In John 8:31, "If you abide in my words, you are my disciples indeed." Jesus' criteria for being a disciple is not making other disciples but to abide in His words. This means to continue in the relationship with the Lord. It is someone who endures hardship, does not let the world influence their lives, but has Jesus' teachings influence them. It is someone who lets the Spirit conform them to Christ's image. They obey His word. Making other disciples is only a small portion of being what a Christian is.

The Bible tells us the disciples spent three years with Jesus before He commissioned them to go out on their own (Matt. 28:19). They were trained in the presence, practice and teachings of Jesus. One needs to be changed first before he can go out to change others in the world. This sometimes can be a slow process. A disciple is a learner. This doesn’t come overnight as is promoted and practiced in multiplication ministries.You can have someone less than a month in the Church teach you about the Lord. but how can they disciple you when they themselves hardly know a thing.Actually they can have more problems than the one they are discipling, they can be an immature person with some serious things to work through and they are going to have someone imitate them as a disciple, that's sad.

What they have done is gone beyond biblical guidelines setting the ultimate standard to have the criteria for being a disciple. Not taking into consideration an individuals growth or ability and the Holy Spirits work which prompts one to further service.The truth is that things take time and the bibles picture is someone discipled by Jesus through the means of the Holy Spirit.

Do our works really prove some one's spirituality? Hardly, it is the work of God through us and God is not in a rush. It is the Spirit's work to draw people. Paul said some water, some harvest, and we find some plant seeds. Everyone has a different purpose, working together. Not all people are evangelists as this movement portrays.

A tree never produces fruit year round, there are seasons. So we should expect times of fruit and abundance and then there will be times of rest. Unfortunately, this is not what is portrayed in this movement's discipleship training which uses Matthew 28:18-19 as a methodology.The view they present is that God is our boss and we are His workers who should please Him by our constant activity. Instead of a race in which one keeps a good pace, it becomes a mad-dash marathon to the finish line. Keeping up a high performance lifestyle will leave one exhausted instead of refreshed, which is exactly what we see happening in this movement. but this is the opposite affect of what Jesus called people to in discipleship. In Mt.11:28 he asks for the people to come to him to be relieved of all the burdens of the requirements that the religious leaders loaded on the people, he said take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy my burden is light." This is very different from what is presented in this movement. If you ask someone in this movement if its easy, do you think if they are honest with you they would say yes?  Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, flexibility. But where the flesh is active there is always contention and strife.

If works do prove one's spiritual condition what of King David who hid from King Saul? At the time, he was not doing the work he would later do as king, yet he wrote many of the Psalms, having communion with God even at his most unproductive period. We find God was at work in him, preparing him, even though he was not at work for God.

In Matthew 27:57, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate publicly asking for the body or Jesus. However, we find in John 19:39-42, he was secretly a disciple because he feared the Jews. According to the I.C.C. movement he couldn't be a disciple without making other disciples, so we see the Bible differs from their philosophy.

In the New Testament we find after Paul was converted and baptized he was led into Arabia for possibly three years (Gal 1:17-18) where he learned personally from the Lord.Paul may not have qualified to be a disciple in their movement because he was not at work as soon as he was saved or before? According to the qualifications of this movement this might be true.Who disciple Paul? None other than Christ himself.Paul said he did not learn the gospel from any man.This does not mean we reject teachers but they are to point to Christ not take the place of him.

We should disciple people vertically, not horizontally. In discipling we are to bring people to Jesus and not under us. We are not their mediator, He is. In John 4 we see an example of the Samaritan woman at the well who encountered Jesus. This certainly could have been her opportunity to teach others what little she knew, yet, she brought them to Him. Real evangelism brings Christ to the people and the people to Christ. The biblical precedent is that God guides and He leads. The Holy Spirit comes along side us (Gr. para). What we see practiced in this movement is pushing not leading. They are driving the sheep from behind. It is done through men using earthly wisdom to accomplish what they think are God's goals. Real discipleship is teaching people to know Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him, not someone else. In John 10 we see the sheep hearing the shepherd's voice and willingly follow. Spiritual manipulation is not necessary when a relationship is established. True growth cannot occur by having someone know a person's weaknesses and faults or depending on their discipler for a relationship with God. It must come willingly as God deals with all of us on an individual basis. That is the essence of true biblical discipleship.