Leadership versus Discipleship
I recently read an article by [i]Dan Spader and the title of his blog was “The confusion between making disciples and developing leaders” You can click on the title to go to his blog. Or go to https://www.biblicalleadership.com/ or type in Biblical Leadership.com and do a search on the topic.
I had never really thought about it in those terms but it makes complete sense to me. By reading and attempting to do what Jesus commands the Disciples (and all of us) in Matthew 28, my frame of mind was by making disciples , I am making leaders. I want to elaborate and give my two-cents worth on this article and subject, giving full credit to the original author, Dan Spader.
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Now Using 2 Timothy 2:2 as the key point to contrast Matthew 28:19-20:
2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
Here Dan is separating Discipleship from Leadership by using this verse. To paraphrase Dan’s writing, the key focus in this verse is the word “faithful” and the word “able”. What Dan is saying that FAITHFUL is representing a mature Christian and ABLE is representing a God given gift.
The question then to ask ourselves is Paul mentoring Timothy in making of disciples or is he indicating to commit those that have been given the gift of leadership. Like I stated earlier I figured at first, glance 2 Timothy 2:2 is just following Jesus’ commission spoken by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20, but Dan’s insight of the subject gave me something to chew on for a couple weeks and think about.
It’s always amazes me that a simple four letter word “ABLE” can have such a large impact on a verse, but we see this over and over again. It’s those little tidbits of information when reading we seem to just kind of fly by the word(s) without giving them much thought.
So I think a good place to start is to look at the difference in all three versions then to look at the few words in the original Greek. Im going to throw a couple three different versions of Matthew 28. I will bold and underline the key words we are looking at.
–KJV/King James Version
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ---KJV/King James Version
2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
---ESV/English Standard Version
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,--ESV/English Standard Version
2Ti 2:2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
---ASV/American Standard Version
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: ---ASV/American Standard Version
2Ti 2:2 And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
These are three versions of the same two verses Matthew 28:19 and 2Timothy 2:2
The four words we are looking at are typed in bold and underlined
So the first thing we should look at are the meanings of each phase and at first go with your gut feeling. Lets use some common sense now in interpreting these versus and then compare them.
In Matthew 28 the KJV, It looks to me like its more of the spirit of what Jesus is saying. Don’t let the order of the independent clauses throw you for a loop.
But the fact remains the key word here is “BAPTIZE”. This is where our common sense and prior teachings come into play.
When you baptize someone, I would ask here “where are they at in their Christian maturity?”
Sometimes in certain circles we will call members recently coming to the faith as “baby Christians” This by no means a derogatory term or do we use it as such. In fact we thank God for it, and look forward to it. It just means someone recently coming to the faith. From this point we teach them so they can become more mature in Christ. As we teach them and as they soak up the Word of God they Mature in Christ. This is where we then make disciples of them.
As Paul writes in 1st Corinthians:
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Now if we compare Matthew 28 with 2 Timothy 2. The key word(s) here are “ABLE(to teach). Again I say lets look at with common sense. I would ask “Would some one recently baptized lead a Bible Study group?” or “Would they become a pastor of a church immediately after becoming baptized?”
My common sense is telling me Pauls’ letter to Timothy is fact advising Timothy what to look for in choosing leaders, not merely disciples. My common sense also tells me one must become a disciple before becoming leaders.
There are some examples in scriptures where it isn’t indicated that certain people had to become disciples before becoming leaders, but generally it seems God had appointed them from the git go to be leaders. The first name to pop into my head would be Moses or if you want to use the New Testament, John the Baptist.
We know that English isn’t the first language used in the writing of Scripture
[ii]During the thousand years of its composition, almost the entire Old Testament was written in Hebrew. But a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah were written in a language called Aramaic.
[iii]The New Testament, however, was written in Greek. This seems strange, since you might think it would be either Hebrew or Aramaic. However, Greek was the language of scholarship during the years of the composition of the New Testament from 50 to 100 AD.
So my take on Dan Spader’s Article, I’m going to use Strong’s Strong Concordance and look at the Greek word and meaning of each of the above Bold typed face words. This is moving out of the “milk of the Word” and getting into “the meat of the Word.”
Matthew28
TEACH(TEACHING)=
G3100---μαθητεύω---mathēteuō---math-ayt-yoo'-o
From G3101; intransitively to become a pupil; transitively to disciple, that is, enrol as scholar: - be disciple, instruct, teach.
Total KJV occurrences: 4
G3101---μαθητής---mathētēs---math-ay-tes'
From G3129; a learner, that is, pupil: - disciple.
