In the last post about discipleship we established the concept that discipleship ins’t a program, it is a lifestyle. We each need to have an attitude that every moment is a potential discipleship moment and every person that we encounter is a potential disciple.
That means that some of our disciples will be people who do not yet know God, or Jesus, or the Bible at all. So the question is, “Do we disciple unbelievers differently than we do believers?”
We can’t really answer that question until we answer another question, which is: what is the goal of discipleship?
Shortly after Jesus had died on the cross and risen from the dead, He pulled His closest followers aside and gave them their marching orders. Jesus said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Did you catch that? Jesus is the only guy in history to get up from the grave on His own power and start walking around. He then says all authority in all creation has been given to Him. Where does that authority come from? It comes from the very fact that He’s walking around instead of rotting in a cave somewhere. He has just beaten death, do you think He has the authority to tell us what our life mission should be? You bet.
That authority that He has puts a tremendous amount of weight on Jesus’ next words. You see, if Jesus has all authority, that means he pretty much rules all creation. What He says goes. And the fact that He points out His authority right before giving us this command should tell us He means business in what He is about to say. He is serious about it, so we should be equally serious.
So what does He tell us to do? Make disciples. How do we do that? Three things:
1. Baptise them. That’s identification with Christ.
2. Teach them to obey. That’s imitation of Christ
3. Teach them that Jesus is always with us. That’s intimacy with Christ.
That’s how we make disciples. Now let’s get back to our original question. Is discipling an unbeliever any different that a believer? If discipleship is leading people to be baptised, teaching them to obey Christ, and developing a minute-by-minute dependence on Him, then aren’t these all things we need to model and encourage no matter what a person’s spiritual state is?
See, we get caught up on the “pray-the-prayer” and be saved thing. We want people to make a big decision for Christ. But what discipleship is really about is helping people make incremental spiritual steps toward what God originally intended for them, which is an authentic relationship with Him. And the best way to teach others on how to do that is to live out a continually growing relationship with Jesus and invite them to follow.
That means the most important ingredients to any discipleship relationship aren’t knowledge and expertise, but love and time. Sure, biblical knowledge is essential. But helping someone gain biblical knowledge makes a student, not a disciple. Discipleship is about pouring your life into another person intentionally and lovingly in such a way as when you have left that person he or she is a bit closer to Christ than before. That’s something you can do with anyone–believer, or non.
Sometimes feelings creep up on you and you didn’t even have a clue they would be there. I experienced this tonight as I watch my truck of almost nine years drive away under the ownership of someone else. 
About the only thing that never changes is the fact that eventually everything changes. Most of us don’t like change. Some of us might say we love change, but study after study finds that those that say that only really enjoy change when they themselves are the ones controling the changes. 
What do you think of when you hear the word “church?”