Most Important – Discipleship or Evangelism?

People are good at lots of things.  But one thing we really struggle with is holding multiple ideas at the same time.  We tend to focus on one thing or another (all you multitaskers are kidding yourselves if you think you don’t).  So in the church it is inevitable that questions like the above surface.  What should we focus on?  Discipling believers or evangelizing unbelievers?

I suggest that this is a false contrast.  But rather than argue for a middle ground or balance between these two, I’m convinced that they aren’t really that different from one another.

In the Great Commission, Jesus says to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded.  Which part of that is making disciples?  The going part?  The baptizing part?  The teaching to obey part?

The reality is that evangelism and teaching are among the elements of discipleship.  Making disciples involves multiple steps, one of which is evangelism.  So rather than trying to determine is we should spend our time making disciples or evangelizing, we can spend our time making disciples which includes evangelism.

Let’s look at the life of Jesus for our model.  Jesus called 12 disciples.  How many of them were Christians when he called them?  None!  Not one single person was.  O.K. I know.  There weren’t any Christians before Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Fine.  How many were committed to the idea that Jesus was the Messiah?  None!  Let’s take it one step further.  How many ended up as Christians after the death and resurrection of Christ?  Arguably only eleven.  What this shows us is that Jesus discipled people before they were committed believers.  And not everyone Jesus discipled placed their faith in him.  Since this is true, we should have a different outlook on discipleship.

Discipleship starts well before a person is a committed follower of Jesus Christ.  And people don’t have to know they’re being discipled, quite frankly.  As we come into contact with people (family, friends, neighbors, co-workers) we can begin to speak truth into their lives, expose them to concepts of faith, and challenge their presuppositions about life and purpose.  This is discipleship.  We can teach them about what Jesus said.  We can even invite them to live the way Jesus taught us to live, simply for the benefits that manner of living brings.  Of course, at some point we will need to challenge the person to make a decision about the Gospel and the the person of Jesus, but once they do we simply continue to speak truth into their lives, challenge their presuppositions, and encourage them to obey the teachings of Jesus.

If we do this well, the discipled believer will initiate this same process in the lives of her family members, among her friends, and with her co-workers.  But don’t make these folks wait until they’re “fully discipled” before they do this.  You see, discipling someone else is a requirement of being a disciple.  Jesus gave that Great Commission for them, too.

In this way, discipleship will always include evangelism.  You will be discipling people into the faith.  And those disciples, once they’ve committed themselves to Jesus, will be discipling others into the faith.  The main goal of the church, then, is to make disciples.