Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20)
If you were to make a pie graph of your schedule, how much of your time would be spent on disciple-making … living out the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 to its fullest?
First ask yourself this question and then ask it for your church.
Do you, as a leader, have a disciple-making schedule?
- Are you conscious of the need and actively involved in the lives of your family, friends, and neighbors? Or, are you so caught up in your church ministry that you have little time for the “go” part of the Great Commission?
- Are you purposefully investing into the lives of staff members and the church body? Or, are you so caught up in the details of administrative work that you have little time left for the “make disciples” part of the Great Commission?
Does your church promote disciple-making schedules?
- Are you making a priority in all you do to grow the church into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ who replicate what they have learned in the lives of others? Or, is so much of the church’s time spent maintaining programs and facilities that little attention can be given to the “make disciples” command Jesus gave you?
- Are you, as a church, putting the emphasis on following after God and His ways even if it means a hard road ahead? Or, are you trying so hard to appeal to the masses that you are neglecting the part of the Great Commission that says “teaching them to obey everything I (Jesus) have commanded you”?
- Do you focus time on caring for people outside of the walls of your own church? Or, have you become in-grown as a church, spending most of your time focused on your own members and forgetting that you are to be making disciples “of all nations”?
- When God does use you to make disciples, are you giving Him the glory? Or, are you pointing to yourselves as the one to whom people have placed their allegiance … ignoring how “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” means that it is all about the Lord and what He has done in their lives?
You’ll find these questions in the Steering the Church Toward Discipleship Leadership Guide along with some thoughts on what you can do to invest your time in ways that more fully obey the Great Commission.
All Posts about Time Management:
- Disciple-Making Schedules
- Sustainable Schedules
- Prioritized Schedules: The Number One Priority
- Prioritized Schedules: The Second Priority
- Accountable Schedules
- Spiritually Blessed Schedules
- Spiritually Productive Schedules
- Hindrances to Spiritual Productivity
- Time for One Another
- Time Management Resources
- Christ-like Schedules are Purposeful
- Time Managed by the Gospel
- Tips for Gospel-oriented Time Management
- Grace for These Times and How You Manage Your Schedule
- The Difference Grace Makes in How We Manage Time
- The Spirit Helps Us Manage Time
- How Spiritual Gifts Help with Time Management
- Busyness Affects Ministry
- Combatting the Lies about Busyness
- Too Busy to Pray?
- Biblical Prayers about Time Usage
Not sure how to make disciple-making piece of pie larger without letting go of other important responsibilities.
One of the reasons I titled this “disciple-making schedules” is with the hope we would examine our schedules as you obviously have done, Mike, to determine how much disciple-making we actually are doing. The other reason I chose that title is the idea that we bring all we do under that umbrella. Too often we compartmentalize our time. What if we were more conscious of making disciples in whatever we do, with whomever we are with? Let me suggest that you take a look at those important responsibilities you mentioned and ask yourself if there are ways you can be more of a disciple-maker within those responsibilities. It might simply be a matter of making the most of what is already on your schedule, not necessarily blocking out more time.