7 of 12 Christian Basics: Make Disciples

Businesses, as everyone knows, exist for a purpose: to make money. Although non-profits might have a different purpose, the purpose of most businesses is to make money for their owners. A business that does not fulfill its purpose faces reorganization or perhaps even closure. Employees who do not contribute to the purpose of the business or perhaps even detract from it face corrective action or, in the worst cases, even dismissal. Businesses are considered “successful” to the extent that they fulfill their purpose.

Jesus in his great commission described the purpose of the church: to make disciples. This is the only imperative in the great commission. A church that is making disciples is fulfilling his aim. A church that is not making disciples is not yet fulfilling its purpose.

Just as the owner of a business has the right to expect the business to fulfill its purpose, so does the owner of the church, Jesus, have the right to expect the same from his church. The first of the lessons on Christian basics noted Jesus’s authority, which gives him the right to determine the purpose of the church or anything else in the world. Further, Jesus bought the church with his own blood on the cross. It is by all rights his church and he determines its purpose.

A story from early in the church’s life illustrates disciple-making, Acts 8:26-40. A traveler from Ethiopia had come to Jerusalem when one of Jesus’s apostles, Philip, met him. Starting with the Ethiopian’s interests, Philip skillfully revealed Jesus to him. He responded immediately and was baptized All indications are that he on that day became a disciple. He became a follower of Jesus who learned Jesus’s ways and adopted them.

Ever since the first century, the church has been making disciples of Jesus. The book of Acts in the New Testament illustrates this process from the earliest times. The church’s purpose has not changed. Recently, thousands of students at Ohio State University received Christ and, just like the Ethiopian, were baptized.

The church today does well to remember her owner and his purpose: to make disciples.

Note: This article is the seventh in a series of basics of Christian theology, from Jesus himself. He taught 12 basics of theology in his Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). The twelve are: Jesus’s authority; Jesus’s divine compassion; heaven and earth; reason and faith; go; all nations; make disciples (the basic in this article); Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; all that I have commanded; with you; surely; and the end of the age. The first article in the series is here. To follow all of the articles in the series, click on the word “Philosophical” at the beginning of any or the articles.

You can see the entire study on the 12 basics of Christian theology here.

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