Pilgrim Soldier

Where should our focus be? Should it be on discipling those who are in our corps to make them more effective, or should it be on people getting saved?

I think that this type of thinking makes a fundamental mistake. It sees salvation and discipleship as distinct things, whereas I believe that they are impossible to separate. I believe wholeheartedly in the Great Commission! Jesus calls us to “Go and make disciples … teaching them to obey all that I commanded”¹.

At this point in a conversation someone, usually a staunch evangelist, would normally throw the text “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” into the hat to prove that actually getting people saved is the most important bit. Of course they would be right, but if we concentrate solely on getting people saved, then discipleship can get completely left out of the equation.

Getting saved is simply one step, albeit the most important step, on the road of true discipleship. If we get the discipleship bit right, and start being true disciples of Jesus, then I suspect more people will travel along the same road than would if we simply concentrate on getting as many saved as possible.