Sound mission work includes the intentional discipleship of new believers. The Scriptures instruct us to not just lead people to a profession of faith in Jesus but also to teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded (Matt 28:18–20). Such teaching is commonly known as “discipleship” and forms an integral component of the Great Commission.
Some have framed this work of discipleship into two categories—short-term discipleship and long-term discipleship. Short-term discipleship is the endeavor to teach brand new believers what it means to follow Jesus by highlighting some of the most central commands of the New Testament and instructing them how to follow such commands. Typically, short-term discipleship lessons cover about the first ten discipleship meetings with a new believer and aim to lay a foundation for faithful obedience to Christ.
Long-term discipleship is the ongoing work of shepherding believers in the instruction of God’s Word so that the roots of their lives might sink deeper into God’s truth, thus leading to lasting fruitfulness (Isa 37:31; Gal 5:22). Long-term discipleship for local believers might look like meeting regularly (even outside the corporate gathering of the church) to study the Scriptures expositionally (e.g., studying the gospel of John chapter by chapter) and consider how they ought to shape the way we think and live.
A Contextual Necessity
When it comes to short-term discipleship, one particular issue that is easily overlooked yet crucially important is the need to endure suffering and persecution. For years I looked to Acts 2:41–47 as a baseline framework for my short-term discipling of new believers. That passage highlights for us some of the central components of the early church’s pursuit of Christ—baptism, devotion to God’s Word, prayer, love for neighbor, the Lord’s Supper, generous giving, etc. Indeed, it is important for new believers to learn such basic aims and patterns of the Christian life. Yet over time, I and fellow coworkers began to recognize that our short-term discipleship lessons were not addressing some important issues that new believers were facing in our context—one of which is the reality of suffering.
Recognizing the need to help new believers stand firm in the face of persecution, we began emphasizing this point in our discipleship work. We started intentionally highlighting for new believers Jesus’ exhortation in John 16:33—“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” We also began studying Acts 4:23–31 with them, which demonstrates what faithfulness in the face of potential suffering and persecution looks like.
A Biblical Precedent
Such teaching on the suffering of believers is not just a contextual necessity, however; it is part of the biblical precedent for discipleship.
The Apostle Paul and his coworker Barnabas, on their first missionary journey, made such instruction a significant part of their work of discipling new believers. On the latter part of their journey, they went back and visited the disciples they had made at previous stops. According to Acts 14:21–22, “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Considering the brevity with which Luke—the author of Acts—writes about this account of discipleship, it is striking that he highlights the endeavor of Paul and Barnabas to help new believers stand firm in the face of trials and opposition. It is the most specific of the three statements Luke makes. Luke records, in general, that Paul and Barnabas (1) strengthened and (2) encouraged these new believers to continue in the faith.
Luke could have highlighted a number of specific ways that Paul and Barnabas strengthened and encouraged the disciples. Yet out of all the possible teachings that Luke could have highlighted, he chose to emphasize the work of helping new disciples to endure suffering and persecution (i.e., “that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God,” Acts 14:22). This account thus underscores the importance of teaching new believers to endure suffering.
A Challenge for Disciple-Makers
This precedent should lead us to consider how we might likewise strengthen new believers to faithfully and joyfully face suffering. The reality of persecution is commonplace for many Christians throughout the Majority World. To follow Christ is to invite opposition from those who are of this world. What are we doing to help strengthen new believers in the face of such a challenge? Moreover, opposition to Christianity is increasing even in the West, where Christianity’s long-held influence is waning, giving way to worldviews that are hostile to the historic Christian faith. Believers in the post-Christian West thus need to learn to stand firm in the face of social and political opposition.
Paul warned, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). Our discipleship work should address this reality if we hope to see new believers “take root downward and bear fruit upward” (Isa 37:31).
Photo by Thanos Pal on Unsplash
