LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Disciple Making in a Healthy Church Paper
Submitted to Dr. Jonathan Geukgeuzian,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500-B03
Discipleship Ministries
by
Not Me
February 6, 2022
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................1
Discipleship in a Healthy Church and Healthy Community .......................................................................1
The Body of Christ and the Author’s Church Model ..................................................................................2
Assess and Identify .....................................................................................................................................3
Roles and Importance Of ............................................................................................................................5
The Local Church .............................................................................................................................5
The Pastor .........................................................................................................................................5
The Saints ..........................................................................................................................................6
Spiritual Gifts ....................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................8
ii
1
Introduction
This paper will examine disciple making in a healthy church and community. This paper
will also give an overview of the Body of Christ, discuss the model followed by the author’s
local church, and assess his local church in light of the Healthy Church Assessment tool. Finally,
this paper will examine the roles of the local church, the pastor, the saints, and spiritual gifts in
connection to disciple making.
Discipleship in a Healthy Church and Healthy Community
Early and Dempsey rightly observe, “The church exists to win people to Christ, help
them grow in their walk, and then send them out to participate in the mission of winning the
entire world.”1 But how can this happen if the church is unhealthy? The fact is that it doesn’t – or
at least it doesn’t happen with consistency. Jesus Christ created and commissioned His church to
change the world. In Matthew 6:18 Jesus tells Peter, “And I tell you…I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,”2 and in Matthew 28:19-20 also says, “Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” When a
church is not healthy, it puts up barriers for disciples to be made. Whether that is because of a
lack of focus on discovering and developing every believer’s spiritual gifts, leaving the work of
ministry to the “professionals,” or thinking evangelism is a one-time event, an unhealthy church
environment hinders the work of the church to “help believers grow and develop into maturity.”3
Helping believers grow and develop in their maturity happens in the context of a church which
1 Dave Early and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion and
Confidence (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2013).
https://app.logos.com/books/LLS%3A9781433677007/offsets/24874?layout=reading.
2
Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version. (Wheaton, IL:
Crossway, 2007).
3
Early and Dempsey, Disciple Making Is.
2
preaches the Gospel, focuses on developing the gifts of those who follow Jesus, and empowers
those believers to do the work to which they have been called, all for the Glory of God. This
must happen within a healthy community.
Yet while an individual disciple must be in a healthy community to grow, there can be a
danger in the Western church’s hyper-focus on the believer’s “personal relationship” with Jesus.
Wilkins points out in reference to the term disciple used in scripture, “That the plural form is
normally used expresses an important point: individual disciples are always seen in conjunction
with the community of disciples, whether as Jesus’ intimate companions or as the church.”4 To
put it another way, one cannot accomplish the “one another’s” of scripture without others. A
disciple of Jesus grows best in community where they are “being knitted and connected to each
other.”5 As one uses their gifts, they encourage others to also use the gifts God has given them
within the community. To those outside of the community looking in, this models the power and
grace of Jesus manifested in a tangible way, hopefully attracting them in.
The Body of Christ and The Author’s Church Model
The Body of Christ is Christ’s physical manifestation on the earth to accomplish His will.
Paul points to this in Ephesians 1:22-23 writing, “And he put all things under his feet and gave
him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in
all.” The Body of Christ is also made up of individuals. Yet, as Paul prompts the Corinthians,
though it is many parts (individuals) it is still one single body (1 Corinthians 12:4-20). Early and
Dempsey say the Body of Christ “is an organic system where all the parts work together.”6 The
4 Michael J. Wilkins, Following the Master (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 258.
5
Rod Dempsey, “The Role of the Church,” Liberty University, MPEG-4, 5:26, 2014.
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/273271/pages/watch-the-role-of-the-church?module_item_id=21757706.
6 Early and Dempsey, Disciple Making Is.
3
Body of Christ is individuals under Christ’s headship, discovering and using their gifts for the
glory of God and the good of His people.
Upon examination, this author would consider himself part of a church that is Hybrid.
While predominantly following the Hybrid view/practice presented in the TAHO Chart, there
were some areas with variations that would be considered to fall more solidly into either the
Traditional, Attractional, or Organic model. This may be due to the fact this church is a church
plant and still relatively young. This church falls more solidly in line with an Organic church in
the following areas; Structure, Leadership Philosophy, Saints Roles, Missions, Multiplication,
and Church Planting. It finds itself leaning toward a more Traditional/Organic mix in the area of
Complexity by being rather simple. In the area of Discipleship this church would fall into a mix
of Attractional/Organic. Again, overall, this author believes the church he is a part of is solidly in
the Hybrid model but with a few variations.
Assess and Identify
Taking the Healthy Church Assessment helped this author to discover and celebrate areas
of strength in his local church and take notice of areas which presented as weaker. Overall, in all
three areas (Love For God - Up, Love For One Another - In, Love For Our Neighbors - Out)
there was nothing of the ten statements which scored under a five. This was definitely an
encouragement. While there were statements which scored a ten, most statements scored a seven,
eight or nine. The overall score combining the three scores from each of the three areas (Up, In,
Out) for the local church which this author calls home was a 73.6. While this is a decent score,
there is still room for improvement.
The area which scored the highest overall was Love For One Another (In). This was not a
surprise for the author of this paper. In this local body of believers there is an authentic feel of
4
connection as well as purposeful planning by leadership to create opportunities for followers of
Jesus to mature and use their gifts for God’s glory and the good of others. Coming in a close
second place (just one point difference) was Love For God (Up). This too was not a surprise as
this local body of believers holds a high view of God and His Word. This is manifested as leaders
seek to communicate this as a priority from the pulpit and in the small group gatherings, as well
as in age specific/gender specific ministries such as Children’s, Student’s, Men’s and Women’s
ministry areas.
