Jesus gave His church a job to do before He gets back.  He left us in charge and gave us one mission to complete.  We know it as the Great Commission.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matt 28:18-20 ESV

Our main task is to make disciples anywhere and everywhere we can.  That command applies to all of us regardless of our station in life.  We all have influence with people, therefore we can all make disciples. 

When we think of discipleship, we naturally think of teaching.  A disciple, after all, is someone who is in the process of learning to be like their teacher, so teaching must be an integral part of the discipleship process.  That teaching must have two specific goals, though.  Jesus told us to teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. 

Our teaching must focus on motivating disciples to observe and obey Christ’s commands.  This is an area where many attempts at discipleship fall short.  We tend to focus on teaching knowledge – details, facts, information – all of which is necessary, but if we stop there, we have not made disciples.  Jesus told us to teach them to obey.  Knowledge without obedience leads to pride and condemnation.  Pride because knowledge puffs up.  Condemnation because we will be held accountable for everything we know.  A person who knows very few facts and details about the Bible, but actively obeys what she knows, is far ahead of one who knows a lot, but doesn’t submit to what he knows. 

Our teaching must also focus on making disciples who look like Jesus more than they look like us.  Disciples will inevitably begin to look and act like the believers who discipled them, but that should be secondary to helping them look and act like Jesus.  Jesus didn’t tell us to teach them to observe everything we think and do.  He told us to point them to Him.  He told us to help them surrender to and become more like Him.  A fully trained disciple may be quite different from her teacher, but she will look and act like Jesus.  A fully trained disciple will no longer be dependent on his teacher, but he will always depend on Christ.