Liberty University
Christ in Discipleship
Written Assignment 1
Brian Mclaughlin
DSMN 500 – Discipleship Ministries
October 6th, 2018
2
Discipleship is what we as Christians must be engaged in every day. This is commanded
of us in the Great Commission found in God’s word in (Matthew 28:18-20), “18And Jesus came
and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit,20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with
you always, to the end of the age."1 We have been given the privilege by Jesus to be His
disciples. Just as Jesus Christ wants us to follow Him, we need to have others have a life with
Him too. To be a disciple is to be ‘Christ-like’. The way we become “Christ-like’ is by faith and
obedience in Him and His word. Obedience to Christ is paramount to be His disciple. Obedience
to Jesus Christ’s command should not be difficult for a believer.
Yet, Christians simply do not make disciples as often as they should. What tends to
happen, is believers will bring someone to Jesus Christ, and the un-believer will accept Christ for
his or her first time. Then the new believer is no longer a thought of the imagination to the
believer who introduced the new believer to Christ. This is evident no matter if it is the pastor, a
leader, or just a member of the church. It seems that the focus of the body of Christ today is to try
to get as many people into the church as possible. The idea is to get these un-churched people
into church, then give them just the basics of Christianity such as tithing and then getting them
plugged into a ministry. The body of Christ does this only for their own benefit without bringing
glory to the Lord. Obedience to Jesus Christ is essential to the believer/s life. Jesus Christ
modeled this in His earthly ministry. He showed what it is like to truly be a servant to others. His
1 Matthew 28:18-20
3
expectation is for us to live the same way. In the book, Disciple Making is…by Dempsey and
Earley, are three stages of obedience that are ways for a believer to be a true disciple for Him.
Stage One: Declaration
(Investigation Leading to Repentance and Faith in Jesus)
True encouragement in being loved by God comes from the very real fact that God
disciplines those whom He loves. His plan has been from the very beginning of time to have us
redeemed unto Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. The only way for us to be in relationship
with Him, is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, to believe that He was, is
and is to come, the spotless lamb of God who knew no sin. He is the one that died in our place so
that we who have been given His grace to live in our heart, will be free from sin forever when we
are with Him in eternity.
According to Earley and Dempsey, “The whole issue in stage one is Jesus. The first stage
of discipleship is a call to investigate the person and work of Jesus. When a person gives Jesus an
honest hearing, they end up turning from their previous life and following Him.”2 Christians
must submit to Jesus Christ to be used by Him. When a person submits to Him, the Holy Spirit
that dwells inside of the believer will empower him or her to be used by God. Jesus (after He had
washed His disciples’ feet), told His disciples that He indeed is Lord in (John 13:13-15), “13You
call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Teacher,
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15For I have given you an
example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”3 In order for someone to be
discipled and have that relationship with Christ, one should be led to want to know Him as their
2 Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion and
Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013. p.63.
3 John 13:13-15
4
Lord and Savior. The believer must exhibit the ‘Christ-like’ traits that makes an un-believer crave
the desire to have Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Stage Two: Development
(Immersion, Abandonment, and Apprenticeship into Ministry)
Disciples of Jesus are not just teachers of God’s word to the non-believers. They are also
followers of Jesus too. But, to be completely immersed in Jesus Christ, means the believer needs
to be disciplined by not allowing the fleshly ways creep in. The disciples of Jesus understood that
to follow Christ, meant to give up everything they loved or knew about in life. Just as in any
relationship, there needs to be communication. The best way for Christians to communicate is by
prayer and reading of God’s word. These are essential and vital to living a life fulfilled in Jesus
Christ. According to Earley and Dempsey, “The Christianity practiced by the first Christians was
more than following a religion, ritual, creed, or doctrinal statement. It was a vibrant relationship
with God and with each other. Discipleship was not a program; it was a communal
relationship.”4
These disciples understood to truly be His disciple meant to always put Him first above
all others too. All ties to family affections had to be broken before discipleship could be realized.
Many attached themselves to Him, some of them gave all their lives over, some only what he or
she chose to give up. The body of Christ today needs the obedience and discipline to be true
disciples. According to Bonhoeffer, “…when we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to
an exclusive attachment to his person…”5 Faith and obedience in Christ is the result of a truly
committed follower of Jesus. Faith is where the believer gives complete surrender to Him when
there is no longer a reliance upon self.
4 Ibid.,71.
5 Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4. Minneapolis: First Fortress Press, 2003.59.
