LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Disciple Making Plan
Brian Mclaughlin
DSMN 500: Discipleship Ministries
November 9, 2018
Content
Introduction 1
Vision 1
Values 3
Views 4
Vehicles 6
Verifiers 8
Conclusion 9
Bibliography 10
1
Introduction
All churches go through the process of leading another soul to Jesus Christ. Discipling
though is a must if the church is going to grow and go where it needs to. Jesus’ great
commandment says in (Matthew 28:19), “…go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”1 There are five
aspects of every plan that each church should consider is what is their vision, what do they value,
how do they view ministry, what are they vehicles they will use to conduct the discipleship
process, and then what verifiers will be used to determine if their ministry is successful or not.
This paper will examine each of the areas of what is needed in discipling a church.
Vision
Our vision statement for church is we desire to be a church that provides hope, help and
healing. The vision is based upon (2 Corinthians 13:11), “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim
for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love
and peace will be with you.”2 The early church was brotherly to one another. They shared
everything, and in those days people of God hardly lacked anything. Our church in the same way
seeks to help the hurting, lost and need for a Savior type of people.
Our discipleship happens best within our smaller ministry teams of men’s ministry,
woman’s ministry, outreach and Sunday school classes. small group ministry focuses on honest
relationship with each other. We need each other. This is the way the body of Christ was
intended. Andy Stanley in Creating Community says, “We were created by a relational God with
relational needs for significant connection.”3 When Christians are not in a community together
1 Matthew 28:19, English Standard Version, all scripture references.
2 2 Corinthians 13:11
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2
then it is clear that they are outside of the will of God. God created us for meaningful
relationships with Christians to help encourage each other in the faith.
Not only where Christians designed for community with each other but they were also to
declare the gospel. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this about the unity of church and the gospel, “The
word of authentic proclamation must therefore create both unity and separation in a visible way.
It thus becomes clear that space for proclamation and for the order of the church-community are
divinely ordained necessities.”4 The church community should be able to discern the correctly
the word of God and understand how to handle those who wishes to harm the community, like
the Bereans.
Our church is focused on connecting people into meaningful relationships as part of the
discipleship process. At our church, when someone joins the church either by membership
change, baptism, or salvation, the person begins the discipleship with a mentor. Together the
mentor and mentee go through several means of communication by current members or by our
senior pastor. Processes like email listing, contacting them through house visits, and fellowship
with plenty of food. This process follows the example of the early church by being dedicated to
the discipleship process and to connecting with people outside of the temple.
We hope that our vision would be built upon the biblical foundation of the early church.
They set the example of the need for community and that they dedicated themselves to the
apostle teachings and to meet with each other. The author of Acts says that when they did these
things that they were, “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to
their number day by day those who were being saved.”5
Andy Stanley and Bill Willits, Creating Community: 5 Keys to Building a Small Group Culture
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2004), 45.
4 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works: Volume 4 (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 232.
5 Acts 2:47.
3
Values
One of things that our ministry values the most is leadership. Leaders model the way that
ministry should be conducted, small groups to be lead, and how people are reached for the
gospel. Thom Rainer, in his book Breakout Churches, say this about the type of leadership we
desire,
These leaders, such as the Twelve mentioned in Acts 6:1-7, are quick to give ministry to
others and let them take credit for their work. Indeed, they desire to deflect recognition to
others. They are quick to praise others and equally quick to responsibility for anything
that may go wrong.6
Jesus Christ is the best example that any leader can follow. He modeled this first for those
leaders in Acts by washing the disciple’s feet. The apostle John records the model, “Then he
poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel
that was wrapped around him.”7 This was the role of the servant. Jesus taught us that if someone
is to be in leadership then they are first to be servants among everyone else.
Steve Gladin, small groups pastor for Saddleback Church, shares five biblical purposes
and values that the disciples and small group leaders at our church should be “experiencing
healthy relationships with other people, growing in Christ both cognitively and experientially,
discovering and using their God-given gifts and abilities, reaching out and sharing the love of
Christ with unbelievers, and surrendering their heart and life to Christ on an ongoing basis.”8 If
our small group leaders are not modeling this five principles along with not having them in their
own lives then our church will not be making disciples and seeing people come to know the Lord
in salvation.