Total KJV occurrences: 268
BAPTIZING=
G907—βαπτίζω--baptizō--bap-tid'-zo
From a derivative of G911; to make whelmed (that is, fully wet); used only (in the New Testament) of ceremonial ablution, especially (technically) of the ordinance of Christian baptism: - baptist, baptize, wash.
Total KJV occurrences: 80
BAPTIZE=
G911—βάπτω---baptō---bap'-to
A primary verb; to whelm, that is, cover wholly with a fluid; in the New Testament only in a qualified or specific sense, that is, (literally) to moisten (a part of one’s person), or (by implication) to stain (as with dye): - dip.
Total KJV occurrences: 3
2 Timothy 2:2
FAITHFUL
G4103---πιστός---pistos---pis-tos'
From G3982; objectively trustworthy; subjectively trustful: - believe (-ing, -r), faithful (-ly), sure, true.
Total KJV occurrences: 67
G3982---πείθω---peithō---pi'-tho
A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty): - agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) content, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.
Total KJV occurrences: 55
(shall be)ABLE
G2425---ἱκανός---hikanos---hik-an-os'
From ἵκω hikō (ἱκάνω or ἱκνέομαι; akin to G2240; to arrive); competent (as if coming in season), that is, ample (in amount) or fit (in character): - able, + content, enough, good, great, large, long (while), many, meet, much, security, sore, sufficient, worthy.
Total KJV occurrences: 41
TEACH
G1321---διδάσκω---didaskō---did-as'-ko
A prolonged (causative) form of a primary verb δάω daō (to learn); to teach (in the same broad application): - teach.
Total KJV occurrences: 97
After using some common sense in the interpretation and then reading the Greek words and their meanings and applying them to the Scriptures listed, does this make a convincing argument for the difference in Leadership versus Discipleship?
[i] https://www.biblicalleadership.com/blogs/the-confusion-between-making-disciples-and-developing-leaders/
[ii] https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/in-what-language-was-the-bible-first-written/
[iii] https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/in-what-language-was-the-bible-first-written/
I recently read an article by [i]Dan Spader and the title of his blog was “The confusion between making disciples and developing leaders” You can click on the title to go to his blog. Or go to https://www.biblicalleadership.com/ or type in Biblical Leadership.com and do a search on the topic.
I had never really thought about it in those terms but it makes complete sense to me. By reading and attempting to do what Jesus commands the Disciples (and all of us) in Matthew 28, my frame of mind was by making disciples , I am making leaders. I want to elaborate and give my two-cents worth on this article and subject, giving full credit to the original author, Dan Spader.
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Now Using 2 Timothy 2:2 as the key point to contrast Matthew 28:19-20:
2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
Here Dan is separating Discipleship from Leadership by using this verse. To paraphrase Dan’s writing, the key focus in this verse is the word “faithful” and the word “able”. What Dan is saying that FAITHFUL is representing a mature Christian and ABLE is representing a God given gift.
The question then to ask ourselves is Paul mentoring Timothy in making of disciples or is he indicating to commit those that have been given the gift of leadership. Like I stated earlier I figured at first, glance 2 Timothy 2:2 is just following Jesus’ commission spoken by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20, but Dan’s insight of the subject gave me something to chew on for a couple weeks and think about.
It’s always amazes me that a simple four letter word “ABLE” can have such a large impact on a verse, but we see this over and over again. It’s those little tidbits of information when reading we seem to just kind of fly by the word(s) without giving them much thought.
So I think a good place to start is to look at the difference in all three versions then to look at the few words in the original Greek. Im going to throw a couple three different versions of Matthew 28. I will bold and underline the key words we are looking at.
–KJV/King James Version
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ---KJV/King James Version
2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
---ESV/English Standard Version
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,--ESV/English Standard Version
2Ti 2:2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
---ASV/American Standard Version
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: ---ASV/American Standard Version
2Ti 2:2 And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
These are three versions of the same two verses Matthew 28:19 and 2Timothy 2:2
The four words we are looking at are typed in bold and underlined
- TEACH
- BAPTIZING
- FAITHFUL
- ABLE
- KJV/ESV/ASV -Matthew 28 key words are teach or make disciples and baptize
- Depending on your version the word teach and make disciples seem to be interchangeable
- KJV/ESV/ASV-2Timothy 2- words are “faithful & ABLE(to teach)
So the first thing we should look at are the meanings of each phase and at first go with your gut feeling. Lets use some common sense now in interpreting these versus and then compare them.
