Sounds like an old fashioned term, doesn’t it? My early formation as a disciple told me that soul winning was one of the most crucial tasks of the follower of Jesus. I was now a permanent witness to Jesus, and being a follower of him now meant that it was no longer I that lived, but Christ who lived in me so I had nothing to lose.
Do you know how easy it is to lose that? Very easy. The enemy doesn’t need to take us out with some clandestine catastrophe, he only needs to convince us that the mission isn’t that urgent, that discipleship isn’t that radical, and that we should just chill out a bit.
Today, the church is experiencing a renewed focus. The new term isn’t soul winning, but it may be ‘missional discipleship.’ This is actually a more comprehensive term for what I was being taught as a ‘new recruit.’ Basically, it means that a) we become radical, committed disciples of Jesus and b) join him in his mission to help others become the same. Everything else we do supports that process in us all.
All this is a huge contrast to just going to church and/or believing that our mission is to get people to come to church. Whilst healthy people of God will always desire to come together with other believers, that’s not our goal. We make disciples in all the world; Jesus builds the church.
You could ask the question, ‘how many souls have I won?’ That might have a disappointing answer, for sure. But, of course, it’s God who brings people across the line – we are often but part of the story. A better question (which still might have a disappointing answer) is, ‘who am I discipling?’ In other words, who am I seeking to influence to consider, accept and follow Jesus as their Lord and Saviour to the point that they’re now also in the task of making disciples? You see, that’s the whole process. The end goal in fulfilling of Kingdom mission. We seek to make disciples who go on to make disciples.
Why would anyone invest their lives in that? Because they’re convinced that,
“if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
If you’ve ever stood at the grave of a person of whom you can’t honestly say with surety that they knew Jesus, you’ll know the urgency of this mission.
Authentic followers of Jesus are disciples who make disciples, and who make the last words of their Saviour and Lord the sole purpose of their lives. ‘Go into all the world…’
Andrew S M Clark 