Benefits of discipleship – discipling new converts
1. Benefits of discipleship for the new convert
2. Benefits of discipleship for the soul-winner and discipler
3. Benefits of discipleship for the church
4. Benefits of discipleship for God
Also
Benefits of discipleship – following Jesus Christ
Benefits of discipling new converts.
Discipleship is a term used to refer to the act of helping new converts to follow Jesus. Therefore, discipleship encompasses all the services we provide for the new convert in the early stages of his Christian life so as to retain him in the faith and make him keep up with Christian lifestyle and Christian teachings.
Discipleship is just as important as the very act of preaching to wins souls. The benefits that comes with discipleship is goes to enormous that the new convert himself, the soul-winner, the Church and God have a benefit to reap from it.
1. Benefits of discipleship for the new convert
I. Discipleship helps the new convert to grow spiritually. Do mothers care for their babies for nothing? After years spent feeding them, cleaning them, protecting them, spending on them, etc., they grow to become healthy and strong adults, capable of taking care of themselves. Discipleship should produce the same results. After the time spent taking the new convert through discipleship, the new convert should grow spiritually to become a mature Christian, capable of managing his own spiritual life. The mature Christian is Spirit-filled; he has developed a daily prayer habit; he has developed a daily Bible study habit; he is victorious over trials and over the temptation to sin; etc. Therefore, one benefit of effective discipleship is the spiritual growth of the new convert.
II. Discipleship helps us to retain the new convert in the faith: Discipleship is supposed to be a solution to a problem. The problem is that most new converts do not hold on to Christianity for long; they backslide a few days, or a few weeks or a few months later. Therefore, discipleship which includes the services of helping the new convert to develop the habit of praying, studying the Bible, and fellowshipping, is supposed to equip the new convert to have a foothold in the faith and not backslide again. In other words, discipleship helps to retain new converts in the faith and in the church.
III. Discipleship creates the opportunity for the new convert to socialize. Discipleship creates the opportunity for the new convert to socialize with other Christians. Initially, the only person the new convert knows in the church is the soul-winner and discipler. As part of discipleship, it is the duty of the soul-winner to introduce his new convert to the church so that other Christians will accept and welcome him as a brother and also show concern for his welfare.
IV. Discipleship has a ripple effect. During such times as mother’s day and father’ day, many are those who say a lot of wonderful things about their parents. This is due to the wonderful childhood experience they had with them. Their parents have done something in their lives that they would ever remember to their credit. Do you think such adults who have had good parental care would grow up to be bad fathers and bad mothers? Very unlikely. When the soul-winner disciples the new convert effectively, he will make a lot of difference in his life. The new convert is likely to appreciate discipleship later on in his life and he will extend the good discipleship experience to other souls he will win.
2. Benefits of discipleship for the soul-winner
I. Paul was the spiritual father of Timothy. Paul’s letters to Timothy suggested how proud he was about Timothy. It was Paul who converted Timothy, discipled him, and made him a pastor. It would put a smile on your face to see that a person you discipled has grown to become a staunch Christian. Your Christian life becomes rich and enjoyable when you impact others positively.
II. Discipleship helps in the spiritual growth of the soul-winner and discipler. In an attempt to disciple the new convert, the soul-winner would have to step up his games. Since he would have to teach the new convert the word of God, he would have to study all the more. Since he would have to help the new convert attend church services, he would have to attend church services regularly too. Since he would have to intercede for the new convert, he would have to extend his prayer time or pray regularly. By and large, all these lead to the spiritual growth of the soul-winner and discipler.
III. Discipleship is part of the big command ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’. Therefore, you are not doing the new convert a favor when you disciple him. Rather, you are obeying the command of your Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Since embarking on discipleship is an act of obedience, you open doors of reward and blessing to yourself, for the Bible says that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
IV. You earn the title of being the spiritual mother or father of other Christians. Paul was the spiritual father of Timothy because he made Timothy become the good Christian that he was. You are the spiritual father to the Christian you discipled to grow and remain in the Christain faith.
3. Benefits of discipleship for the church
I. Discipleship sets the stage for the new convert to grow spiritually toward spiritual maturity to become a mature Christian. The church is better off when it is having spiritually growing or spiritually mature converts, for such converts understand their need for salvation; they would come to church without the ordeal of church leaders reminding them, begging them, convincing them and sometimes bribing them. Such mature converts are resourceful to the church; they are ready to contribute to running the affairs of the church, they make themselves available for evangelism programs intended to win more souls, they are ready to partake in anything which is of interest to the church, etc.
