Make Disciples: Disciples Make Disciples

I’m pretty sure that most of us are at least partially aware of Mahatma Gandhi, but I’ll bet most of us never knew this about him. During his younger days, when he was a lawyer in South Africa, he read the Gospels at length and saw in the teachings of Jesus the answer to the major problem facing the people of India, the caste system. He seriously considered embracing the Christian faith. He went to a white-only church one Sunday morning to talk to the pastor about the idea of becoming Christian. When he entered the church, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and told him to go worship with his own kind. Gandhi left the church and never returned. He wrote years later in his memoirs: If Christians have caste differences also, I might as well remain a Hindu.

You and I have heard it said that we have a vocation’s crisis, a family crisis, a marriage crisis, a faith crisis. These crises are but symptoms of a much greater predicament. We have an identity crisis. We have forgotten our missionary calling: Go therefore 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 (Matt 28:19-20).

 Jesus gave us 4 tasks: go – make – baptize – teach. At the very heart of the Great Commission is make disciples. Jesus told us over 2,000 years ago to not just make believers or practicing Catholics, but to make disciples. We were and are always a people meant to be on a mission. That mission is to bring good news wherever it has yet not been encountered.To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to be engaged in a lifelong process of learning from and about Jesus. This learning process is not haphazard, but intentional and disciplined. You and I know that just because someone believes in Jesus or goes to church does not necessarily mean they have a hunger for Jesus. Loving evangelization leads to hunger. To evangelize literally means to announce the good news, but what is the Good News? The Good News is not only to hear the wonderful truths of God’s plan for salvation, or to hear about God’s love and mercy. The Good News has a name and a face. The very person and presence of Jesus in our life is the Good News. The ultimate game-changer is in coming to know him and to love him. The difficult truth is many people have never come to know him personally, and therefore have no hunger for him. Less than 25% of all self-identified Catholics attend Mass on a weekly basis.Millions upon millions of Catholics are utterly convinced that they are missing nothing. 

I recently overheard a fellow Catholic discuss how they belonged to the one true church. The church Jesus founded. Just for the record, being part of the Catholic Church is not meant to provide home-court advantage. Being part of the Roman Catholic Church is meant to be a joyfully shared treasure. The truth is the Catholic Church by definition exists for the sake of those who do not belong. It’s not a club for the sake of its members. The Catholic Church is where we are meant to be led and united in our hunger for Jesus.

 Maybe we could reflect how well we are sharing our love for Jesus with others who aren’t present among us. Are we inviting others to come and experience Jesus? How much are we going out of our way to be hospitable to others on Sunday and beyond? Trust is gained through relationships, through caring, through making someone feel like they belong.

 The intentional disciple is always driven by a desire to see other people hear and respond to Jesus. The intentional disciple has a hunger for Jesus himself. They have a passion for people to experience the love of God in Jesus Christ. Intentional disciples always remember they are in the disciple making business.