Can We Disciple People INTO Faith in Jesus?

What if it actually might take awhile for our not-yet-in-the-Kingdom friends to come to faith in Jesus as the way to God?

One simple, mind-shifting principle about the process of discipleship changed the way I viewed Jesus’ words “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matt. 28:18a).

Perhaps the process of following Jesus, of becoming his disciple, could happen BEFORE our friends came to saving faith, and not just AFTER.

It can, and maybe it should.

In Western Christianity, a popular view assumes that “making disciples” only occurs after someone is “saved”, “born again,” or “makes a decision to follow Jesus.” A person comes forward at an altar call or invitation, and then great care is taken (rightly so) to make sure someone follows up with them, teaching them how to live out their new faith.

But this can happen the other way around also—discipleship first, and then a crossing over into new life.

Let’s take a look at how Jesus made disciples.

The Kingdom of God grows like a mustard seed. Let’s give it time to sprout.

First, Jesus didn’t always call people to full commitment immediately.

Jesus sometimes invited those who were curious, seeking God, and interested in knowing more to come and hang out with him for a while.

We see this in the Bible when several men overheard John the Baptist say about Jesus, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

Those few curious men trailed Jesus. When Jesus noticed them, he asked what they wanted.

“Oh . . . well,” they stuttered, caught off guard, “we just want to know where you’re staying.”

Jesus knew they weren’t quite ready to consider following him yet, so he said, “Come and see!” (John 1:35-39), and they stayed with him the rest of the day.

In the same way, let’s offer our friends an invitation to get to know Jesus without asking–or waiting—for a full declaration of faith. When we invite not-yet-in-the-kingdom friends to read the Bible with us (something we would naturally do after they came to full faith)—we’re simply saying, “Come and see.”

In the Gospels, from the very beginning of when people met Jesus, he asked them to listen to him, do what he did, and obey what he taught because what he taught came from God.

Twenty times in the Gospels, he invited people to “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19 and more). It was a simple invitation to a discipleship relationship after they had likely been watching him and experiencing him for awhile.

We can do this too, from the very beginning of when our friends meet Jesus through us.

We can invite our friends to “come and see” and even to “follow Jesus” by telling stories about Jesus, encouraging them to do what he does, and obey what he teaches, because what he teaches came from God.

We may not know exactly when they cross the line of faith into the Kingdom of God.

That is why it’s so important to start making disciples right away, instead of waiting for a specific prayer we think they should have prayed, or a specific declaration of faith.

What about Muslims and Hindus?

Since people in these two religious blocs make up the majority of the population of unreached people groups, it’s important to wrestle with the question, “Can we disciple Muslims and Hindus (and even Buddhists and others from unreached people groups) INTO faith in Jesus?”

For both Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, Jesus is an acceptable person to get to know. While it may take a lot of time for them to get to know Jesus beyond what they currently know, it’s easy to ask them to “come and see”, to consider Jesus, and even to follow Jesus.

For Muslims, Jesus is one of the most revered prophets in their Holy Book, the Qu’ran. He is called sinless, the Spirit of God, and the Word of God. Jesus the Messiah (Isa al Masih in Arabic), is mentioned 99 times, more than any other prophet. He is said to be the one who return again to judge us in the next life.

So, I say to my Muslim friends, why not get to know Jesus better if he’s so important in your Holy Book and will be your judge in the next life!?

For Hindus, it’s not a problem for them to add another god to the 3 million gods they worship. We can also truthfully say that Jesus is a spiritual guru, a teacher, worthy of their devotion and worth following. Since devotion to their gods, (called bhakti in Hindi) is so central to their faith values, we can slowly encourage them to give all their devotion to Jesus as they “come and see”.

So, I say to my Hindu friends, why not get to know Jesus if he is one of the best spiritual gurus you could show your devotion to?

Second, Jesus Didn’t require a full understanding of who he was immediately.

