LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
SPHERES AND STAGES OF DISCIPLESHIP
Submitted to Professor Michael Pardue
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500
DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES
By
Deon Larmond-Hibbert
June 4, 2017
Introduction
Discipleship plays a very important role in the plan of salvation. It is a process in which
disciples are guided by the word of God to be spiritually mature and recognize their gifts and
talents with regards to fulfilling the plans of God. In discipleship the disciple shares Christ with
others; they know Christ for who He is and His mission that needs to be accomplished on earth.
As a child of God we have a responsibility to proclaim Jesus and tell everyone we meet about
His goodness and His love. This paper will analyze the spheres and stages of discipleship; the
stage of discipleship that applies to me and the spheres needed to submit to the centrality of
Christ from a biblical stand point.
The Stages and Spheres of Discipleship
In Matthew 4: 19, Jesus said to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, “follow me and I
will make you fishers of men.” Jesus is not asking us to do anything that He Himself did not do.
He taught the disciples discipleship. Therefore, as Christians we should follow the example of
Jesus and defend the Great Commission by spreading the good news about Christ and train
others to spread the good news. Discipleship comes when the individual accepts Christ as their
personal Savior and as they study the word and grow spiritually, they share with others about
God’s love. Our lecture notes states that discipleship is intentional where you make disciples
who love God, love one another and love their neighbor. Discipleship is individual and
missional.
According to Putman and Harrington, there are five stages of discipleship which
demonstrates the growth of discipleship in ministry. Growth in discipleship takes process and
direction. It is important that the believer understands their potential as they mature in the Lord
spiritually. The disciple must be spiritually born again and when you are born again you receive
a new identity in Christ. Putman affirms, 1I emphasize this because it is no longer a matter of our
justification; this is now a part of our sanctification, the process of becoming what God has
already declared us to be.” The stages are namely, spiritually dead, infant, child, young adult and
parent
Stage One: Spiritually Dead
This stages according to Putman describes those who are still living in sin, they are dead
in their transgressions and sins and have not accepted Christ as their source of survival. These
individuals may act like they are Christians but are not showing any fruit. 2 “They may claim to
know Jesus, but they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them.” At this stage the spiritually
dead finds fault with every believer, they criticize the church and they will you tell the Bible is
written by man and some will even say there is no God. The spiritually dead can only act in a
dead man nature and He will continue to act this way until he get an encounter with Christ.
Putman provided other statements that the spiritually dead may say; I’m spiritual, but I don’t
connect with any other religion or I’ve been a good person, so when I die everything will be
alright. Discipleship teaches disciples to look out for these type of phrases so they can identify
the stage. When you associate yourself with people who are spiritually dead to God you will
find signs of unbelief or open rebellion as stated by Putman and Harrington.
1 Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington with Robert E. Coleman, DiscipleShift Five Steps The Help Your Church to
Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2013: 60
2 Putman 61
Stage 2: Infant
This stage refers to believers who just got saved. 1 Peter 2:2 states “As newborn babes,
desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby.” They crave spiritual growth for
maturation in God. Putman describes them as being spiritually alive and have decided to follow
Jesus. These infants are uninformed and lacks spiritually knowledge and should be trained to
study the word of according to 2 Timothy 2:15. During discipleship of this stage, you will find
the infant eager to go to church, prays regularly and read their Bible regularly. However the
infant is feeding on milk and not meat and can easily get back into their sinful stage because they
are not strong enough to overcome temptation. Therefore the true about Christianity should be
taught and modeled to them.
Stage 3: The Child
In this stage the child may be spiritually new or may even be attending church for a long
time. They need to grow in Christ so they should be taught how to have a relationship with
Christ and other believers. Putman affirms 3 “they learn enough Christian “language” teachings
of Jesus from the scriptures to be able to converse with other believers.” They should be able to
apply the word of God to their lives and walk in their spiritual journey.
Stage 4: Young Adult
At this stage the believer is transitioning to being Christ minded and kingdom builders.
They are moving from milk to eating real food, they overcome the Evil One, and the Word of
God abides in them4. Their lives involves God’s mission for his people. They now realized that
God calls them to give their body as a living sacrifice; to minister to others and not worry about
3 Putman 65
their own needs. They now say they want to go on a mission trip; I love being a worship leader;
they have devotion and eagerly ask questions about things they don’t understand.
Stage 5: Parent
In this stage, Christians begins to reproduce disciples. They grow and mature under the
guidance of spiritual parents according to the plans of God. They grow and mature and are able
to teach others and help them to become disciples in the body of Christ. They live their lives
daily according to the Word of God. In 2 Timothy 2:1-2, as they heard of God they become
witnesses to others and preached the gospel to them and they remained faith to Christ. The
spiritual parent however are not perfect but they are intentional about building a relationship with
Christ.
Four Spheres of Discipleship
According to Putman and Harrington in discipleship, church leaders 5 “accept that a mere
understanding of the doctrine of salvation does not mean that a person is Christlike and mature in
their faith.” Therefore in order to armor them with the word and equip them as disciples, four
spheres are looked at to help with their growth. The four spheres are relationship with God,
relationship with God’s family, the church, home life and relationship to the world.
4 Putman 67
5 Putman 78
Relationship with God
6“Discipleship is from beginning to end a call to follow Jesus along the path already
illuminated by God’s word and the cross of Christ.” Submission to God’s authority, the head of
our existence is important for the transformation of our heart and mind. As a disciple, having a
relationship with God takes precedence for spiritual growth. Your relationship with God is so
personal that it pushes you to tell others about him, you evangelism ministry becomes effective.
