What is discipleship?
I remember when I was first seriously faced with the question, "What is discipleship?". A young man in a smaller city in Taiwan called "Phoenix Mountain" (actually there was no mountain there just like there is no such thing as a phoenix) came to know the Lord. We were just a few months into starting a new church, and I wanted to train this new Christian the right way.
Since there was no established program to plug him into, I went back to Christ's charge in Matthew 28:18-20 and began to think about the process of making disciples. I asked myself, "How do we do this?" "How do we cause a person to grow spiritually?"
Actually, I should have understood this many years ago when I became a Christian. Or if not, at least later on during my training. But I didn't. Perhaps it was my lack of interest, but this I know, I heard many speak on the charge to make disciples, but cannot remember one who explained how to do it. From that time onward there in 'Phoenix Mountain,' I have given much thought to this question.
Below is a graphic illustration of Colossians 1:10 and a description of how this helps us understand discipleship from one perspective.