6 Thom S. Rainer, Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 44.
7 John 13:5.
8 Steve Gladen, Leading Small Groups with Purpose: Everything You Need to Lead a Healthy Group (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 42-43
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While leadership is essentially important to us, it important to understand that is not the
pastors or the lay people that make the church a success but it is the work of the Holy Spirit and
saving grace of Jesus Christ. Michael Horton speaks to this in the Gospel Commission, “The
church does not arise either from the leadership of an earthly head or from the will of the people
but from the saving work of God in Jesus Christ.”9 Those that fulfill the ministerial offices of the
church and those are serving a significant lay leaders within the church need to be fully
submitted to the lordship of Jesus. The values of ministry should be that leaders model the way
being servants in regards to the Great Commission.
Views
A key ministry perspective for me is that we always be looking forward and
understanding the purpose of multiplication. One of the key verses is (2 Timothy 2:2), “and what
you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be
able to teach others also.”10 The church does not grow spiritually or numerically by adding one or
two here and there but the church must train and teach others to train and teach others. Second
Timothy shows us that Paul taught Timothy and other faith men who are now able to teach
others.
Relationships were very important to the apostle Paul. He conducted his ministry with
people and was able to train new pastors of church along the way to multiply himself. Paul wrote
books of the New Testament to these pastors and churches training them, correcting them, and
encouraging them. Greg Ogden comments about providing curriculum to help in that relationship
building process, “By providing a discipleship curriculum specifically designed for this intimate
9 Michael Horton, Gospel Commission: Recovering God's Strategy for Making Disciples, (Grand
Rapids, US: Baker Books, 2011), 191.
10 2 Timothy 2:2.
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relationship, it creates a simple, reproducible structure that almost any growing believer can
lead.”11 The apostle Paul modeled this for us and all it takes is someone willing to train another
person.
People can use many different definitions for words such as church, pastor, leadership,
gospel, and discipleship. Thom Rainer, in Simple Church, says, “Multiple definitions for the
same sounding words leads to confusion and frustration.”12 When there is confusion or
frustration, it is difficult to get people on the same page and thus would make it difficult for
everyone to look forward and understand the purpose of multiplication.
We can define the church as a group of people who have trusted Jesus Christ for the
salvation of souls and desire to serve Him (1 Corinthians 12:13). The local churches are led by a
pastor. A pastor is the equipper and trainer of those that have given their lives to Jesus. The
pastor cares for the church and protects them from those that would seek to harm the body of
Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12). The leadership in church are those that show that they are spiritually
mature in their relationship with Christ and can assist the pastor. The gospel is the good news
that Jesus Christ came and took the punishment for our sins. Through His death and resurrection
mankind can be brought into a right relationship with God (2 Corinthians 5:11-20). Discipleship
is the process of becoming like Jesus. I believe the discipleship process ends when the Christian
is in heaven. The importance of clear definitions should not be under estimated. If the church is
going to be on mission and multiplying, they need to have a clear understanding of the terms
used inside their church.
Vehicles
11 Greg Ogden, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time. Westmont, US: IVP Books, 2010.
ProQuest ebrary. Accessed November 9,2018. Copyright © 2010. IVP Books. All rights reserved.
12 Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples (Nashville, TN:
Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 113.
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The apostle Paul writes about church structure in saying about Jesus, “And he is the head
of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he
might be preeminent.”13 As church, we desire that Jesus would be glorified in all that we do. As
body of believers, I see that Jesus used more of the organic structure when discipling and
connecting with people. Earley and Dempsey describe the organic structure as, “The organic
church attempts to keep the church model very simple and basic.”14 Jesus kept everything very
simple, even His teaching, He does not desire to burden His disciples. Jesus is the head of the
church and church needs to be on His mission of sharing the gospel.
Our church structure is currently charismatic with a little hint of traditional structure in
some forms. I believe that this is because it is a relatively smaller church without a history of
people being a mission together. I would personally like to see it move to a more organic
structure since it is more relationally based. The church is an Assembly of God church and, it can
facilitate missions locally, nationally, and globally, but it would be great to see the church grasp
the vision that the Kingdom of God is bigger than just that.
In my opinion, it could be said that is in its phase of discipling through getting new
members to be plugged in to the church. There is understanding that small groups are important
but there has not been any centralized leadership in casting a vision for how the church can
become a church that is small groups. John Baergen, in the Presbyterian Record, rightly says,
“When small groups are viewed only as a ministry, it becomes obvious the church does not
understand that life-change occurs in small groups.”15 Without being too harsh, the church does
13 Colossians 1:18.
14 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion and
Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.
