I received the following seven questions from someone who is writing a paper for a class about whether discipleship "has value in today's context."

Here are my quick answers to his important questions:

Q. What is a disciple?
A: A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, "fishes" for people and does this in fellowship with other disciples, while carrying a cross. Discipleship is not complicated. Difficult, yes. Complicated, no. It is so simple that a carpenter described it to uneducated fishermen 2,000 years ago in one sentence. (See Matthew 4:19 for that sentence.)

Q: Do you have to be saved to be a disciple?
A: Yes. But since evangelism is the starting point of making disciples, the discipleship journey starts long before one is saved.

Q: Are all Christians disciples? If not, what are the differences?
A: All should be, but unfortunately not all are following Jesus, fishing for people or fellowshipping with others. And not all are carrying a cross and living a life of self-denial.

Q: Does church membership make one a disciple?
A: No. Most churches spend a lot of time, energy and money developing a membership process, but no time developing a discipleship process. Therefore they are successful at making members, but failing miserably at making disciples.

Q: What does a disciple's life look like?
A: Following Jesus (devotion). Fishing for people (evangelism). Fellowshipping with other believers (community). Carrying a cross (self-denial).

Q: Is being a disciple important in today's culture or to one's life?
A: If the Bible is important, then discipleship is important. Of course, if the Bible is no longer valid, then discipleship is an outdated concept and a waste of time—so we might as well do whatever it takes to attract a big crowd and call it a church.

Q: Who is responsible for making disciples?
A: Every person who is a follower of Jesus—no matter how old, no matter how long they have been saved, no matter where they work. Every believer should be a disciple and every believer should make disciples—EVERY believer.

Those are my quick, off-the-cuff answers. If I had time to edit, I might change some of these answers, but I'm out of time.

Are you a disciple of Christ? Are you making disciples?

Steve and Deborah Murrell went to the Philippines in 1984 for a one-month summer mission trip that never ended. They are the founding pastors of Victory Manila, one church that meets in 14 locations in metro Manila and has planted churches in 60 Philippine cities and 20 other nations. Currently, Victory has more than 6,000 discipleship groups that meet in coffee shops, offices, dormitories and homes in metro Manila. Steve is co-founder and president of Every Nation Churches and Ministries, a family of churches focused on church planting, campus ministry and world missions.

For the original article, visit stevemurrell.com.

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