As Jesus neared the time when he would be handed over to suffering and death, he prepared a meal for his disciples wherein he showed them the full extent of his love.

He washed their feet.  One by one.

As he finished up, he gave them this instruction in John 13:15:

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done for you.

 Imitation is the mother of discipleship. Christians are to imitate their teachers as their teachers imitate the self-emptying of Christ into his students.

Students, in turn, are focused not on their own discipleship but on mirroring the self-emptying of their teachers for the benefit of still other disciples. Paul says it like this in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7:

You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

You see, the teacher never disciples the student only but is always discipling the student on how to disciple other students. 

This is the three step process that Jesus and his disciples used and it is the same one being used by the persecuted church today.

But this isn't just instruction for pastors, church leaders, or persecuted Christians in other countries.  If Jesus' words at the end of the book of Matthew are meant to be instructive for all Christians then this is something we're all called to and the only process by which any church - persecuted or not - is able to grow.

For more guidance on Making Disciples, make sure to check out our free podcasts, video clips, and blog posts this month atwww.ericfoley.com.

This article originally appeared in Seoul USA's Bi-Weekly Prayer Partner Update e-Newsletter.  To sign up to receive future emails, click here.