Nathan Haddock's Blog

Discipleship Then and Now: Reversing the Order of Jesus’ Ministry

One of the most striking differences between the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of much of the modern church lies in the order of discipleship. Jesus discipled first, converted through relationship, and then sent His followers out to do the same. In contrast, today’s church often reverses this order: it seeks to convert first, disciples only afterward, and seldom sends out. The result is a faith that produces believers but not necessarily disciples.

When Jesus called His followers, He did not begin with a doctrinal statement or a conversion appeal. He began with an invitation: “Follow me.” The disciples obeyed before they fully believed. They spent years learning from His words and observing His way of life—His prayer, His compassion, His patience, His mission. It was in that process of walking with Him that they came to faith. Peter’s confession—“You are the Christ”—was not a starting point but a milestone in a long journey of formation.

Jesus’ approach to discipleship was deeply relational and experiential. He taught truth, but He also modeled how truth was lived. He built community, gave responsibility, and then sent His disciples out to teach and heal long before they fully understood all that they were doing. Conversion came not from coercion, but from proximity to His presence. By the time He ascended, they were not merely believers—they were apostles, sent ones, ready to carry His mission forward.

The modern church, however, tends to emphasize conversion as the first and sometimes only step. Evangelism is often reduced to a moment of decision—a raised hand, a repeated prayer. Discipleship becomes a secondary process, delegated to small groups or optional classes. The sending—equipping every believer to live and share the gospel in daily life—is frequently lost altogether. The pattern becomes convert, then disciple (maybe), but rarely send.

This reversal produces a shallower faith. People may believe in Jesus but not necessarily become like Him. The church becomes a place of spiritual consumers rather than a community of co-laborers. Jesus’ original vision—a movement of ordinary people reproducing His life in others—diminishes into institutional maintenance.

Recovering Jesus’ order means re-centering discipleship at the heart of the church’s mission. It means inviting people into a life with Jesus even before full belief, nurturing them through shared life and spiritual formation, and sending them into the world as witnesses shaped by love. Conversion, then, becomes the fruit of discipleship, not the entry point.

Jesus never said, “Go and make converts.” He said, “Go and make disciples.” When we recover that order—disciple, then convert, then send—the church regains not just its form, but its power.

Sometimes

It is not always the most courageous thing to speak out, sometimes the most courageous thing is to keep quiet, keep your ears open and continue to think about it.

Unconditional Love

I don’t need your conditional love

I don’t need to be loved when you feel like it

I can’t be doing with your love when I do well

And your lack of it when I fail

I don’t need it any more

I don’t need it for I have a love that is unconditional

Totally unconditional It’s not dependant on me and my ups and downs

It couldn’t be any more than it is already

I don’t have to work for it

And I can’t lose it

Nothing I can do can increase it

Nothing I can do will ever decrease it

It is a constant that will never change

It will never change

For the person who gives it never changes

And it’s available to all

God’s love is available to all

Total Unconditional

Unreserved

Unceasing

Love available to all.

All you need do is ask.

I Need it

God loves me when I least deserve it for He knows that it is then that I most need it.

On Your Side

The Lord is your advocate, He is on your side, fighting your corner. Not only that, He is constantly praying for you to God the Father. He wants the best for you and He know what the best actually is.

Faults

Everyone has their faults, their flaws and their foibles, the amazing thing is that God loves everyone exactly as they are! He doesn’t want us to stay the way we are but we don’t have to change in order for Him to love us unreservedly.

Suffering

Suffering is inevitable, our response to it is not. We have the choice to wallow in our suffering or to rise above it, learn from it and ask God what He wants to be for us during it.

Being Rich

What is being rich? For I have learnt that it has little to do with money. If being poor is about not having enough to feed yourself I know that the poor can be rich indeed. I am rich in so many ways but have little in the way of money. I am poor in so many ways and yet am richer than most In the world’s eyes I am rich and yet I know I am so very poor. I am poor in faith, yet rich is blessings, I am poor in character and yet rich in friends. So do not pity the poor for their riches may be far greater than ours Do not envy the rich for they may well be bankrupt in areas that matter. So, with whatever you have, be it money or friends, be it faith or blessings – be content with what God has given you.

God is with you

God is with you on the journey, a travelling companion for good. It is your decision whether or not to reap the benefits that this amazing companion offers or just zone out, keep your head down and just plod on.

Truth

The human heart will often deceive you, but God’s truth will lead you in the right direction.