In Matthew 28 the KJV, It looks to me like its more of the spirit of what Jesus is saying. Don’t let the order of the independent clauses throw you for a loop.
But the fact remains the key word here is “BAPTIZE”. This is where our common sense and prior teachings come into play.
When you baptize someone, I would ask here “where are they at in their Christian maturity?”
Sometimes in certain circles we will call members recently coming to the faith as “baby Christians” This by no means a derogatory term or do we use it as such. In fact we thank God for it, and look forward to it. It just means someone recently coming to the faith. From this point we teach them so they can become more mature in Christ. As we teach them and as they soak up the Word of God they Mature in Christ. This is where we then make disciples of them.
As Paul writes in 1st Corinthians:
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Now if we compare Matthew 28 with 2 Timothy 2. The key word(s) here are “ABLE(to teach). Again I say lets look at with common sense. I would ask “Would some one recently baptized lead a Bible Study group?” or “Would they become a pastor of a church immediately after becoming baptized?”
My common sense is telling me Pauls’ letter to Timothy is fact advising Timothy what to look for in choosing leaders, not merely disciples. My common sense also tells me one must become a disciple before becoming leaders.
There are some examples in scriptures where it isn’t indicated that certain people had to become disciples before becoming leaders, but generally it seems God had appointed them from the git go to be leaders. The first name to pop into my head would be Moses or if you want to use the New Testament, John the Baptist.
We know that English isn’t the first language used in the writing of Scripture
[ii]During the thousand years of its composition, almost the entire Old Testament was written in Hebrew. But a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah were written in a language called Aramaic.
[iii]The New Testament, however, was written in Greek. This seems strange, since you might think it would be either Hebrew or Aramaic. However, Greek was the language of scholarship during the years of the composition of the New Testament from 50 to 100 AD.
So my take on Dan Spader’s Article, I’m going to use Strong’s Strong Concordance and look at the Greek word and meaning of each of the above Bold typed face words. This is moving out of the “milk of the Word” and getting into “the meat of the Word.”
Matthew28
TEACH(TEACHING)=
G3100---μαθητεύω---mathēteuō---math-ayt-yoo'-o
From G3101; intransitively to become a pupil; transitively to disciple, that is, enrol as scholar: - be disciple, instruct, teach.
Total KJV occurrences: 4
G3101---μαθητής---mathētēs---math-ay-tes'
From G3129; a learner, that is, pupil: - disciple.
Total KJV occurrences: 268
BAPTIZING=
G907—βαπτίζω--baptizō--bap-tid'-zo
From a derivative of G911; to make whelmed (that is, fully wet); used only (in the New Testament) of ceremonial ablution, especially (technically) of the ordinance of Christian baptism: - baptist, baptize, wash.
Total KJV occurrences: 80
BAPTIZE=
G911—βάπτω---baptō---bap'-to
A primary verb; to whelm, that is, cover wholly with a fluid; in the New Testament only in a qualified or specific sense, that is, (literally) to moisten (a part of one’s person), or (by implication) to stain (as with dye): - dip.
Total KJV occurrences: 3
2 Timothy 2:2
FAITHFUL
G4103---πιστός---pistos---pis-tos'
From G3982; objectively trustworthy; subjectively trustful: - believe (-ing, -r), faithful (-ly), sure, true.
Total KJV occurrences: 67
G3982---πείθω---peithō---pi'-tho
A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty): - agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) content, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.
Total KJV occurrences: 55
(shall be)ABLE
G2425---ἱκανός---hikanos---hik-an-os'
From ἵκω hikō (ἱκάνω or ἱκνέομαι; akin to G2240; to arrive); competent (as if coming in season), that is, ample (in amount) or fit (in character): - able, + content, enough, good, great, large, long (while), many, meet, much, security, sore, sufficient, worthy.
Total KJV occurrences: 41
TEACH
G1321---διδάσκω---didaskō---did-as'-ko
A prolonged (causative) form of a primary verb δάω daō (to learn); to teach (in the same broad application): - teach.
Total KJV occurrences: 97
After using some common sense in the interpretation and then reading the Greek words and their meanings and applying them to the Scriptures listed, does this make a convincing argument for the difference in Leadership versus Discipleship?
[i] https://www.biblicalleadership.com/blogs/the-confusion-between-making-disciples-and-developing-leaders/
[ii] https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/in-what-language-was-the-bible-first-written/
[iii] https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/in-what-language-was-the-bible-first-written/
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