II. As part of its benefits, discipleship is a solution that prevents the new convert from backsliding and retain him in the church. Once the new convert remains in the church, he increases the church membership by one. If the church successfully disciple more new converts, its membership will grow over time, becoming a large church. Moreover, when you retain a new convert in the church, you have actually won and retained an entire family, for he, most likely, will impact the church membership positively by coming along with his wife, or husband, or children, or friends, etc. making the church membership grow exponentially.
4. Benefits of discipleship for God
The heart desire of God has always been that the sinner should repent (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, when the soul-winner leads an unbeliever to Christ, then takes him through discipleship and establishes him firmly in the faith and in the church, it is a great victory – a victory that moves God to rejoice. He rejoices because His heart’s desire has been met; His enemies have reduced by one and his children have increased by one.
Benefits of Discipleship – following Jesus Christ.
Discipleship is also a term used to refer to the act of following Jesus – where Jesus becomes your Lord, Savior, Mentor, Teacher, Master, etc., and you become His disciple or follower.
We Christians of today never had the chance of seeing Jesus Christ in person, nor follow Him the way the twelve disciples of old did. However, this does not make us inferior disciples to them. Disciples of Jesus Christ are supposed to have something in common; that is, we are supposed to put our faith on display by living in accordance with Jesus’ teachings (John 8:31). Jesus’ teachings are compiled into what we called the Bible today.
Therefore, a Christian is living in discipleship or is experiencing discipleship if he makes the word of God his rule of life and conduct.
In times past, disciples were persecuted in various ways; they were killed, arrested, tortured, beaten, lynched, etc., but that did not deter the disciples from following Jesus. So what was at stake for them? What were their benefits for giving up their all to follow Jesus? The earliest twelve disciples, being rational as we are, were smart enough to ask Jesus of their benefits for risking their lives to follow Him. And Jesus answered them saying,
28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. (Matthew 19:28-29)
The teachings of Jesus and those of his earliest disciples, as recorded in the Bible, leave us with a lot of assurances of greater blessings here on this earth and hereafter.
The first and the most important benefit of discipleship which over the ages has drawn people – young and old, rich and poor, white and black, etc. – to come to follow Jesus is this thing called ‘salvation’. Salvation is the state in which God has forgiven you your sins, set you apart for good works, adopted you as His son, reconciled you to Himself, given you eternal life, etc. Now eternal life – it is the hope of all disciples of Jesus. Our belief is that though, someday, we shall pass away from this earth, but that will not be the end of us, for there is a life after death which we will spend with our Lord and Savior Jesus. This life is blissful, void of sorrow, hunger, death, etc. John 14:1-3; Revelation 21:4
Eventually, it is only those in discipleship who shall be saved. All those who abandoned discipleship shall lose their salvation; I mean all those who once said the sinner’s prayer to accept Jesus, and followed Him for some time, but later stopped following Him shall not share in salvation and shall be counted as apostates.
Moreover, the Bible is full of many other blessings and promises for discipleship that would inspire you. Here are a few of the benefits of the discipleship experience:
- You have access to Divine healing. James 5:15, Psalms 53:5
- God hears and answers the disciple’s prayer. 1 John 5:14-15
- God provides for the disciple. Matthew 6:33
- The disciple has access to ‘rest for the soul’. Matthew 11:28-30
- Disciples have access to know mysteries. Matthew 13:11
- Disciples have access to spiritual blessings, Ephesians 1:3
- Disciples in the position to receive gifts of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:4-10.
- Disciples receive the Holy Spirit who is the Helper, Comforter, etc. John 14:17, 26; John 16:7-13, Acts 2:4
- Disciples receive Divine protection. Luke 10:19
- Disciples receive power to cast out demons and heal all manner of diseases. Mt 10:1, Mr 16:17-18
- Disciples are given the power to trample over all the powers of the enemy. Luke 10:19
- You become a kinfolk of Jesus Christ, for Jesus deems His disciples as His kinfolks. Matthew 12:49
Conclusion
Discipleship is of great importance because it is beneficial. For these reasons, we have to try as much as possible to take the new converts through discipleship.
Also, it is a great blessing to be called into discipleship, that is, to follow Jesus Christ, for the blessings in store for you are beyond your imagination.