It took three years (and for some, even longer) for Jesus’ disciples to embrace his divinity, his messianic kingship, and decide to go ALL-IN with their life. They didn’t even get filled with the Holy Spirit until after Jesus already left and returned to heaven (Acts 2).

The disciples wondered, questioned, and came to realizations all along the way about who Jesus was. He’s a prophet. He’s the Messiah. He came from God. He’s a King (but what kind of King?). He had power from God to heal. Oh, wow, he could forgive sins like God could? (Luke 5:18-25).

Jesus’ twelve disciples had already thrown their lot in with him to follow him and had seen miracles and heard a lot of teaching before he brought up the question of what the people following him around thought of him. It was then that he asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16).

Even after Jesus died, God brought him back to life, and he stood in front of the disciples, his disciple who followed him aroud for THREE YEARS, Thomas, doubted. Jesus patiently let him touch the scars in his hand (John 20:24-29).

It astounds me that EVEN when the resurrected Jesus gathered his twelve on the hillside before he ascended into heaven, “They worshipped him—but some of them doubted” (Matthew 28:17).

Regardless of this, Jesus gave his famous commission for them to “Go and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19a).

So, we must be careful with our not-yet-in-the-kingdom friends. We must allow them time to experience Jesus, follow him, and come to fuller understandings of who he is as they experience him in their lives.

We don’t need to press them (or to wait to disciple them) for specific declarations of his sonship or divinity right away. Let the Spirit of God and reading through scripture reveal this as they discover Jesus’ full identity for themselves—and what that means personally for the surrender of their heart and life.

Let’s let Jesus unfold in their understanding as they experience him. Just like the disciples.

Just like WE are still discovering fully who Jesus is.

What about Muslims and Hindus?

I’ve noticed we often don’t extend grace to allow Muslims and Hindus to GROW into an understanding of Jesus Christ. We must be careful not to press them for a verbal declaration especially of his divinity (for Muslims) and his sole claim to Godship (for Hindus) too soon. They may come to a fuller understanding of who Jesus is rather slowly.

I remember reading VERY SPECIFICALLY through the Gospels noticing how the disciples slowly discovered Jesus’ identity. You may want to do this too. It will give us the grace to be patient with our Muslim and Hindu friends.

Let’s be like Jesus was with Thomas and his disciples on the hillside. Let’s give a lot of grace.

For Muslims, they believe Jesus was a prophet. Yes, he was. We can accept that with full truth and agree with them. It’s okay not to press for them to declare his sonship or divinity right away, as they will just as difficult a time as the Jews did with these kind of understandings.

For Hindus, first Jesus is a good man or a prophet. Then he could be a god, but he’s a god (small g) to them, one of many. We can accept this limited understanding, as they grow into fuller understanding in a discipleship relationship.

That’s why discipling Muslims and Hindus INTO the Kingdom of God may be an incredibly important change in the way we think of discipleship. With this process, experiences with Jesus, the Spirit of God speaking, the power of God, and God’s Word, will lead to true and heart-felt surrender.

I think all of us will never be finished knowing and experience Jesus in new and fresh ways.

What does this mean for us?

This understanding that discipleship can happen BEFORE a declaration of full faith, frees us.

It means that our goal doesn’t need to be the “one conversation” or “prayer” where we “share the Gospel” with people, and they “get saved”.

Instead, we can relax a little bit and invite them right away into a discipleship relationship, knowing that a true and full heart surrender often takes a process of “coming and seeing”, of discovery, of wrestling, reading, praying, and discussing with someone who is already in the Kingdom of God.

Invite someone to be YOUR disciple, so that you can invite them to become a disciple of Jesus.

*This is an expanded version of the first principle in Five Ways to Disciple People Well in Chapter Four of Across the Street and Around the World.

PS: Let’s dive deeper in a discussion about all of this! And if you miss the FB LIVE, just click on the graphic to watch the REPLAY.