The area which scored the lowest overall was Love For Our Neighbors (Out). It was in
this area where the lowest statement score of five was found. The statements, “Churches are
working together to create a gospel net within a community (connecting the loops)” and “New
churches emerging in the community in response to the mission” were the two lowest scored.
One way to improve in the area of the first statement (Churches Working Together) is to seek to
be less critical of other churches and ministries. There is a tendency within this local body to
imply that many other churches are not doing things correctly. While there is a great emphasis on
sharing the Gospel with those that do not follow Christ, often church members (and sometime
leaders) speak disparagingly of other local churches. This can communicate an idea of “us vs.
them” which can lead to a resistance for working together toward the goal of getting the gospel
to the whole community. Perhaps more authentically practicing the act of Theological Triage7
and offering grace in areas of non-essentials would help this local church to improve in this area.
For the second statement (New Churches Emerging), this author believes this will
improve a bit naturally over time, moving from the identity of a church plant to the identity of an
established church which plants. Overall, this seems to be the idea inherited from the church
7 Albert Mohler, “A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity,” Albert Mohler (The Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary, July 12, 2005). https://albertmohler.com/2005/07/12/a-call-for-theological-triage-
and-christian-maturity.
5
which planted this local body of believers but has just not manifested itself due to the younger
age of the plant. While this author doesn’t believe there needs to be a waiting period to plant new
churches, this church does fall more into a Hybrid category in the view/practice of church
location (emphasis on a building). In practice it seems this local body is seeking to establish a
building before it seeks to plant other churches.
Roles and Importance Of
The Local Church
Jesus calls His disciples to love one another so that “all people will know that you are my
disciples,” (John 13:35). This necessitates a gathering of believers with one another. As believers
gather together as His church, R.G Clouse writes, “Her business is to obey his will, to proclaim
not her own but his reign.”8 The church should be the primary place where this happens and
those who follow Jesus are encouraged, exhorted, and empowered to do so. The author of
Hebrews plainly tells his readers that believers are to gather to help each other follow Jesus
(Hebrews 10:24-25). As Early and Dempsey rightly drive home, “The church must be in the
absolute middle of God’s global plan of making disciples.”9
The Pastor
The Pastor must be an advocate for and participant in the role of discipleship within a
church. Paul writes about this is Ephesians 4:11-16 saying they are to, “equip the saints for the
work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…to mature manhood… to grow up in every
way into him who is the head.” Erickson rightly reports as he talks about sanctification in light of
this passage, “Paul notes that leaders will be provided to equip the saints for building up the body
8 R. G. Clouse, “Church” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology 2nd Edition, edited by Walter A. Elwell
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 248. https://app.logos.com/books/LLS
%3AEVDICTTHEO/headwords/Church.
9
Early and Dempsey, Disciple Making Is.
6
of Christ.”10 A Pastor is a caretaker who provides an example in discipleship as they live out
Paul’s admonition to “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ,” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
The Saints
Scripture presents to its readers plenty of One Another commands. These can be in
reference to love (John 13:34; 1 Peter 1:22), unity (Ephesians 4:32; 1 Thessalonians 5:15),
humility (Romans 12:10; 1 Peter 5:5), and more. These can only happen within community. As
one seeks to follow Christ, growing more and more into His likeness, this happens better when
surrounded by and practicing with others. The saints need one another to encourage each other to
discover their gifts and to provide a people to apply those gifts to. Erickson points out, “Being a
disciple and making disciples comes down to helping people find their roles in His Body and
then do that together.”11
Spiritual Gifts
Each believer is given at least one spiritual gift to be used to glorify God and for the good
of others (1 Corinthians 12:7). Discovering one’s spiritual gift is an essential part of discipleship.
When one discovers this gift (or gifts), they are able to discover where they fit into the Body of
Christ as well as then being able to help and encourage other believers around them. Early and
Dempsey encourage, “Spiritual growth involves the disciple discovering and developing his or
her gift (see 1 Pet 4:10–11), within the body (community of believers), to its full potential, for
Christ and His kingdom.”12
Conclusion
10 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology 3rd Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 900.
https://app.logos.com/books/LLS%3ACHRTHEOLERK3RD/references/.
11
Dempsey, “The Role of the Church.”
12 Early and Dempsey, Disciple Making Is.
7
Disciple making happens best in a church and community that is healthy. While no local church
is perfect, there are adjustments that each local body of believers can make to become healthier
and more focused on making disciples. Embracing the truth that spiritual gifts are given to build
one another up into maturity and having a Pastor who both leads by example and holds tightly
the fact each disciple must equip others, enabling them to use their gifts, is important for healthy
disciple making. As Early and Dempsey rightly argue, “Disciple making is about helping
individuals develop to their full potential for Christ and His kingdom. This happens best in a
healthy body where all the parts are functioning the way He intended.”13
Bibliography
Clouse, R. G. “Church” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology 2nd Edition, edited by Walter A.
Elwell. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001. https://app.logos.com/books/LLS
%3AEVDICTTHEO/headwords/Church.
Dempsey, Rod. “The Role of the Church,” Liberty University. MPEG-4, 5:26, 2014.
13
Ibid.
8
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/273271/pages/watch-the-role-of-the-church?
module_item_id=21757706.
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2013.
https://app.logos.com/books/LLS%3A9781433677007/offsets/24874?layout=reading.
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology 3rd Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
https://app.logos.com/books/LLS%3ACHRTHEOLERK3RD/references/.
Mohler, Albert. “A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity.” Albert Mohler. The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, July 12, 2005.
https://albertmohler.com/2005/07/12/a-call-for-theological-triage-and-christian-maturity.
Wilkins, Michael J. Following the Master. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House,
1992.
