My Christian education training included a course taught by Dr. Howard Hendricks called “Principles of Discipleship.” Eight of us met at 6:30 in the mornings (not an optimum time for my nocturnal seminary lifestyle). Class sessions were around a conference table, eyeball-to-eyeball, not in a lecture hall. That experience opened my eyes to how Jesus made disciples in the first century—and how that process impacts His Church today.
As the last session of that course drew to a close, Prof Hendricks gave us one final assignment: “When I visit your places of ministry,” he told us, “I’ll ask you only one thing—show me your disciples.” Each of us left that room stunned and silent, but inspired. It struck me that this is also Jesus’ parting “assignment” to His disciples— “Go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:18-20).