15 John G. Baergen. "Cultivating Christian community in small groups." Presbyterian Record Mar. 2000: 22-4.
General OneFile. Web. Accessed November 9, 2018.
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place a great emphasis on discipleship but tends to be lacking on the relational aspect of the
ongoing discipleship of the believer.
Our calendar and events are typically filled with church related activities such as church
barbeques, worship services, a couple youth events randomly, and a couple of mid-week bible
studies. In Simple Church, Thom Rainer comments, “Your programs say what is important to
you; therefore, you must define how each program is used to produce the kinds of disciples God
has called you to make.”16 As we are growing, adding staff, and working through significant
transitions, we will have to make communicate to our church the purpose of our calendar and
events.
Budgets are used by the discretion of the ministry leader or pastor. For much of the
budget is used to create or buy curriculum for volunteer leaders and students. Slogans are
typically chosen to help give the specific ministry an identity within the church. Each ministry
leader or pastor decides what form communication is best for their respective ministry. This
typically will include a weekly email, church announcements, and regularly scheduled meetings.
All this should be under a common plan, set definitions, and overarching mission of the church.
We are currently working through all aspects of the church to simplify and get on the same page.
Verifiers
It is important to understand ministry verifiers and how they can help better minister to
those in your church. One of the things I started at my church was to keep attendance by name,
this was done to best keep track of students and notice if they have been missing youth group or
Sunday school for any reason. If there was a bad reason they were missing, we would want to be
16 Thom S. Rainer, Simple Church, 115.
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able to reach out and minster to that student. The same is required for small groups. We need to
know how many members of our church is involved in small groups.
Attendance tracking is important since many times numerical growth is a sign spiritual
growth. Jim Putman comments, “As healthy Christians are reproducing other healthy Christians,
and as healthy churches are reproducing other healthy churches, we will be deploying more and
more people into the world to both demonstrate and tell others of the reality of Christ’s salvation
and kingdom.”17 If you are growing, that is a great verifier that you growing spiritually but if you
were shrinking in number than you would want to know why.
I believe the biggest verifier in ministry is, “Do the people of the church care about the
Great Commission?” Matthew records the Great Commission, “And Jesus came and said to
them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.”18 Are people in the church going on mission trips, involved in
local activities that are after the heart of God, do people care about small groups and discipling
someone younger in the faith, or is there just apathy after saying they have faith in Jesus?
When using verifiers in ministry, it is important to look at numbers in regards to
attendance for events or small group. However, it is vitally more important to look at the fruit of
the events, Sunday morning worship, and small groups. If there is no fruit produced, then a
pastor must reevaluate the ministry goals and strategy. Verifiers are good thing but must never
replace the fruit of the Spirit or someone’s heart.
17 Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman, Disciple Shift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to
Make Disciples Who Make Disciples (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 202-203.
18 Matthew 28:18-20.
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Conclusion
Without a plan to make disciples a church will not be able to fulfill Christ’s command
that His church make more disciples. Jesus modeled this for us by building relationships with His
disciples, training them, and then sending them out to do the same that He had done. The apostle
Paul also did this and trained pastors and sent them to churches all along his missionary
journeys. The present day church has to understand what their unique vision is, what they value,
what are their views in ministry, what vehicles are they going to use to conduct ministry, and
what verifiers will be used to see if their ministry is successful or not. Many times churches do
not seem to have this plan and they remain stagnant. Churches must be prepared to reach the lost
and disciple those that come to faith in Jesus.
10
Bibliography
Baergen, G. John. "Cultivating Christian community in small groups." Presbyterian Record Mar.
2000: 22-4. General OneFile. Web. Accessed November 9, 2018.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4. Minneapolis: First Fortress Press,
2003.
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.
Gladen, Steve. Leading Small Groups with Purpose: Everything You Need to Lead a Healthy
Group. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2012.
Horton, Michael. 2011. Gospel Commission: Recovering God's Strategy for Making Disciples.
Grand Rapids, US: Baker Books. Accessed November 9, 2018. ProQuest ebrary.
Ogden, Greg. 2010. Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time. Westmont,
US: IVP Books. Accessed November 9, 2018. ProQuest ebrary.
Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
Rainer, Thom. S. Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2005.
Rainer, Thom. S. and Eric Geiger. Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making
Disciples. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006.
Stanley, Andy and Bill Willits. Creating Community: 5 Keys to Building a Small Group Culture.
Sisters: Multnomah Publishers, 2004.
