LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Reflection on Course
Submitted to Dr. Jonathan Geukgeuzian
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 – B03
Discipleship Ministries
by
Michael Frazier
March 6, 2020
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Personal Discipleship Reflections.................................................................................................2
Key Biblical Passages and Principles Related to Discipleship...................................................3
Best Practices/ Plan for Developing Disciples.............................................................................5
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
Dietrich Bonhoeffer view on the high cost of discipleship was one of no matter the cost.
He wrote the theologian Niebuhr, “I must live through this difficult period in our national history
with the Christian people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of
Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.”
[1] His view of discipleship was the same as those in the new testament. Nothing is more
important in life than reaching others for Christ. His life was second to the call of Christ on his
life. Throughout the war his thoughts were toward the Christians and Jews in Germany. His
thought is that he, we, must take up our cross much like Christ and share in the suffering that he
did for our sins. Without that suffer as Christ did, we are not truly his disciples. Suffering for
Christ is the high cost of discipleship and he paid that cost willingly.
One of the questions this paper will answer is how has this course shaped our thinking in
the following areas related to the ministry of personal discipleship: 1) stages of discipleship, 2)
discipleship in the local church, and 3) healthy church characteristics?
Personal Discipleship Reflections
After this class there is a different view on the personal discipleship and where we are at.
Just going to church and being active and being an example for others is not being a disciple. TO
be a disciple one must be growing constantly closer to Christ and picking up his cross and bring
others to the cross. We are to bare fruit as disciples, meaning we have to raise up others as
disciples also. Jesus gives us the great commission in Matthew 28:19, “Go ye, therefore, and
teach the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
1 Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. p. 17.
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Spirit.” [2] If we are to be disciples, we must go reach the nations, teach them and grow them as
disciples who will in turn go forth and grow disciples. In growing disciples, we will create a
healthy church. A healthy church is the goal of discipleship, because to be a healthy church,
disciples must be produced from the church. People will be transformed within a healthy church,
transformed by communicating the gospel, participating within the community of the church,
relational living, developing and using the spiritual gifts in service of the church and God. As a
disciple we are continuing what Christ started and taught us through his teachings of the
disciples and following the great commission he left for us.
Key Biblical Passages and Principles Related to Discipleship Principles
As Putman tells us, “The biblical purpose of the church is to make biblical disciples in
relationship who can make biblical disciples.” [3] Those principles are based off key scripture
throughout the new testament. The great commission is the mission Jesus gave us in Matthew
28:19, “Go ye, Therefore.” Through this we know we are to follow in his example and go reach,
teach and baptize in Jesus name. Before we can go forth, we must know Jesus and accept his
salvation, John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Everything we do
as disciples is based off Christ teachings in the bible. From these scriptures we are called to make
disciples which is our main focus. We do this by helping establish biblical foundations in those
we lead to Christ , equipping them to go out and reach and teach others to follow Christ. As
Dempsey states, “From a growing number of disciples, Great Commission leaders will emerge.
2 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the King James Version (Nashville:
Holman Bible Pub., 2013.)
3 Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman, DiscipleShift : Five Steps That Help Your
Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples p.215
2
Christian discipleship and Christian leadership are inexorably linked.” [4] Therefore, we must
submit to God’s heart will and his word whole heartedly, this is the starting point of becoming a
Disciple for Christ and the foundation of spiritual growth.
Best Practices/ Plan for Developing Disciples
Dempsey tells us, that the main purpose of the church is to fulfill the Great Commission
by growing people in their knowledge of Christ and impacting the community through
transformed lives. “The main command of the Great Commission is to ‘make disciples.’” [5] The
best practices to grow disciples is through a relational connection with those you are teaching.
There are four core values that are derived from a biblical foundation, which is essential
for the success of any ministry. They are:
Lost People Matter - This is the main core value of this ministry, reaching the lost where
they are.
Continued Growth - For continued growth to happen we must all be honest and have no
fear of judgment.
Community - Real life-changes happen within a community of like believers.
Full Devotion to Christ - with Christ in our hearts and our desires as is his, we will
devote everything in fulfilling the kingdom goals set forth by Christ.
These four core values if followed will allow disciples to be created with a heart for
Christ and the ability to go forth and raise future disciples. We are not here to be entertainers in
church, we are to teach and grow disciples. We are here to be accountability partners, councilor
4 Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Spiritual Formation Is. p.202
5 Ibid., 40
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and friends to those that join the group. Without relationships the group will not grow, people
must feel a connection and the feeling of united oneness with those that they come together with.
As McRaney explains, “Connection is the key to follow-up. If new believers are not connected
with other Christians and discipled, they typically will fall into patterns that leave them confused
about what to do next” [6] We cannot change anyone; it must come from God. By loving them
and teaching them according to the bible and the example Christ has given us, we will be able to
grow disciples into Disciple making leaders within these online communities.
Conclusion
This course has opened eyes and showed us that our thoughts on what we are as a
disciple is not reality. Neither were we hot or cold, but luke-warm as a disciple and that is not
where we must be. What we have learned this semester has given new life and direction in the
growth as a disciple and shown where we have fallen short and where we must grow. We cannot
just tell others about Christ and move on to next number, we must build that relationship and
grow them as well as ourselves. In the construction industry, to grow your business and continue
getting jobs, you must cultivate relationships with your clients. For them to trust you to build
their facilities, they must know you on a personal level. The same principle is in disciple making,
who will trust you to lead them to Christ and help them to grow and be able to lead others if they
cannot trust you and do not know you. Christ came to earth to build that relationship with us. As
in the beginning when God would come to Eden and walk and talk with Adam and Eve, we were
created to be in relationship with God. So we must be in a relationship with those we are leading
to Christ so that they can grow into a relationship with him as well.
6 Will McRaney, The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture (Nashville, Tenn.:
Broadman & Holman, 2003), 220.
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Bibliography
5
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. London: SCM Press, 2015.
Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Spiritual Formation Is. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018
Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Disciple Making Is. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018
Malphurs, Aubrey. Strategic Disciple Making: a Practical Tool for Successful Ministry.
Grand Rapids: Baker Pub. Group, 2009
McRaney, Will. The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing
Culture (Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 2003)
Putman, Jim, Harrington, Bobby, and Coleman, Robert E. DiscipleShift : Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013..
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