Disciple Making In the Local Church
Nikimi Hamilton
DSMN 500-D09 LUO
April 22, 2017
Table of Contents
I. Roles in Disciple Making and Importance
A. Role and Importance of the Local Church
B. Role and Importance of the Pastor
C. Role and Importance of the Saints
D. Role and Importance of the Spiritual Gifts
Importance in Roles of Disciple Making
When Jesus’ command to his disciples was to make more disciples, not and end goal of
building mega churches for legacy or leaving new converts as babes in Christ. The local church
serves as the body of Christ, and it is through the Church that disciples should be cultivated, but
often the church has forgotten this. “It is apparent, even to the casual observer that the
interpretation of what the church should be doing is not as clear as one would like to think.”1 It
is important to look at how disciples are made, and what roles all the members of the church
have in making disciples. Christians are meant to live in community with each other, and that
community is the local Church. The Universal Church is made up of local congregations which
are important for the growth of a disciple for it is within a local congregation that pastors and
other saints can utilize their spiritual gifts in order to build up the body of Christ.
The Role and Importance of the Local Church
In the New Testament, we constantly see the Church referred to as a body who’s head is
Jesus Christ. Once becoming believer in Jesus, one is adopted into the body of Christ. Dietrich
Bonhoeffer discusses this more in depth and settles that “The ‘new human being’ is thus at the
same time Christ and the church. Christ is the new humanity in the new human being. Christ is
the church.”2 Extending the belief of each believer into the role of being part of the body of
Christ, each believer is to perform a designated role. Without proper function of the roles and
responsibilities of each member the body is metaphorically crippled. While one can adjust to
compensate for a disability, it is not congruent to the full functionality of the body without
1 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple making Is--: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence (Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2013), Electronic.
2 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Geffrey B. Kelly and John D. Godsey, English ed., vol.
4 (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), Electronic.
defect. This is the premise through which we see a church without the full functioning members
of the body. The counter of this is also true, “as the individual believer grows and matures, the
body becomes healthier. The more parts of the body that are working ‘properly’ (as He intended),
the healthier the body becomes.”3
The church is also the learning center for formal instruction of disciples. Sathianthan is
his assertion that disciple making happens in the local church states that “… it happens in the
sanctuary where the Word is sung, prayed, read, preached, and displayed through communion
and baptism”.4 He goes on to discuss Christ’s plan for to be the authority through which the
community comes under to transfer the faith to the next generation. The process of discipleship
is not the sole charge of the pastor. It is the duty of the entire body or community of believers.
Bonhoeffer explains that, “Jesus Christ lives here on earth in the form of his body, the church-
community.”5 In explaining Ephesians 4: 11– 14, Earley and Dempsey harmonized with
Bonhoeffer in affirming, “This passage is saying that the church is the same thing as the body of
Christ. They are synonymous. In addition, Paul delineates that the body of Christ is to be built up
through “the proper working of each individual part.”6
Putman, Harrington and Coleman proposed that the local church has a specific role that
involves a methodologies of sharing, connecting, train to minister, and disciplining.7 To
3 Earley and Dempsey, Electronic.
4 Godwin Sathianathan, "Grow a Disciple-Making Culture in Your Church," TGC - The Gospel
Coalition, February 25, 2013, accessed April 22, 2017,
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-to-grow-a-disciple-making-culture-in-your-
church.
5 Bonhoeffer, Electronic.
6 Earley and Dempsey, Electronic.
7 Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert Emerson Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That
Help Your Church to Make Disciples who make Disciples (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013).
accomplish this the Church must have the ability to connect, “Churches can reach out
corporately through small groups, community groups, church services, and various ministries.”8
As the church connects with congregants, it teaches them how to establish relationships with
fellow believers and grow together with a Godly type of love for one another.
