LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Discipleship and Leadership
Submitted to Dr. Micheal Pardue, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course,
DSMN-500
Discipleship Ministries
By
Andrew Alber
July 31, 2022
Contents
Spiritual Leadership ……………………………………………………………………………... 1
The Goal of Discipleship ………………………………………………………………………... 3
Leadership Principles ……………………………………………………………………………. 3
ii
1
Spiritual Leadership
Pastor, author, and speaker John Maxwell has defined leadership in a number of ways,
but one clear and concise definition that he has given is, “Leadership is influence—nothing
more, nothing less.”1 This is true in every area of leadership: military, business, spiritual, etc. A
perfect demonstration of this can be seen in the ultimate leader, God himself, who is both all-
powerful and the creator of everything (Jeremiah 32:17). God has infinite influence, and
therefore infinite ability to lead. However, truly effective leadership is not just about capacity
(which God has in infinite amount of), but character as well. As influential author and researcher
George Barna describes in his book Leaders on Leadership, “A Christian leader is someone who
is called by God to lead; leads with and through Christ like character; and demonstrates the
functional competencies that permit effective leadership to take place.”2 Thankfully we serve a
God who is not just perfect in his capacity, but also his character (Mark 10:18). So what does
effective leadership look like? Specifically, how does one become an effective spiritual leader?
Thankfully, both Dempsey and Earley and Putnam, Harrington, and Coleman have a lot to say on
this topic.
In addition to influence and development of others, which is a demonstration of character,
Dempsey and Earley, in their book Disciple Making Is, add vision to their list of ingredients for
effective leadership.3 Without vision a leader has nowhere to take the people that are following
them. In many ways this hints back to the earlier quote from Barna that leaders are called by God
to lead. When God calls, he is the one giving direction and vision (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans
1 John C. Maxwell, The Leadership Handbook: 26 Critical Lessons Every Leader Needs (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Inc, 2015), 167.
2 George Barna, Leaders on Leadership: Wisdom, Advice and Encouragement on the Art of Leading God's
People (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1998).
3 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2013).
2
11:29, Philippians 1:6). Dempsey and Earley also describe Christian leadership as a process,
“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.”4 No one wakes up one morning capable
of propelling others into perfect alignment with God’s desires for their lives. It takes time,
energy, prayer, consistency, persistence, growth, and authenticity.
In their book DiscipleShift, Putnam, Harrington, and Coleman take the issue of leadership
and apply it directly to the task of discipleship. They make a key distinction between simply
informing people along in their spiritual journey to equipping them to grow into fully formed
disciples that can make disciples in response to the Great Commission.5 This process of
equipping others requires leaders to be authentic about their own struggles as well, creating a
discipling environment where vulnerability thrives and those who are having problems in their
life and faith feel free to actually share and grow.6 They explain that this is part of modeling
Godly character for others to follow in. This reflects Paul’s own statements in 1 Corinthians 11
when he says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 English Standard
Version). An effective spiritual leader is, first and foremost, an effective spiritual follower. They
are one who follows Christ’s perfect example and seeks to demonstrate it to those around them.
As Jesus himself said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24b). This is the very purpose of being a disciple of Christ,
to be more like him and, in doing so, glorify God.
The Goal of Discipleship
4 Earley and Dempsey, Disciple Making Is.
5 Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your
Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).
