The Three-fold Call of Discipleship

“Come, follow me.” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

Jesus’ ministry gives us a great example of discipleship when He called the twelve men to follow Him. They dropped what they were doing and committed to learning and following His ways. Discipleship is living a life of following Christ and helping others to do the same. When Jesus calls us to be His disciples, He issues a three-fold call.

1.Discipleship is a call to follow Jesus

Being a disciple is to follow Jesus. That requires us to give our whole lives – mind, will, emotions and our future to follow Him. When we follow Jesus and depend on Him, we grow stronger in our faith and become more like Him. Jesus is our light and life. Following His light and example brings me peace and confidence in dealing with different situations in my life, even though sometimes things around me are challenging and difficult to handle at the workplace.

The goal of discipleship is to help people to follow Jesus who will then teach and disciple others to do the same. Jesus trained His disciples during His three years of ministry so they could train others.

2.Discipleship is a call to reach out to non-believers

Jesus expects His disciples who follow Him to reach out to non-believers by introducing them to Jesus so that they can follow Him. I have the opportunity to be involved in the marketplace ministry with Cru Singapore to reach out to the working adults who are non-believers We find relevant management books and invite the participants to join us over 8 sessions of weekly sharing during lunchtime. Last year, we used the book, ‘Leaders Eat Last’ by Simon Sinek, and the discussions focus on three aspects that impact our lives – personal, professional, and spiritual.

3.Discipleship is a call to fellowship with fellow believers

None of the 12 disciples attempted to follow Jesus alone, they followed along with other disciples. Following Jesus and helping others to follow Him happens within a community where we strengthen one another in our walk with our Lord. No matter where we are in our discipleship journey, we are encouraged to be part of a small group church (SGC) where relationships can be built through our meetings and fellowship, as we help and support one another in our walk with our Lord.

Discipleship is a lifelong process of being conformed to the image of Christ with the call to build relationships at three levels: with God, with those who do not know our Lord, and with fellow believers in Christ.

So let us remember to:

• Follow Jesus
• Draw others closer to Jesus
• Build relationships

By brother John Koh