Discipleship : The Overarching Purpose Of The Christian Discipleship

AO2: Explain how this teaching about discipleship might affect the life of a Christian today.

Discipleship is about engaging in the Word, following and obeying Jesus and going out to make disciples. An essential element in being a disciple is to be open to learning, to be teachable. It is a mindset to be continuously adopted and cultivated. For us to disciple others, we must be a better disciple ourselves. When making disciples, we are instructing others to be willing to be a discoverer. It applies to both spiritual growth as well as personal development, openness to new techniques, ideas and methods in all aspects of life. Our spiritual learning comes from delving into His

While the goal of Christian education and discipleship is spiritual formation of the new believer into a true disciple who makes other true disciples, this concept has been watered down in the American church today by emphasis on programs instead of progressive spiritual growth in every member’s life. There are many

A church whose pastor and others in leadership have failed to put in place a proactive plan for discipleship for Believers is usually a “growing” church — growing stagnant, growing cold, growing spiritually immature Christians, and eventually, many growing closed. Patte said, “There is much at stake in accepting or rejecting the challenge of discipleship…” When a pastor or a church makes a conscious decision to make discipleship of Believers a primary focus in their

People are not committed followers of Christ just because they study the Bible. That is only part of the process. The Great Commission tells us to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey (Matthew 28:16). The Great Commandment tells us to love God and others. (Matthew 22). The New Commandment in John tells us to love one another (John 13:34-35). The church needs to be able to forge relationship so that they in turn can reproduce more Christians.

Discipleship students, or those who already have a faith commitment, tend to immediately join one of two categories. The first, or Stagnant, students are those who “made a decision to follow Christ at some time in life but never really grew in faith.” These students, from the outside, look very similar to the world as “the distinction between churched and unchurched students is rapidly shrinking.” These students require time to draw them into a

In a world that does not know the Gospel anymore, we must indulge in it, and love our fellow community though they may not share similar values, but find balancing in still remaining in our own values. Though many of times we find ourselves in opposition of the majority of the world, we must exude Christ love onto others as He does to us unconditionally. The author addresses ways in which we are able to live out our faith and still find a place within our community though they may not share similar values.

Nearly two decades later, I started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It would start with a simple but powerful statement, “We are called to make disciples, not members.” That statement would lead me to reflect on and seek out a better understanding of what it meant to be a disciple. That, in turn, led me to study and reflect on the concept of servanthood. I realized that developing a more personal and authentic relationship with Christ required more than just attending worship, working in the church and simply believing in Him. I realized that living a Christ-like life required a different way of thinking, a different way of living.

grown strong in the Lord. These are reliable disciples who are qualified to teach others.14 2

According to Early & Dempsey, “a disciple is a person, while discipleship is a process. A disciple is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ who is intimately involved in the mission of Christ. On the other hand, discipleship is the process of moving the disciple towards spiritual maturity and the mission of Christ. Being a disciple is God’s perfect will for every individual life; however, discipleship is God’s will for every individual church” [1]

What people expect from us is to be witnesses of living faith that is rooted in prayer and scripture (52). Ruddy’s brings into consideration what Paul VI said in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi that: “modern man listens to witnesses more than to teachers, and if he does not listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

Some, like Moses and Oscar Romero, can define Christian discipleship as the call from God to preach holiness to each and everyone of His disciples of every condition. Others like Jesus saw discipleship as a duty to serve God because that was their purpose and grace. However, it is evident to everyone, that all who are faithful to Christ are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. In the life of Thomas Merton, the battle of True Self versus False Self was always eating away at him. He one day decided to find freedom and harmony within himself and he found this when he visited the Church of Corpus Christi.

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.

Just what is theology? This question can have a wide variety of answers, from irrelevant facts about God thought up by men centuries ago, to complicated theories discussed by scholars. Typically, the average 21st century man does not consider theology as relevant. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Theology by definition has the characteristics of both expounding the truth, and impacting the believer with that truth (Himes, 2011). Therefore, theology and the church are intricately combined, in that the church embodies the revelation of God, and is reality, not theory (Himes, 2011). A personal practical theology must begin with revelation, not the individual (Himes, 2011), and proclaim

This five-step process begins by creating a definition for what it is we are addressing as disciples. It’s important to ask the question “what is…” because it helps us distinguish from other topics that are closely related. For example, if we are talking about what discipline is, we would want to distinguish if we are speaking about the punishment of a child, the act of training in a habitual manner, or a branch of knowledge. Our world is a very complicated, intricate, and interwoven place. Though people often want things to be straightforward, they’re not always that simple. It’s important to define exactly what we’re talking about in order to understand the topic as clearly as possible.