LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Written Assignment
Disciple Making in a Healthy Church
Submitted to Dr. Gary Waller
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500-C02 202140
Discipleship Ministries
by
Pamela C. Jones
October 17, 2021
Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….1
Healthy Church: Healthy Disciples goal of Discipleship…………………………….1-3
The Body of Christ ……………………………………………………………………3-5
Local Church Model and ministry strengths and area of improvement……………….5-7
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..7-8
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………..................8
ii
1
Introduction
“Healthy Church” is a term identified by Dempsey and Early that resembles and acts just
as a healthy body. The term led me to think if we have a healthy church then it must be unhealthy
churches as well. The Authors describe an unhealthy church as a church that “gradually slide into
unhealthiness due to many poor choices that occur over a long period of time.”1 The question
was asked do you want all your body parts and organs to work? “Yes of course” is the anticipated
response. This is the same desire that Jesus has for his body. The body of Christ is a term that
needs no definition, but it is important to include. The body of Christ is the church. In this paper
we will discuss the healthy church, The Body of Christ, ministry current model and areas of
strength and areas of improvement as evidence by the assessment. Finally, we will discuss the
roles of the members in the church.
Healthy Church: Healthy Disciples goal of Discipleship
Church growth is the key to a healthy church that is making disciples. If making
disciples is not evident or a part of the church’s mission bases on the Great Commission,
the church may be considered sick. The great commission compels the church to “go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have
1 David Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013), 186.
2
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Amen.”2(Matthew 28:19-20) Based on this scripture alone if a church is not following
the Great Commission to make disciples it is evident that the church is sick or unhealthy.
Dempsey and Earley coined “As a result of poor choices, a church can become
“unhealthy”. Unhealthy churches do not make good environments for disciple making to
occur.”3 Therefore a healthy church is ideal for potential growth and development of the
disciple. Ephesians 4:16 “from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what
every joint supply, according to the effective working by which every part does its share,
causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. To disciple a person in an
unhealthy church would be unproductive work. “We would be unwise to attempt to make
disciples inside and unhealthy representation of the body of Christ because the individual
disciples is nurtured, cared for and developed by the surrounding joints and ligaments.”
4The parts joined together supports the whole. If the parts are sick, then the whole is sick.
A spiritually healthy church can be measured by the fruit it bears. The process of creating
and making disciples is key to kingdom building. To be a disciple maker it is imperative
to have an “upward” love for God demonstrated in your personal life. Some examples
would be daily reading, daily praying, keeping journal of prayers and scripture
memorizing just to name a few. A love for one another on a personal level is known as
the “inward” love. In this growth assessment the disciple will come to meetings to draw
strength from other saints, discovered their spiritual gift and use this gift to build up
others in the body of Christ. They will operate in love and be very careful not to be
2 Unless otherwise noted, all citations come from New King James Version
3 Ibid., 186
4 Ibid., 186
3
deceived and pulled into gossip and other works of the flesh. The Love for our neighbor
known as the “outward” love on a personal level is just at important as the in and upward
love. In this “outward” love there are certain milestones that are developed which may
include prayer list of salvation for the unsaved people you know or may not know. Being
a good listener to the people you are trying to disciple, using your spiritual gift to serve
others in love and build bridges with people who have hurt me and to love them like
Christ. All these examples of inward, outward and upward love on a personal level will
strengthen the individual disciple “the part” and as the part is healthy the whole “Church-
Body of Christ will be healthy”. According to Authors Dempsey and Earley “A healthy
church is a representation of the people of God coming together to accomplish the
mission of God by the glory of God”5
The Body of Christ
The body of Christ is what has been identified as the Church many, many years
ago. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus told Peter “Upon this rock I will build my church and the
very gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” This is a powerful revelation given by
God to Peter and to every disciple. The takeaway from this story is God reveals himself
to who he wants and at any time he see’s fit. During that disposition it was Peter the
disciple. However, now it is you and me God is revealing the revelation of his word and
desire to. The gates of hell or Hades did not defeat the old patriots according to Jesus and
the Gates of hell will not prevail today in this dispensation we are currently engrossed.
Jesus assures us that “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”
5 Ibid., 213
4
(Matthew 28:18) and he ensures His followers that “God has placed all things under his
feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the
fullness of him who fills everything in every way”. (Ephesians 1:22-23)
When we explore the body of Christ, we must understand it consist of many parts
that make up the whole body. Just as our natural body has many organs and body parts
that work together to form our body like wise the Body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-
13) “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to
drink into one Spirit.”
Christ and his church form one body, as Head and members. Christians become members
of this body by baptism. The outward rite is of Divine institution; it is a sign of the new
birth, and is called therefore the washing of regeneration, Tit 3:5. But it is by the Spirit,
only by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that we are made members of Christ's body. And
by communion with Christ at the Lord's supper, we are strengthened, not by drinking the
wine, but by drinking into one Spirit. Each member has its form, place, and use. The
meanest makes a part of the body. There must be a distinction of members in the body.