6 Ibid.
3
So what is the goal of discipleship? There are many ways that one could write a correct
answer to this question: To glorify God, for more people to come into saving relationship with
Jesus, to grow God’s Kingdom, etc. One simple and practical way to write it is this: A healthy
church. We know that the ultimate purpose of all creation and our human lives is to bring God
glory (1 Peter 4:11), and as Earley and Dempsey describe, “A healthy church is a representation
of the people of God coming together to accomplish the mission of God for the glory of God.”7 A
healthy church, or better yet, the healthy Church, shows the world more than anything that we
are God’s and this brings him glory more than anything (John 15:8). It should then be the goal of
believers and church leaders to utilize their giftings to disciple others, and create systems for
discipling others, for the purpose of seeing the Church be fully healthy and thriving to bring God
glory (Ephesians 4:11-13).8
Leadership Principles
One of the key responsibilities of an spiritual leader is to be willing to critically evaluate
one’s own heart and life for the purpose of becoming a more Godly and effective leader. A
simple way for a leader to do this is to exam proven, biblical leadership principles and compare
them against their own life and leadership. “10 Kingdom Leadership / Followership Principles”
by Dr. Michael Pardue lays out several very strong ones for consideration divided into three
categories: Kingdom Perspectives, Kingdom Principles, and Kingdom Practices.9 The three
Kingdom Perspectives are, “There is only one King and you are not Him. You are not a leader...
you are a follower of a leader. None of ‘it’ is yours.”10 Kingdom Principles contains, “To
represent King Jesus you must spend time with Him. The Church is the Body of Christ! God’s
7 Earley and Dempsey, Disciple Making Is.
8 Putman, Harrington, and Coleman, DiscipleShift.
9 Michael Pardue, “10 Kingdom Leadership / Followership Principles” (class handout in DSMN 500 at
Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, Summer 2022).
10 Pardue, “10 Kingdom Leadership / Followership Principles.”
4
word, not ‘Business Weekly’ is our textbook. The way up the ladder is down.”11 The last three,
which fall under Kingdom Perspectives, are, “Connect people to Jesus (Up). Connect people to
One Another (In). Connect people to the Mission (Out).”12
While I wholeheartedly agree with all ten of these principles, there are a few that stand
out to me specifically as I consider my own life and leadership, especially in areas that need
improvement. The key one that stands out most is that in order to represent Jesus to others I have
to spend time with him. To me, this is the foundation of all the others because there is no better
way to know God and grow in relationship with him than to spend time with him personally.
Walking daily with the Lord in prayer, his Word, and worship are essential for maintaining and
growing one’s spiritual health. I do not do this enough. That is not to say that I do not do it at all,
I do. In fact, I do it regularly. However, too often I allow the busyness of life and my own lack of
discipline to distract me and I miss out on time with the Lord. This is an area that I need to grow
in, because without it I will begin to lose sight of who God is and his working in my life.
The second principle that stands out to me as an area of improvement is connecting
people to mission. One famous idea about leadership is that it is harder to teach and lead people
in how to do something than to just do it yourself, but that is the whole point of discipleship. Too
often I find myself just doing ministry things that I could be inviting others into because, in the
moment, it is easier. I need to remember what my ultimate purpose is as a pastor, not to just do
ministry, but to equip others to do it too. The last principle that stands out to me stands out in
kind of an odd way, and that is that none of “it” is mine. I do not struggle with the idea that the
church, ministry, people, etc. are not mine, that I actually feel very clearly. It is more that I put an
unnecessary weight on myself for these things. While pastors and leaders should absolutely feel a
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
5
burden for the church and the people in it, I sometimes take that burden too far in my mind and
forget that all these things are firmly in God’s hands. It really is comforting to know that we do
not have to take on the ultimate responsibility for the “success” of the church or other people’s
faith. God is in control, and he is the only one who holds all things together. As I continue to
grow in my leadership and as a disciple and disciple maker, it is my desire to learn to trust God
more and more, growing more into his likeness for his glory.
6
Bibliography
Barna, George. Leaders on Leadership: Wisdom, Advice and Encouragement on the Art of
Leading God's People. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1998.
Earley, Dave and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2013.
Maxwell, John C. The Leadership Handbook: 26 Critical Lessons Every Leader Needs.
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 2015.
Pardue, Michael. “10 Kingdom Leadership / Followership Principles.” Class handout in DSMN
500 at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, Summer 2022.
Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2013.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