Role of the Pastor
One of the most commonly thought of roles in the Church is that of the pastor. Many
churches use the term pastor as a title for the role of those in senior leadership positions. While
the Pastor is the one responsible for the overall health and safety of the local church, they are
also the leaders driving the effectiveness of the Church’s Discipleship Ministry. The Pastor’s role
is not limited to just the one speaking from the pulpit of a church during Worship and Bible
Study classes. While preaching the Gospel is vital, “Jesus didn’t use the methodology of
preaching to the crowds as his core means of making disciples, so why should we? One of the
obvious factors that limits a weekend service’s effectiveness is that a sermon happens only once
a week.”9 Earley and Dempsey described the pastor’s role and responsibility as those who are to
“train” or “equip” the saints, and the saints are to do the “work of ministry.” This training has to
do with helping the saints “grow up in every way into Him,” becoming “mature” believers. This
involves properly connecting the individual inside the body, just as Christ desires.10[Earley
Electronic]. Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that Christ gave the church apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers, to prepare His people for ministry so that the body of Christ
153.
8 Ibid.
9 Putnam, 116.
10 Earley and Dempsey, Electronic.
may become mature.11 The Pastor has a responsibility to share the gospel, teach, train, equip,
connect, and prepare the congregation for the process of reproducing disciples.12[ibid electronic]
The Pastor is also responsible for the growth and development of each member in the
congregation; ensuring their growth, understanding of what spiritual gifts are, and their maturing
in the faith.13
Role of the Saints
While the pastor is responsible for the overall health of the church, they are not solely
responsible for the teaching, saint cultivation, and growth of the Church; but this is the role of all
affiliates, including ministers, leaders, and laypersons. Every believer is a saint and thus should
be involved in spreading the message of Christ. It is essential that every saint realizes the
instructions given to saints are applicable to all without exception and should involve community
efforts. Believers, being relational in nature, ‘our interactions with one another is how the
relational need is met. Relationships in the body of Christ are where we learn from others what a
mature Christian life looks like.’14 Hebrews 10:24-25 where we are told to “consider how we
may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some
are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another...” Believers are to regularly and
consistently meet together with one of their goals being to encourage one another. If you want to
ask what toward, it is simply to be more like Christ in their everyday life.
11 The Holy Bible: New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005). (Source
for all Biblical References.)
12 Earley and Dempsey, Electronic.
13 Early & Dempsey, Electronic.
14 Putnam, 140.
The Role of Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are special (divine) abilities given to every Christian, by the grace of God,
through the Holy Spirit to be used to serve and strengthen one another, and to glorify God.15
Spiritual gifts are the added tools God gives Christians to do the work of the ministry, which
fulfills the Great Commission. These tools help believers to reach, baptize, teach, and to minister.
Spiritual gifts are not rewards nor do they equate to natural talents. They manifest themselves
through ministry works with the goal of accomplishing results, discipleship of unbelievers. The
Holy Spirit is able to minster through the believer utilizing spiritual gifts. A spiritual gift is a
weighted responsibility that God has gifted to a believer and usually involves a work, and thus
imperative that believers ensure they are sent to do a work and not just running to a work
because of the gift they have been given.
As spiritual gifts are from God, it is imperative that these gifts continue to operate in the
church. First Peter 4:10-11 admonishes that each of us use whatever spiritual gifts we have to
serve others. Specifically, it is through building up and encouraging other believers and bringing
people to Jesus where God is glorified. Ultimately, in making disciples, the Church should be
functioning as a single body for the purpose of bringing more people to Christ and creating
reproducing disciples.
15 The Power of Spiritual Gifts in the Life of the Church, November 12, 2006, The Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), Https://cciwdisciples.org/wp-
content/uploads/2013/06/2GiftsBook.pdf, Bloomington. 14.
References
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Discipleship. Edited by Geffrey B. Kelly and John D. Godsey. English ed.
Vol. 4. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003. Electronic.
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple making Is--: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2013. Electronic.
Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert Emerson Coleman. DiscipleShift: Five Steps That
Help Your Church to Make Disciples who make Disciples. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2013.
Sathianathan, Godwin. "Grow a Disciple-Making Culture in Your Church." TGC - The Gospel
Coalition. February 25, 2013. Accessed April 22, 2017.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-to-grow-a-disciple-making-culture-in-
your-church.
The Power of Spiritual Gifts in the Life of the Church. November 12, 2006. The Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), Https://cciwdisciples.org/wp-
content/uploads/2013/06/2GiftsBook.pdf, Bloomington.
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