So, Christ's members have different powers and different places. We should do the duties
of our own place, and not murmur, or quarrel with others. All the members of the body
are useful and necessary to each other. Nor is there a member of the body of Christ but
may and ought to be useful to fellow-members. As in the natural body of man, the
members should be closely united by the strongest bonds of love; the good of the whole
should be the object of all. All Christians are dependent one upon another; each is to
expect and receive help from the rest. Let us then have more of the spirit of union in our
religion.[CITATION Mat07 \l 1033 ]
In essence the Apostle Paul is declaring that the body is and of Christ Jesus. 6 The Body
of Christ should have healthy parts that function in an organized matter. Just as the
physical body maintains hemostasis so should the Body of Christ operate.
6 David Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013),188.
5
Local Church Model and ministry strengths and area of improvement
The body of Christ is composed of many parts as stated earlier and they are fitted
together to get the work done in the Kingdom of God. Ephesians 4:11-12 explains the
fivefold ministry that should be in operation in the church for perfecting the saints, for the
work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. This statement is key and
should be operational in every church that proclaims itself to be the unified body of Jesus
Christ. After reviewing what Dempsey and Early identified as different church models it
is important to stress that the model one chooses should have embedded within the
disciple making process. The four different church models that were viewed in detail are
the traditional, the attractional, the hybrid and the organic church model. Dempsey and
Early stated that the leader or pastor must have a plan to create a disciple’s process. This
person is the visionary, the head appointed by the Holy Spirit and has the blueprint of
how the body functions and should be in the position of influence of developing leaders
who make disciples. He or she should have the ability to create groups that develop men
and women that plant churches and thus multiply. In essence the working definition of a
“Christian leader is a person of influence. He or she follows God’s vision for his or her
life, and influences others to follow God’s plan for their lives.”7 Moreover, the authors of
the Disciple Shift express how astonished they are to see that many pastors haven’t
discovered the freedom that comes from being transparent about who they are as a sinner
7 Ibid., 198
6
saved by grace. To avoid burn out and risk of losing the joy of one’s salvation that is
associated with self-imposed pressure of trying to be someone they are not.8
The current church model that’s practiced at my local assemble is the most popular model
“the traditional model”. This model is described to have a senior pastor who oversees the
programs and ministries of the church. Most of the activities of the church occur in and
around the physical church building.[ CITATION Dav13 \l 1033 ]9 The church structure
is not complex as stated; however, the attitudes of the saints are very complexing and
they often resistant change. Going out of the walls to evangelize is not a comfort,
however anyone that will come into the walls will receive love and spiritual formation if
they stay. Discipleship does take place at the addition level if at all. The idea that the
pastor is the only professional and the members are the lay people handicaps the
ministry’s growth and formation. “The spiritual gifts are not elevated to a prominent
place in the life of the church. The church membership is few and there is a codependent
the people need the pastor to minister to them. He or she does most of the ministering
while the people just sit and wait to be served. They have a surface prayer life;
discipleship is a foreign language and if taught its over the pulpit. There is no training
and development program to assist the body to make disciples. This was evident when I
completed the “Healthy Church Assessment” of my local ministry. The scores were very
low in all areas of the assessment. The highest grade was assessed in the love for one
another area the “inward”. The love for God was the next highest assessed area. The final
8 Jim Putman and Bob Harrington, The Disciple Shift Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples
Who Make Disciples: (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 98
9 David Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013), 230-231
7
area assessed was the love for our neighbors the “outward” which was dramatically low.
The results were shared with the bishop who is also the pastor and professional leader
after he completed his own assessment. Much to my surprise his assessment of the
ministry was extremely lower than my assessment by at least 8-10 points in some areas.
The details of the scoring were not discussed in length however we identified areas of
improvement being discipleship the outward and the love for God the inward. The follow
up will be done in 1-2 weeks. The textbook “Disciple Making is” was recommended and
he is awaiting the delivery. In the meantime, we will administer the personal assessment
to the congregation. We know that if the members are sick and unproductive the whole
will be sick and unproductive. The local church has a great role in discipleship and the
leaders are in a good position to take the congregation of the physical building in the
communities. Whereas the roles of the members is to continue the great mission of
making disciples.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a healthy church is identified by the love shown to each other with
in the body of Christ. The community is also touched and experiences God because of
the love from the church. The evidence of disciples being produced and much fruit is the
factor of multiplication because the pastor has a purposeful plan for discipleship. The
pastor is of influence and allows the fivefold ministry to operated and the use of spiritual
gifts. Moreover, the membership is engaged in discipleship and their personal spiritual
formation. As we know to build the whole the parts must be strong and healthy. Leaders
8
that are equipped to learn and teach is necessary as the body of Christ continues to carry
out the Great Commission.
Bibliography
Commentary, Matthew Henery Concise. Bible Hub. 2007.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_corinthians/12-13.htm (accessed October 17,
2021).
David Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making is How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.
Earley, Rod Dempsey and Dave. Spirtual Formation Is How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and
Confidence. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2018.
James, New King. The Holy Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985.
Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington and Robert Coleman. Disciple Shift Five Steps That Help Your
Church to Make Disciple Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966.
