LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Connection Between Discipleship and
Leadership
Submitted to Dr. Rodney
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500_B01
Disciple Ministries
by
February 17, 2022
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Developing Disciples Versus Church Leaders...............................................................................................1
Healthy Church is the Goal..........................................................................................................................2
Kingdom Leadership Principles and Me.......................................................................................................3
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 4
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................................6
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1
Introduction
Discipleship is the ultimate level of leadership. Someone can be a world’s best business
leader, coach, husband, or father, but if that person does not lead others into a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, all they have done is lead them straight to hell. This is a bold
statement and one that the world will not agree with; however, if one steps back and looks at life
as a whole, in light of eternity, they will see that biblical discipleship is the truest form of
leadership. In this paper the author will look at the Great Commission in light of leadership and
compare developing disciples versus church leaders. Next, the author will speak to how a healthy
Church should be the goal of the disciple. Finally, looking at the 10 Kingdom Leadership
Principles, which ones need to be addressed in the authors life.
Developing Disciples Versus Church Leaders
In the Great Commission, Jesus tells His disciples to go to the whole world and make disciple. In
other word go lead people to Jesus. A disciple is a leader. If a Christian has the opportunity to
lead someone to Jesus, by the grace of God, according to Matthew 28:19-20, that person should
also lead them in gaining the knowledge that is needed to live a life that exemplifies Christ. The
majority of the is done by the Holy Spirit through the sanctification process, but the Holy Spirit
use a disciple to help facilitate this. Therefore, a disciple is a leader even if they are not a leader
for the Church, ministry, or on a mission field across the world. Dempsy Gives the following as
a definition of Christian leadership in his book Discipleship Is…: “Christian leadership is the
process of influencing individuals to follow God’s plan for their lives and become all they can be
for Christ and His mission.”1 If someone was to write a definition for a discipleship, they could
use this same definition. Therefore, there does not seem to be a difference between a disciple and
1 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is...: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion and
Confidence. B&h Publishing Group, 2013.
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a Christian leader. Just because a disciple does not lead at a church does not mean that person is
not a Christian leader, there are Christian leaders that are businessmen, mother, husbands,
teachers, and so much more. Therefore, the same way the Church does about developing
disciples of Jesus Christ, is the same way to develop Christ leader, through the teachings of
God’s Word and an abundant amount of God’s Grace.
Healthy Church is the Goal
A healthy Church should be the goal for the disciples that make it up. However, if the disciples
themselves are not healthy, how can the Church be happy. Dempsey uses the illustration of a
doctor looking over an unwell patient and compares it to Jesus in Revelation looking at the seven
Churches and evaluating their health.2 Just like a human body, a Church body will feel that
effects of a body part being unhealthy. In the authors case, he has a bad back. This back pain
comes from having tight hip. The hips are tight because they trying to compensate for the weak
glutes. Therefore, if the glutes were stronger then the hips would not be as tight, and the back
would not feel as much strain and pain. In the same way, if the body of Christ, the Church, has a
weak “glute,” whether a pastor, elder, or program director the other parts of the Church are going
to feel the strain of that weak body part. This is why if is important to workout the whole body
through discipleship and not just focus on the beach muscles of the Church, the body parts that
everyone sees. This is what I love about Putman’s example of being venerable. As he says, the
people in Church know that you are a sinner, and the pastor has problem;3 Therefore, do not let
pride get in the way of helping others in the body of Christ that may be going through something
similar. If the Church leader is not honest, “the leaders had unintentionally taught through their
2Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is...: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence. B&h Publishing Group, 2013.
3 Jim Putman, and Bobby Harrington. DiscipleShift: Five steps that help your church to make disciples who
make disciples. Zondervan, 2013.
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own model that it’s not okay to share your struggles and brokenness with other believers.”4
However, it is okay to share with fellow followers of Christ what he struggles with and in turn
the disciples can come along side of him/ her in prayer and support.
