LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Submitted to Dr. Dave Early
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500-B07
Disciple Making in a Healthy Church Assignment
by
Julia M. Amspacher
February 27, 2021
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Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…………….2
The Church in Discipleship……………………………………………………………………….2
The Pastor in Discipleship………………………………………………………………………...3
The Saints in Discipleship………………………………………………………………………...4
Spiritual Gifts in Discipleship…………………………………………………………….……….4
Application………………………………...……………………………………………….……...6
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….…..6
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………7
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Introduction
Discipleship is a very important part of ministry and being a part of a church. There are
different roles within a ministry, and each role plays a part in helping grow the Kingdom of God.
“The church must be intentional in developing all of God’s children to reach their full potential.”1
The church isn’t just a physical building. The church meets in a building to come together and do
community with one another, but the Church is anyone who is born again in Jesus Christ. The
role of the church is to build the church, meaning the body of Christ. Knowing this, we must go
out and spread the Gospel of Jesus to bring them in so that we may further His Kingdom.
Ephesians 2:19-22 says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure,
being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built
together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Every member of the body of Christ has a
role in discipling others.
The Church in Discipleship
“The church of Jesus Christ is in the business of preaching the gospel and then helping
those people who respond to grow spiritually.”2 The church is a place for believers to migrate and
help build each other up in the Word. A healthy church is one where it’s members are growing
and coming together as one. A healthy body is one where each part is active and growing. If you
take away one part, the body doesn’t function as it should. The church is to work together to
build each other up and bring people in to further the Kingdom of God. Paul says in Romans
15:14, “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness,
1 Early and Dempsey, p. 41
2 Ibid., p. 43
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filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” We recognize that we are
responsible for coming alongside of our brothers and sisters in Christ and guiding them up
towards Jesus.
The Pastor in Discipleship
The Pastor of a church has many toles. One of the roles is to be a shepherd keeping watch
over his flock. Acts 20:28 says, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with
his own blood.” Another one of the Pastors roles is to teach the Word of God and to devote
themselves to prayer. Acts 6:4 says, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry
of the word.” Pastors have many roles but I believe these to be the main ones. “Pastors are to
“train” or “equip” the saints, and the saints are to do the “work of ministry”.”3 In order for a
Pastor to disciple a church, the Pastor must first be in full submission to Jesus Christ. The text
says, “A pastor must be immersed in the Word of God, yielded to the Holy Spirit, and in
relationship with other people.”4 The first witness that a lot of outsiders see when coming to a
church for the first time is the Pastor. I know that when my mom was looking for a church to go
to for the first time she looked at how the Pastor shepherded his church and that she could tell
how healthy a church was by how the staff served one another. The pastor of a church is
responsible for yielding to the Holy Spirit and teaching a message to the congregation while his
staff is then responsible for the growing of the body. A pastor is not responsible to seeing each
member of the congregation eye to eye and helping them in their spiritual walk. The pastor is
always there, but if that pastor has a church of over 1,000 it is nearly impossible to meet each
member for a one on one. This is why the pastor equips staff to come in and build small groups
3 Ibid., p. 40
4 Putnam, p. 105
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and communities so that brothers and sisters and Christ can help aid in the spiritual growth
process.
The Saints in Discipleship
Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the
shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of
Christ.” The saints in the church are to do the work of ministry. This means that they are to go
out into the community and share the good news of Jesus Christ. This may even look like
bringing someone to church. The saints are to be obedient to the Holy Spirit and to stay in tune
with Him. It is the work of the saints to tell about Jesus but it is the work of Jesus to move in
their hearts. Discipleship can be seen in many different ways. Discipling one another a lot of
times happens in small groups. This looks like building brothers and sisters up in Christ and
keeping each other accountable. It is important to grow alongside of believers, God did not call
us to do this solo. He knows that we are out weakest when we are alone and that is why He calls
us to community. It is easier to do life surrounded by people who are constantly egging your
forward. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and
good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” We are to create an environment in a
church body that makes people want to grow in their walk with Jesus. A church should have
efficient training on how to walk alongside one another and build each other up in the Word. We
serve one another by using our gifts that God has given us specifically and coming together to
use them the way that He intends us to. Ministry should be a place where the leaders are
equipping the saints to walk alongside of one another and exist to help each other grow and keep
each other accountable.
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Spiritual Gifts in Discipleship
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied
grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by
the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:10-11 makes it
clear that every Christian has a spiritual gift and that they should use it to build the Kingdom of
God. The Holy Spirit is the primary player in the game of bringing someone to know Jesus. The
moment the Holy Spirit comes into your heart is when you receive Jesus to come into your heart.
“A demonstration of the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to
another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the
performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to
another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages. But one and the
same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each one as He wills.”5 As a member of the
church if you are using your gift as God intends, you could be doing great things for the
Kingdom of God. Disciple making is not easy but it is our job to keep ourselves healthy and
focus on bettering ourselves and making us look more like Jesus. If we all are doing this and also
coming together, our ministry will grow and look more like God intends it to be. We are called to
use the gifts specifically given to us to help participate in the work of making disciples. Jesus has
a special path for us to go on and all we have to be is be obedient to Him and the work of the
Holy Spirit.
Application
Examining the health of the church I currently attend and by looking at the TAHO chart, I
notice that my church is in the tradition category. My church is governed just by one pastor, and
5 Early and Dempsey, p. 189
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we are very building and Sunday focused. We are a church of about 1,000 and everything that we
do or have done remains somewhat the same to how we have always done it. Any kind of
spiritual formation or discipleship happens within the walls of the church. Our biggest strength
as a church is our devotion to God. Based on the “Healthy Church Assessment”, my church’s
biggest strength is in the “up” category, which is love for God. There seems to be no issue of our
obedience to the Word of God by meeting and Worshipping Him and growing together towards
the Kingdom. What my church lacks in is the “out” category which is love for our neighbors.
There is a lot of prayer and worship happening within the church for believers outside of the
church, but there is no ministry happening outside of the church to bring people in. We only have
on church building and do not seek to build anymore churches. Most of what is happening within
our ministry stays within our four walls. I think that plans for improvement for my church would
be to open up communities outside of the church to be able to target non-believers and bring
them into church. God calls us to go out into the nations and make disciples, not stay inside a
church and focus strengthening the people inside it. That is important, however making new
disciples is also vital.
Conclusion
“We grow when we are serving, not merely sitting. We grow through giving out and not
just by taking in. The life of Christ in us was designed to flow through us as we minister to
others.”6 Being the church and making disciples requires us to be in full submission to God.
Bibliography
Dempsey, Rod; Earley, Dave. Spiritual Formation Is...: How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and
Confidence (Kindle Locations 4542-4580). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
6 Dempsey and Early, p. 32
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Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is . . . How to Live the Great Commission
with Passion and Confidence. B&H Publishing Group, 2014.
Putman, Jim, et al. DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who
Make Disciples. Zondervan, 2013.
TAHO chart.
Healthy Church Assessment.
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