A relationship with God takes you outside of the four walls of the church.
Relationship with God’s Family, the Church
When you rely on God and His word, you mature spiritually as you are not depending on
self. God is the Head of the church and the Bishop or Pastor is the under shepherd. There are
other leaders that make up the body of Christ in the church such as Evangelist, Deacon, Usher
and Ministers. The church is the body and family of Christ and should reflect such. Just like
Jesus nurtures His disciples on earth the Pastor should emulate this behavior and feed the
disciples with the word to strengthen their relationship with God’s family for consistent growth.
7Earley and Dempsey say, “The church must be intentional in developing all of God’s children to
reach their full potential.” As the potential is developed, so is the relationship with God.
Home Life
God gave us all free will to serve Him. When you rely on Christ, you are reminded of
His grace and love towards you. The home life of the disciple should especially be Christlike so
6 Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Discipleship. First Fortress Press (2003).
7 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is. How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2013: 41
that sinners may see and want to follow Christ. The disciple should not only display mature
spiritual character at church but at home also. Matthew 5.16 tells us to let our light so shine that
others may see the good works and glorify God which is heaven.
Relationship in the World
The light of Christ should shine on the disciple everywhere they go. God is a spirit and
when we worship him we should do it in truth. Therefore, as disciple your relationship with
Christ should be known and shown especially in the world. Your walk, talk and image should
be separate from the world. 2 Corinthians 6:17 say, come out from amount them and be
separated. Separation means doing the things of God and not the world. Live Christlike for the
world to see the Christ in you.
My Stage of Discipleship
As I read through the several stage of discipleship, my current stage would be parent. As
an evangelist, I go out and seek believers to become disciples for Christ. He commissioned us to
go into the world to preach and teach to all nation, Matthew 28:19. I realize more and more the
importance of studying the word and feasting on it because when you witness to others and are
asked questions it is important to be able to answer. Many times they know the Bible and will
seek to challenge you. To be a spiritual parent I have to have a solid foundation and
understanding of the word of God. On my job many times I am to pray with or for a situation
with coworkers. I grew up in the church and left after high school but returned because I
realized God wanted to use me as a vessel for Him. Amidst many church hurt, I have decided to
hold on to God’s unchanging hand and do what God calls me to do. I have to share my testimony
with others and let them know that God saves and He keeps.
Bonhoeffer states, 8 “The call to discipleship is connected here with the proclamation of
Jesus’ suffering.” Jesus bore my sins, despite the fact that he was despised and rejected of men;
he suffered, was beaten and was spat so that salvation would be assessable to me. Therefore, I
chose to make him central in my life. Because of the cross I have access to the eternal life and I
can tell others that Jesus paid it all on the cross. Jesus declares that we follow him and he will
make us fishers of men and while we follow him, we should also deny self. He tells us that
discipleship is bound to the suffering of Christ. 9 “The acts of the church’s first martyrs give
witness that Christ transfigures the moment of greatest suffering for his followers through the
indescribable certainty of his nearness and communion.” The centrality of Christ in discipleship
allows us to submit to Christ as the head of our existence as we share Him with others.
Submission to Christ
When the disciple truly submits their life to Christ, they seek Him in everything that they
do. They give of themselves totally to Him. They allow themselves to be used by Him no matter
how difficult the situation may seem. Paul was a persecutor of the church of God, but then he
had an encounter with the King of Kings and submitted his being to Him. Because of his
reputation he endured a lot for Christ’s sake. He was beaten and imprisoned for Christ sake.
Because he submitted his will to God, he endured the punishment to carry out the will of God.
As Paul became a disciple, he knew that he would have to go back to the same people he
persecuted and tell them about love of Christ and preached repentance to them.
8 Bonhoeffer 84
9 Bonhoeffer 89
James 4: 7 encourages us to “Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the Devil, and he will
flee from you. This submission shows Satan defeat as you look to Christ for what he did on the
cross. Ephesians 5:24 declares, “Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives
be to their own husband in everything. Christ is the Head and he sets the example for believers
to follow to carry on His mission on earth. In Romans 13 we are taught to be submissive to the
governing bodies; to the higher power. God ordains the governing body in the church and when
you fail to be submissive to that body you are not submissive to God also.
Submission is denying self and taking up the cross and follow Christ. Submission s putting on
the whole armor of Christ and have your feet shed with the preparation of the word of God.
When Christ is the center of your life, it is not hard for you to submit to him totally. Sappenfield
affirms that 10 “Jesus called for discipleship with the promise of freedom, As God’s love is
constant, and the response is also constant.” When you experience the love of God, and is
obedience to Him, you willing submit to His will and plan for salvation. Submission brings
disciples to a place where the Christ in them becomes their identity. Disciples are subjected to
His will.
10 William J. Sappenfield “Discipleship Beyond Obedience” The living Pulpit (Online) 17, no, 2 2008:9
Bibliography
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Discipleship. First Fortress Press (2003).
Earley, Dave and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is. How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2013
Putman, Jim and Bobby Harrington with Robert E. Coleman, DiscipleShift Five Steps The Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan, 2013
Sappenfield , William J. “Discipleship Beyond Obedience” The living Pulpit (Online) 17, no, 2
(2008)
Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the “King James Version
