Understanding Discipleship

Excerpts from Moises Vega writings and transcript by Talsidia Vega
Taken from the book "Disciples are made not born" Walter A. Henrichsen

Many are Christians but few are Disciples:

2 Tim 2:2

" and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

"...what you have heard from me..."  The importance of the person, of individuals.  When Jesus called Peter, he did not see Peter the way he was, but the end product.  The same way with every person that is called to serve, there is a great potential in each one of us.

1-  "What you have heard from me..." - talks to us of a very close relationship, a mutual trust, that comes from serving for a while together.  When Paul wrote from the prison to the Church at Filippos,  since he could not go and visit them, he was sending Timothy, his son in the faith.  What Paul meant to say was "... when Timothy gets there, is as if I was coming to you".  

Many years back, Paul saw in this young man a great potential and decided to invest his life in him.

2-  "...this entrust..." - It suggests the giving of one person to another.  This indicates a great trust being given.  Paul is telling Timothy "...you are my disciple..."  This is the relationship between you and me.  Now, you have to go and pass this on to a disciple that wants to be a disciple".  When we invest in the lives of other people, we are passing on, not only what we have learned, but more important yet, who we are.

Later on Paul writes, "...10 Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at Ico′nium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me." 2 Tim 3:10-11.

This gives us an idea of what Paul was entrusting Timothy with, that later on Timothy, through time, entrust faithful men.

3-  "... faithful men..." - King Solomon wrote,  "Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,

    but a faithful man who can find?"  Prov 20:6

Faithful men and women are always few.  God still is looking, "...9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward him..." 2 Chronicles 16:9a  (this point will be seen in the following post).

4-  "...teach others also..." - Here is where the process of discipleship start to have shape.  We are today, on the fourth generation (figurative).  The line started with Paul, then Timothy, then faithful men and finally, us.  

The teaching can not be done only in the classrooms.  This is a multiplication process.  While the faithful men are teaching others, Timothy is in the process of raising faithful men to teach others.  By implementing this disciple multiplication vision, this is how are we going to be able to be part of the fulfillment of the Great Commission, there is no other way, is Jesus way.

We are stating that the key of making disciples is "faithful men & women".  Now,  what are the qualities of a faithful person?  What quality of life with God characterizes the life of this person?.

will continue...