LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Disciple Making Plan
Submitted to Dr. Donald Hicks
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 – B03
Discipleship Ministries
by
Thomas Long
June 27, 2019
Updated 6/30/2019 10:23 a6/p6
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Personal Discipleship Reflections.................................................................................................1
Key Biblical Passages and Principles Related to Discipleship...................................................2
Best Practices/Plan for Developing Disciples..............................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................5
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Introduction
One of the most important things that I have learned about discipleship in this course and
in my personal life is that discipleship isn’t easy. Discipleship requires sacrifice and vulnerability
that many of us would rather avoid, but the benefits far outweigh the cost. Bonhoeffer used the
idea of costly grace to describe the rational behind the Christian’s call to the high cost of
discipleship. This is the kind of grace that reaches out to all but also the kind of grace that calls
the fisherman to leave his nets and follow Jesus. “It is costly, because it calls to discipleship; it is
grace, because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it
is grace, because it thereby makes them live. It is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace,
because it justifies the sinner. Above all, grace is costly, because it was costly to God, because it
costs God the life of God's Son”1. God sacrificed much to restore our relationship with him, and
in the same way this costly grace calls us to sacrifice much in order to follow the Christian’s call
to discipleship
Personal Discipleship Reflections
One thing this course has really driven home for me is the importance of small groups
within the local church. This is something that I believed was important when I began the course,
but here at the end I would argue that it is crucial to forming a healthy body of believers. As
those called to disciple others we want the people we disciple to take the truth of the gospel and
the message of costly grace out into the world, beyond the four church walls. However, if the
only time we ever meet to discuss those things is within the bounds of the church we are limiting
our potential. Small groups have the potential to build stronger relationships within the church
and to strengthen the body of believers to do the work that Christ has called them to.
1 Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Discipleship p.45
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In one of our discussion boards during the course there was a classmate who shared her
concerns that small groups would lead to what she called “cliques” within the church. While I
think it is easy to dismiss her concerns as the complaints of someone who has had a bad small
group experience I can certainly understand where she is coming from. In the church I attended
in high school there was a push to create small groups within the church. After about a year of
proper small group meetings people began to see that there were in fact cliques forming within
the church and that people who were in small groups together rarely interacted with others in the
church on Sunday mornings. However, rather than abandoning small groups all together my
pastor and the leadership of the church decided to do small groups on a rotational basis, meaning
that every two years small groups were re-shuffled into new groups. This led to a much healthier
church, and now when I go home to visit that church it is always bursting at the seams with
people and the atmosphere there is unlike anything I have experienced elsewhere.
Key Biblical Passages and Principles Related to Discipleship
One of the most important principles of discipleship that I learned form this course is that
in our pursuit of discipleing others our goal is to move them from spiritual infancy to spiritual
adulthood/parenting, this is also known as the stages of discipleship. This means that we need to
disciple and work with people in spiritual infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood on
their respective levels. We should not expect someone in spiritual childhood to behave like a
spiritual adult, but we should be encouraging them to grow towards that goal. The other big
takeaway that I got from looking at the stages of discipleship is that ultimately our end goal is to
see spiritual infants become more that spiritual adults, we want them to become spiritual parents
who are ready, willing, and able to raise up a new generation of believers using the example we
have set for them of what it means to be a good disciple and a lover of Jesus.
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One of my favorite passages relating to discipleship, and one that I used several times in
this course is Luke 9:23 in which Jesus tells his disciples that if anyone wants to be his disciple
they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. I think this verse lays out three
major principles for good discipleship. Good disciples need to think less about themselves and
more about others, be willing to struggle and suffer as a result of costly discipleship and be
willing to follow Jesus in every area of their lives.
Best Practices/Plan for Developing Disciples
Ultimately our plans and practices for developing good disciples need to be focused on
also developing a healthy Church. This does not mean that good discipleship only happens
between members of the same church however. Me and one of my best friends go to separate
churches, however we still make a point to meet up at least once a month to disciple one another.
I share my burdens with him and he shares his burdens with me. This is something we did
throughout college and have continued into our professional lives. We are helping one another
grow spiritually and can both trust that we will use this spiritual growth to strengthen our
respective churches.
Small groups should meet as regularly as they can, this may mean once a week for some
groups or once a month for others. These regular meetings should always be focused on
strengthening the kingdom. If the small group is church specific I think it would be great if their
lesson could incorporate the previous week’s sermon in some way in order for the group to fell a
stronger identity in and connection with their local church. Small groups should never be seen as
a substitute for the local church and instead be used to strengthen it. If the small group is not
church specific it should be a safe place for members of different churches and even
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denominations to work together in order to strengthen one another’s abilities to go back into their
respective churches and do good kingdom work
Conclusion
This class has taught me so much about what it means to be a good disciple. Good
discipleship is not easy and requires sacrifice in the pursuit of costly grace. However, I believe
that all Christians are called to be discipled and to one day disciple others. In the great
commission Jesus commands his followers to go forth and make disciples of all nations. What
this means for us is that there is no one so far from Christ that discipleship and forgiveness are
impossible and that there is no race, culture, ethnicity, or people group that discipleship and
grace are not available to. Implementing this kind of discipleship model is not always easy
within the context of the local church, but it is what we have been called to do nonetheless. As
Christians we are called to lay down our own desires, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus…this
is the model for good biblical discipleship and this is the model that will give us the ability to
create new generations of disciples.
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