Kingdom Leadership Principles and Me
I did not have to look far on the list of 10 Kingdom Leadership Principles to find my first
area that needs improvement. The first thing I need to remember as a disciple and leader is that
“there is only one King, and you (I) are not Him.”5 This one applies most to the leadership that
God has given me over my family. As Dr. Dempsey points out in Chapter 20 of Disciple Making
is…, being a husband and father is a mirror that shows you have selfish you are.6 It is easy for me
to make things about myself when I am making discissions about what we as a family should do,
eat, watch, etc. This always comes into play when it comes to time. The kids take up a lot of time
with their activities and what not, so I try to justify my selfish desires a lot of the times. In reality
God has given me the blessing of being a husband and father and it should be my privilege to use
all the time that God gives me with them to disciple them in our comings and goings. This also
plays right into the third leadership perspective, “None of “it” is yours (church, offerings, gifts,
buildings, people, vision).”7 “So, you also, when you have done everything, you were told to do,
should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” (Lk 17:10) God has given
me a duty, and I should complete that duty to the best of my ability with though the grace of
God.
4 Jim Putman, and Bobby Harrington. DiscipleShift: Five steps that help your church to make disciples who
make disciples. Zondervan, 2013.
5Unknown. “10 Kingdom Leadership/ Followership Principles”.
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/273273/files/81917925?module_item_id=2175795710 Kingdom
Leadership Principles.docx: DSMN500: Discipleship Ministries (B01) (liberty.edu). Accessed February 17,
2022.
6 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is...: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence. B&h Publishing Group, 2013.
7 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is...: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence. B&h Publishing Group, 2013.
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The next Kingdom Leadership Principles that I need to work on is, “To represent King
Jesus you must spend time with Him.”8 This is area of my life that I have struggled with my
whole life. While I have improved over the years, it is a constant struggle for me. I get cause up
in the things that are entertaining in the world instead of spending time with my Father, in His
Word, acting for strength. However, I know that in order to be a light as a disciple of Jesus, I
need to be a reflection of Him. There is a Christian song that talks about this by Chris Tomlin
called “Be the Moon.” In the Song he talks about how he wants to be the moon up among the
stars the reflects the sun with is Jesus, to the stars, which is the people that see him.9 However,
we are going to be a very dim light or have no light if we are not spending time with God each
and every day. Just like the literal moon, there will be days when we shine bright from Christ and
others where we are dim; however, by drawing close to God we can limit those dim days.
“Subject oneself, be subjected or subordinated,
obey.”
“Subject oneself, be subjected or subordinated,
obey.”
“subject oneself, be subjected or subordinated,
obey.”
“subject oneself, be subjected or subordinated,
obey.”
Conclusion
Christ’s leadership is the only perfect leadership that we have an example of, and even Jesus had
followers that fell away and betrayed Him. However, by studying the leadership of Christ and
striving to be more like Him, we as disciples of Him can be a better Christian leader. In this
paper the reader has read about what leadership looks like through the lens of the Great
8 Unknown. “10 Kingdom Leadership/ Followership Principles”.
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/273273/files/81917925?module_item_id=2175795710 Kingdom
Leadership Principles.docx: DSMN500: Discipleship Ministries (B01) (liberty.edu). Accessed February 17,
2022.
9 Chris Tomlin, Tyler Hubbard, Corey Crowder. “Be The Moon”. https://gospeljingle.com/chris-tomlin-be-
the-moon/. Accessed February 15, 2022.
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Commission. He/ she has also read about the importance of having strong disciples in the Church
in order to keep the Church healthy. And finally, the author has opened the window for the reader
to see what the author need to work on in their leadership life.
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Bibliography
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is...: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. B&h Publishing Group, 2013.
Putman, Jim, and Bobby Harrington. DiscipleShift: Five steps that help your church to make
disciples who make disciples. Zondervan, 2013.
Tomlin, Chris, Tyler Hubbard, Corey Crowder. “Be The Moon”. https://gospeljingle.com/chris-
tomlin-be-the-moon/. Accessed February 15, 2022.
Unknown. “10 Kingdom Leadership/ Followership Principles”.
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/273273/files/81917925?module_item_id=2175795710
Kingdom Leadership Principles.docx: DSMN500: Discipleship Ministries (B01)
(liberty.edu). Accessed February 17, 2022.
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