathy, reminding us of the importance of those fundamental truths we learned so long ago. He challenges us to rethink our own convictions. I often tell the men I meet with, "If your faith can't stand up to your own questions, it's not worth having." And it spurs our own growth when a disciple asks a question we can't answer, particularly if it concerns an area we haven't considered before.

At times a disciple will even startle us with novel insights into God's Word, enabling us to see a key principle in a new and deeper way. For instance, one man I have discipled is a computer programmer. It's amazing how many analogies to spiritual truth you can draw from the world of data processing!

ONE-ON-ONE OR SMALL GROUP DISCIPLING?

Although one-on-one spiritual mentoring is common, discipling relationships can prosper just as effectively between two couples or in small groups. I would advise against letting a group get too large, because it then becomes difficult to encourage openness and ensure confidentiality. You may have a Bible study, but it's unlikely that you would succeed in making true disciples.

I was discipled first in a group of six couples and later in a group of six men. In both cases the leaders encouraged an atmosphere of candor, enabling participants to discuss problems and to feel free to ask even "stupid" questions. (We soon learned that no questions are stupid.) I've also enjoyed meeting with a number of men one-on-one through the past eight years. I suggest one guideline in choosing whether to disciple on an individual basis or in a small group: Be open to the opportunities God makes available to you.

MOVING TOWARD MATURITY

Several years ago I met a man named Mike. He had been a Christian longer than I had, but the concept of making disciples was a new idea for him. We met for more than a year, and then he began discipling David, a business associate. In the meantime, I also started meeting once a week with another man. Since then, Mike and David have completed their discipling program (although they still meet periodically), Mike has begun discipling two other men, and David is now working with a man on his own—a coworker. Hopefully, new links will add to this chain until the Lord returns.

Studies indicate that as many as 50 million Americans claim to be Christians, yet in many respects our society seems devoid of Christian influence. A key reason may be that in our zeal to lead people to Christ, we have forgotten His commission to "make disciples"—those who are truly learners, followers, imitators, and ultimately reproducers.

It's time we started moving many of our brothers and sisters out of the spiritual nursery and toward maturity. Let us be able to tell them, as Paul wrote, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice" (Phil. 4:9).

Robert J. Tamasy is the national director of publications for the Christian Business Men’s Committeeof the U.S.A. in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the coauthor, with Ken Johnson, of Reflections from the Flock.