5
Obedience comes from a heart that is willing to surrender of one’s will to only the will of
Jesus Christ. Loving God and loving His words of truth. In fact, God’s word exhorts the believer
to work at becoming holy. (1 Peter 1:14-15), “14As obedient children, do not be conformed to
the passions of your former ignorance, 15but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all
your conduct,”6 Jesus Christ uses those who are willing to be taught and for those who are
willing to lead others to Him. One can not be prepared or truly minister to others if he or she is
not willing to be fully devoted to Jesus. A true follower of Christ cannot possibly refrain from
wanting others to know Him. Christians need to lovingly be obedient to the call Jesus gives to
make disciples. Belousek states, “According to Paul, the primary giver and sustainer of life is
Christ; and we live in Christ by freely receiving his love in faith, so that we who live by faith in
the love of Christ no longer live on the merit of our own effort:”7This is what is seen in churches
today where Christians ride the fence spiritually speaking and choose to dabble in worldly ideas
which lead to man made views of how to lead someone else to Christ. The apostle Paul
understood what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. He admonished the church to ensure that men
and women not only receive Christ, but that what they received became a new pattern of their
lives. In (Colossians 1:28), “28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with
all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”8 Today, the body of Christ needs to
have the same level of importance. Ministry especially in the United States of America is more
convenient and easier to bring forward to others. Jesus Christ waits for the willing hearts of
Christian men and women to reach out to the lost today.
Stage Three: Deployment
6 1 Peter 1:14-15
7 Belousek, Darrin W. Snyder. 2015. Road that I Must Walk, The: A Disciple's Journey. Cambridge: The
Lutterworth Press. Accessed October 7, 2018.77.
8 Colossians 1:28
6
(Intentional Global Commissioning)
Many Christians today do not understand the level and brevity of the call of Jesus upon
them. There is the idea that being a Christian does not have anything to do with being a disciple.
When this idea is adopted as gospel, it makes reaching people for Christ being done as more of a
chore than a willingness to be obedient to Jesus. In the book of (Romans 10:15), “And how are
they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who
preach the good news!”9Everyone who bears the name of Jesus Christ on them are sent. Sadly,
the body of Christ today does not fully know of this. Earley and Dempsey state, “Being a
missionary does not start when you arrive in a cross-cultural context thousands of miles from
home. Being a missionary starts here and now.”10With the massive overflow of people coming
from various countries into the United States. The non-Christian immigrants and their culture
overall are greatly influencing the United States Christian values with so many differing
worldviews. These views are aimed at the church. The church needs to remain mission minded.
Beating to the same heart beat of the Lord. According to Putnam et.al, “We start with a
commitment to trust and follow Jesus, and then, over time, we are changed by him. As Christ
changes us, we become more mature. This maturity manifests itself as a growing desire to love
and serve God and others and leads us to become spiritual parents who carry on Jesus’ mission in
the world.”11Believers do not fully grasp all of the implications of what it means to follow Jesus.
This has happened and continues to happen because the church has failed in its mission to make
disciples. Even though the church still has new un-churched people show up, the heart to see the
un-churched discipled is absent. Borthwick and Wright state, “Once more, we don’t need to ask
9 Romans 10:15
10 Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.83.
11 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. (Chapter 3 ebook)
7
if we are sent. We only need to ask where—for today, for the future, for our lives. The Great
Commission, Great Compassion lifestyle means taking the initiative to share Jesus, demonstrate
his life and live with others.”12 The encouraging factor for the church today though in the midst
of the negativity is where in (Romans 5:20) it says, “Now the law came in to increase the
trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,”13The expectation should be that
even though it may become tougher to bring a lost soul to Jesus because of dogmatic views, the
grace of God will continue to usurp the complacency, fear, and uncertainty of a half-hearted
Christian to disciple another. God will always use whoever gives of themselves to be used by
Him. Remembering the Great Commission as the universal theme that there is work yet to be
done with each new day is a great place to start.
Bibliography
Belousek, Darrin W. Snyder. 2015. Road that I Must Walk, The: A Disciple's Journey.
Cambridge:The Lutterworth Press. Accessed October 7, 2018.77.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4. Minneapolis:
First Fortress Press, 2003.59.
Borthwick, Paul. 2015. Great Commission, Great Compassion: Following Jesus and
Loving the World. InterVarsity Press. Accessed October 7, 2018.169.
12 Borthwick, Paul. 2015. Great Commission, Great Compassion: Following Jesus and Loving the World.
InterVarsity Press. Accessed October 7, 2018.169.
13 Romans 5:20
8
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission
with Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.83.
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. (Chapter 3 ebook)
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
