Qualities of a Good Disciple

Discipleship is a key term we use and hear all the time in church and ministry. A few years ago, I was in a meeting where a person accused all the pastors who served his church that they never spoke or taught about discipleship. I was shocked to hear that since discipleship is core to Christian faith life. I just felt like this person was exaggerating, as I cannot comprehend how pastors can ignore discipleship without ignoring Jesus Christ itself.

The mission statement of the church I pioneered and serve now is “Making disciples who will make disciples.” There are two aspects: those who make or train others to be disciples of Jesus and those who are being trained to be disciples of Jesus Christ. You cannot teach others to be disciples unless you are a disciple.

I want to share a few things I noticed while going through some training. If you want to disciple someone, choose someone you know well enough to discern their weaknesses. Once you decide on someone, remember to focus on their potential and not their problems.

People who are disciples trying to learn must have some essential qualities to be successful. Some of the key attributes are: -

• Faithful – There is no need to explain this. Without faithfulness, it is impossible to make much progress as a disciple.
• Available – You must be available to become a disciple, which means you must prioritize and let go of a few other things to focus on. If you cannot be available, then forget about becoming a good disciple.
• Initiating – This is a critical aspect that many people ignore. To me, this is very critical, and I feel like people who do not have this quality will not make much progress in ministry. You cannot be passive and lazy; you have to be active and take the initiative to make progress.
• Teachable – If a person is not teachable, there will be challenges, and we cannot expect much progress.

Making disciples is exciting, but we cannot do it unless we ourself is committed to a committed disciple of Jesus Christ. To be a good disciple, we must be faithful, available, initiating, and teachable.