Don’t Be Deceived, Disciples Make Disciples
George Whitefield, the famous preacher during the Great Awakening, would often preach in front of thousands and thousands of people. Regularly, people would ask him how many people were saved. Famously, he would respond and say, “We’ll see six months or a year from now.” In this video, David Platt and Francis Chan help Christians navigate the difficulties of cultural Christianity. They point out the stark differences between Whitefield and modern Evangelicalism. As people experience heart change, these pastors encourage those discipling with them to patiently walk with them as they learn to follow Jesus.
What Does it Mean to be a Disciple?
David Platt:
I think we dilute what it means to be a disciple from the beginning. And we want to give people an assurance, “All right, you’re saved,” “You said it, you raised your hand. All right, you’re saved,” without really letting some time be there, not where they have to prove their salvation or earn their salvation, but letting some time be there to see, “Yeah, has there been a heart change?” Because of the spirit of God in this person… I don’t want to tell somebody… And as a pastor or just as a brother, or sister, I mean, I love a person enough to say, “Hey, we’ll wait and see.”
George Whitefield, preacher, great awakenings, thousands and thousands of people at a time, he’d be asked after he preached to thousands of people, “How many people were saved?” And he said, “Ah, we’ll see six months or a year from now.” And that’s so different from today.
We’re like, “Oh, we had this many here.” And he is not saying, “Well, they got to earn their salvation the next six months.” And let’s wait and see. As people have a heart change, then I think they’ll genuinely, when they read commands and scripture, they’ll say, “I want to obey these. How do I obey these?” And there’ll be a desire there as opposed to what we often find ourselves doing.
And that’s saying, “Well, do this, do this, do this,” and people walk away like the rich young brother that you talked about earlier. “Okay, I feel bad. I mean, I’m not going to do that.” And there’s just not been a fundamental heart change that then leads to life change and new purpose, new mind, new dreams, new passions that really feeds into a desire to make the gospel known. I think about Heather and I, my wife, and you know our family’s story, and for years we wanted to have kids.
We had this desire for kids, but the Lord wasn’t providing that in the way we had hoped. He’s ended up providing in ways that we never could have imagined. But fundamentally, there was a part of us that had the desire to create life, that had the desire to see life come from us. And that’s just natural. And the fact that wasn’t happening was saying there was something wrong.
The Importance of Making Disciples
Sorry to go a little crass here, but if reproduction isn’t happening, then there’s something physically, and biologically that needs to be addressed. Well, if reproduction is not happening in a Christian’s life, there’s something wrong at the core here. There’s something that needs to be addressed. And because being a disciple involves making disciples, I mean, that’s always been there from the beginning of Matthew to the end of Matthew. It’s just clear. So if we’re not making disciples, are we really disciples?
That’s a huge question we’ve got to ask and either drive us to say, “Okay, maybe we’re not disciples,” which may be a large percentage of folks, or, “Maybe I am a disciple and this is an area where I must obey. And not because I have to, but because the spirit of Christ in me compels me to, and because this is life and this is joy, and this is what Christian life is all about.” And I don’t want to miss that. And I don’t want the people that I pastor to miss that. And yeah, this is where it’s found.
Francis Chan:
I love it because we’re quick to make statements, grand statements,” “I’d give you my life,” and I think that’s what Whitefield was saying. “Okay, great.”
David Platt:
Yeah.
Francis Chan:
“Let’s see it.” Just like Jesus would say he didn’t entrust himself that’s to these men because he knew what was in their hearts. People, “Hosanna, blessed be,” means nothing. I mean, how many times you see that in scriptures, like, “You say this, but you call me Lord, but why do you call me Lord when you don’t do what I ask you? Big deal you call me Lord, confess me as Lord, but you’re not doing… What kind of master am I?”
It’s like I’ve done it where it’s like, “Man, I am going to get in shape. I’m going to run every day this year.” I’ll say something like that. Then six months later or six days later, you’ll see, “Did he really mean what he said?”
David Platt:
Right.
Francis Chan:
And I think I see that in the scriptures. The fruit will show. If the tree’s for real, it’s going to bear fruit.
