In this article, we will explore 5 reasons why discipleship is so important for believers today. Not only did Jesus model discipleship and call us to make disciples, but there are several different benefits to being a disciple and/or making disciples.
Despite the benefits, many self-professing Christians today are not involved in discipleship. A recent study from the Barna Group showed that 39% of Christians were not engaged in discipleship at all–that is a huge percentage! And while 61% said they were involved in some level of discipleship, there are different levels of involvement.
In the Barna study, they defined Christians who were engaged in “discipleship community” as those who were both being discipled by someone and discipling others. We understand that discipleship is a broad term, and can encompass many things. For reference, here is how we define discipleship at Life on Life:
“Laboring in the lives of a few with the intention of imparting one’s life, the gospel and God’s Word in such a way as to see them become mature and equipped followers of Christ, committed to doing the same in the lives of others.”
We see a lot of overlap in both our definition and Barna’s definition, and there are several important things we can draw from their research to identify the important benefit of discipleship in churches today.
Let’s get started and explore the importance of Christians being in discipleship.
2) Discipleship Strengthens our Relationship with Jesus
The second reason discipleship is important for Christians is that it actually strengthens our relationship with Jesus. Here is another insightful set of statistics from the Barna group study on discipleship:
Christians who were engaged in Barna’s defined group of “discipleship communities” consistently had the highest scores when it came to three different metrics about faith. On the other hand, self-identifying Christians who were not engaged in any form of discipleship consistently scored the worst.
In other words, people who were in discipleship community were far more likely to agree with the all three of the following statements:
- “My relationship with Jesus brings me deep joy and satisfaction.”
- “My relationship with Jesus impacts the way I live my life every day.”
- “I am reenergized when I spend time with Jesus.”
No matter which way you look at the data, it seems clear that discipleship has a positive impact on our faith. To dive into that data point even more, believers who were discipling others consistently had higher scores than those who were just being discipled. This makes sense–stepping out as a leader often requires greater commitment, dependence, and faith which would lead to a stronger relationship with Jesus.
So why don’t more people lead discipleship groups?
3) Being Discipled Equips You to Make Disciples
When the Barna group asked believers why they were not making disciples or training disciples, the three top responses were as follows:
- Don’t think I am qualified or equipped
- No one has suggested it or asked me
- I just haven’t thought about it
All of these problems have a single solution: life-on-life discipleship.
As a reminder, here is our definition: “Laboring in the lives of a few with the intention of imparting one’s life, the gospel and God’s Word in such a way as to see them become mature and equipped followers of Christ, committed to doing the same in the lives of others.”
Did you notice some of the key words there? There are many benefits, but one of the goals of life-on-life discipleship is to make others feel qualified or equipped to disciple others. The intention is to train and empower them to invest in the lives of others. Simply by joining a life-on-life missional discipleship group, you’re being asked to think about and eventually disciple others.
And while leading your own discipleship group may seem scary now, if you are being discipled then it should give you greater confidence to become a discipleship leader.