The Bible has a lot to say about discipleship. Jesus gives us some great pictures of discipleship as he teaches, guides, and equips his closest followers. Paul models discipleship for us in powerful ways as we examine his relationships with people like Timothy and Titus. But, I’m convinced John the Baptizer demonstrates the most important issue in discipleship.

In John 1, we meet two disciples of John the Baptist. Apparently, they had traveled from their homes to learn from John as he called people to repentence along the Jordan River. One of them was Andrew. The other is not identified, but some writers have suggested it was John himself. These two disciples were with the Baptizer when Jesus walked by. “Look,” John told them, “the Lamb of God.” And the two fellows left John and ended up spending the day with Jesus.

Everything changed for them in that day. Andrew left, found his brother, and told him, “We have found the Messiah.” I don’t know what happened as Andrew and the othe disciple of the Baptizer talked to Jesus, but by the end of that day, they were no longer disciples of John; they were disciples of Jesus.

John understood that disciple-making was not about gathering disciples to himself. It was about pointing disciples to Jesus. In a selfless way, John sacrificed his own following. He sent his disciples–the guys he was teaching about kingdom life–to Jesus.

As a youth leader, my job is not to build a great following for myself, my youth ministry, or my church. The truth is, I want students to connect with me. I want to be part of my discipleship groups and Bible studies. I want them to want to be at my church. I don’t know why, but sometimes Jesus takes students I have invested in, and he places them in other ministries to serve and grow. Sometimes students I work hard to connect with don’t ever connect with me. Another leader (in our church or somewhere else) is able to capture their attention. The point is, they are not my discples. My job is not to grow them to be Christian adults. My job is to faithfully lead them to Jesus . . . who can supply all they need.