There is a good chance you could at least roughly quote the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. For those who don’t immediately identify the citation, I imagine you recognize the great commission. A simple command from Jesus to go and make disciples.
Making disciples is central work together as Mennonite Brethren churches. Yet there are so many in our churches who can quote this passage but are not obeying the command found in it.
Are you making disciples? In this issue, you will read about young adults and the challenges churches currently face in engaging and retaining this age group. You will also read a heartening personal story of why one young person has remained involved in her local church.
We could rightly sound an alarm looking at statistics of young people and their disconnect from the local church. We could invest tremendous resources and dream up new tactics, methods and strategies. But perhaps the hardest thing for us to do is to stop, look in the mirror and ask, “Am I making disciples as a follower of Jesus?”
Some of us get stuck on where to start. Many of us haven’t experienced being discipled. While the command to go and make disciples is not complex, it isn’t easy either, and there is a personal cost. The hard reality is that we cannot consider ourselves obedient to Jesus if we are not personally invested in discipling others as followers of Jesus.
I am convinced our lack of disciple-making is central to our shortage of ministry leaders and a key to reengaging younger generations in the church if we effectively address the problem. Addressing the problem doesn’t begin with a new program; it starts with people like you and me committing ourselves to disciple others. The good news is that discipling others isn’t as complicated as you might think.
Jesus calls us to baptize others, which is the result of sharing the good news of Jesus, and to teach others to obey what we have learned from Jesus. That second part seems to trip many of us up. We might wonder what curriculum to use or where to begin.
The first person to disciple me simply asked if I wanted to have coffee together and begin reading through 1 Peter. All Greg did was invite me to read God’s Word and have a conversation where he could share with me what he had learned from Jesus. It wasn’t a program; it was a natural conversation between one more mature follower of Jesus and me. There was nothing complex about it, but this became a relationship that deeply affected my understanding of Jesus and the life I was called to.
If you aren’t currently discipling someone, I ask you to find a person younger in their faith and invite them to coffee or a Coke and to read through 1 Peter or John or another book of the Bible together. You are part of the solution to the challenges of the church, and this is an issue of obedience to Jesus.
Aaron Box began serving as the USMB national director in July 2024. Previously, Box served for 13 years as senior pastor of North Park Community Church in Eugene, Oregon. He has more than 20 years of ministry leadership experience. Box served on the USMB Leadership Board from 2014-2022 and has extensive volunteer experience leading in his local community. Box and his wife, Jennifer, have two children and reside in Eugene.
