discipleship

Joel

2:28  "And it shall come to pass afterward,    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.

I've been thinking about "discipleship".  I think disciples of Jesus make disciples who make disciples ...  Replication is implicit.  And thinking about Matt. 28:19-20, it seems like baptism could be an indicator (not a metric, but an indicator).  However, "primary baptisms/disciples" (i.e., those baptisms/disciples facilitated directly by Disciple A) are not really a good indicator; the indicator would improve in accuracy if associated with "secondary" baptisms/disciples (i.e., those baptisms/disciples facilitated by Disciple B, whose baptism/discipleship was facilitated by Disciple A). Better still would be an indicator based on "tertiary" baptisms/disciples.

When our indicator (sometimes metric) of "discipleship" is church attendance, we like to think pretty highly of ourselves.  When the indicator is changed to primary baptisms/disciples, the bar is raised, but I think the model in 2 Timothy 2:2 is actually secondary or tertiary disciples:

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Timothy was a primary disciple of Paul; "faithful men" would be secondary to Paul; "others" would be tertiary.

While I have had the great privilege of sharing the Gospel with several people and seeing them follow Christ in baptism, I am embarrassed to say that I don't think I have discipled them to make disciples who make disciples.

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for my lack of obedience and investment in your Kingdom.  Lord, please help me be a disciple maker.  I love you, and I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.