LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Disciple Making in a Healthy
Church
Submitted to Dr. Jonathan Geukgeuzian
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 - 02
Discipleship Ministry
by
Anne Rector
June 13, 2021
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A Healthy Church: The Goal for Discipleship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Three Area to Create a Healthier Body of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Steps to Improve Spiritual Health . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Introduction
A healthy church is a spiritually loving and bonded community of believers that
represents the Body of Christ. The evidence of a loving church is shown by the relationships that
exist, and also are demonstrated outside the church in the community. This is how the church
follows the example Jesus gave us to reach out to the lost and bring Christ to the world. John
12:35, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Members and visitors are taught through the process of discipleship, how to study scripture and
know God in order to grow and serve and share with others. A healthy church intentionally seeks
to set up a discipleship process to carry out the Great Commission. This does not happen
organically and there must be a mission of the church to develop spiritually healthy leaders who
contribute to the church and to the community.
A Healthy Church
A spiritually healthy church successes will be measured by the process of creating
disciples. Disciples contribute to the church primarily by focusing inward but should contribute
to the community through outward focus as well. The Book of Acts gives us a definition of a
healthy church. Acts 2:42-47, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many
wonder and signs were done through the apostles. Now, all who believed were together and had
all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as
anyone had need. So, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bred from
house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and
having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily, those who were
being saved.”1
The Apostle Paul added many examples of a healthy church when he was directing the
people of Corinth. He listed many elements in scripture that signify a healthy church such as
fellowship, discipleship, worship, ministry and evangelism. Paul stated that the church is to
operate as one body, the very body of Christ, that we are all baptized by one Spirit so as to form
a single body. I Corinthians 12:13 relates Paul’s sentiments, “For by one Spirit we were all
baptized –whether Jews or Greeks, whether slave or free, and have all been made to drink into
one Spirit.” This means that for all of our differences, when we accept Christ, we are all one in
Him. This collective is what allows the Gospel to be spread as it tells us in Scripture.
What are the indicators of a healthy church and how do these impact churches to process
the development of disciples? Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey state in their text, Disciple
Making Is…,“Paul points out that the body of Christ is to be built up and that it grows strong by
“the proper working of each individual part.”2 They continue by defining “each individual part”
as working in sync toward the contribution of a healthy church. As their book puts it “with an
organic system where all parts work together.”3 They also stress the importance of identifying the
spiritual gifts of the congregation and placing their gifts in the right to allow them to be used the
way God intended. The authors give their interpretation of a health y church’s measure of
success by the amount of effective discipleship that is taking place. Peter Scazzero, in his book,
The Emotionally Healthy Leader, describes a healthy church that practices self, congregational,
1 All scripture references are from the New International Version.
2 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is--: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion
and Confidence (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2013). 21.
3 Ibid., 28.
and leadership reflections to ensure that emotional and spiritual health is lining up with the will
of God for that congregation.4 He goes on to write, “I have seen young people training to be
leaders respond brilliantly and experience significant changes in their lives when exposed to a
discipleship model that integrates emotional and spiritual maturity.”5 In Common Roots: The
Original Call to a Common Faith, John Webber gives his discipleship methodology that should
occur in a healthy church when he emphasized the necessity of faith is the primary price of
obedience. To him, it is a problem of balance and emphasis. Webber believes there is a need to
return to the biblical messages and the demands they impose on individuals seeking to become
lifelong disciples. “Evangelists seek to elicit a response, to get someone to make a decision, and
then, a full commitment to Christ.”6
To avoid becoming an example of an unhealthy church where discipleship is not a
cornerstone, churches must follow the words of authors Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington in
their text, Discipleshift. They state that church leadership must implement a fundamental shift in
their thinking from informing people to changing them.7 This transformation is described in
scripture too and is the final goal of personal and communal discipleship. Romans 12:1-2, “I
beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” The healthy church is
distinguished and set apart by what Dempsey states as a healthy leader knowing who he or she is
and knowing their role in the body. A spiritual leader knows his or her role in the body and helps
others grow in their relationship to Christ. A spiritual leader is one who is a person of influence;
4 Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply
Transform Your Church, Team, and the World (Grand Rapid: Zondervan, 2015), 77.
5 Ibid., 77.
6 Robert E. Webber, Common Roots: The Original Call to an Ancient-future Faith (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2009), 157.
7 Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington, Discipleshift (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 98.
he or she follows God’s will for their lives and influences other to follow His plans. Lastly,
a spiritually healthy church is led by leaders who have taught others, adding to the strength of the
body. It will be guided by the Holy Spirit, strengthened by immersion in the Scriptures and
focused on the exercising the Great Commission.8
Three Areas to Create a Healthier Body of Christ
There are three areas of concern for an unhealthy church: Lack of leaders in discipleship;
lack of a discipleship process; lack of small groups that are functioning and healthy. To avoid
falling into a situation where any of these elements are present in a church, a congregation must
ask the following questions: 1) Does the pastor have a vision for the church that is family and
friend based? 2) Are new people in the congregation evaluated for spiritual gifts and if so are
these gifts being utilized for the betterment of the body? Discipleship must be encouraged from
the pastor through his or her life and mentorship of others. 3) Does the pastor and staff offer
classes to improve skills which will advance people into leadership position within the church?
4) Is the focus of the church inward or outward to the community as a whole?
The scriptures tell us how to identify taking care of a spiritually unhealthy person. James
5:13, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.”
And II Thessalonians 3:2 says, “Pray that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked
men, for not all have faith.”
Steps to Improve Spiritual Health
8 John R. W. Stott, Basic Christian Leadership (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2002), 33.
The first step to improving the spiritual health of the church begins with God’s chosen
man, the pastor. The pastor must have an intentional plan to create a discipleship process. He is
the visionary of the church, given by the Holy Spirit. This leader has to know his role in the
body and continue the work of developing leaders who plant churches. Church planting is not
necessarily a process that happens outside of the church wall. Developing leaders happens inside
the congregation for those identified with the gift of leading others. These leaders are key to the
discipleship making process and in turn, they allow the pastor to focus on the leadership
development of these individuals to begin the process.
The church leadership, existing of the pastor and deacons, must develop a plan that
involves an intentional disciple-making process focusing on relationships and a clear cut strategy
to eventually birth new groups. The pastor has to cast a vision for the deacons and saints of the
church to embrace and carry on within the congregation. The pastor must also develop a process
where new believers are intentionally and individually developed. This investment will not only
feed the personal worshiper, but also create what Liberty University’s educational slogan
declares, “Training Champions for Christ.” This process also makes the church a place where
the process of multiplication is a reality and not a theoretical construct.
Conclusion
Healthy churches are easily identified by the love they show their fellow brothers and
sisters within the church. This love is also shown in the community by their actions and
involvement. The second element that allows healthy churches to be identified is the disciples
who are being produced as a result of an intentional plan from the pastor. These disciples are not
produced by chance but developed with a plan involving an investment in spiritually mature
leaders who are equipped to guide others to do their part in carrying out the Great Commission.9
Bibliography
Earley, Dave and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is …How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B and H Academic, 2013.
Putnam, Jim and Bobby Harrington. Discipleshift. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
Scazzero, Peter. The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will
Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015.
Stott, John R. W. Basic Christian Leadership. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
Webber, Robert E. Common Roots: The Original Call to an Ancient Faith. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2009.
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