LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Spheres and Stages of Discipleship Paper
Submitted to Dr. Jonathan Geukgeuzian,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500-B03
Discipleship Ministries
by
Not Me
January 30, 2022
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................1
Summarize and Examine ............................................................................................................................1
Identify Your Stage and Sphere ..................................................................................................................4
Submission to Christ ...................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................8
ii
1
Introduction
This paper will summarize and examine the five stages and four spheres presented by Jim
Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert Coleman in their book Discipleship: Five Steps That
Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. It will also identify which stage this
author finds himself currently in. This paper will also discuss what it means to be in submission
to Christ.
Summarize and Examine
Discipleship is a process. It is a process of development in a believer as they grow more
and more into the image of Jesus. Rod Dempsey correctly points out in his lecture, “There is
progression involved in this development”1 while Early and Dempsey observe, “It is a
progressive relationship based on increasing levels of faith, obedience, and commitment.”2
Putman, Harrington, and Coleman, having examined God’s Word, developed a five-stage
progression to help people and leaders understand “their level of spiritual maturity in order to
help them move forward and grow.”3 As a disciple maker, one should strive to understand where
those they are discipling are at and how to help them move forward in ways that best partner
with the work God is doing.
The first stage of the process is level one: Spiritually Dead. According to Putman,
Harrington, and Coleman, “The key concept is that a spiritually dead person does not have the
1 Rod Dempsey, “What is Discipleship?” Liberty University, MPEG-4, 8:24, 2014.
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/273271/pages/watch-what-is-discipleship?module_item_id=21757671.
2
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.
3 Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to
Make Disciples Who Make Disciples (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013). https://app.logos.com/books/LLS
%3A9780310492634/offsets/76763.
2
life of Jesus within.”4 Paul writes to the Ephesians reminding them, “And you were dead in the
trespasses and sins in which you once walked…and were by nature children of wrath, like the
rest of mankind,”5 (Ephesians 2:1, 2a, 3b). Every person begins in this position. This person has
not chosen to follow Christ in their life. They are unregenerate and still stuck in their sin. They
may be blatantly denying Jesus such as an atheist or may be someone who has claimed to be a
Christian a long time but shows no fruit. Either way, they are in need of the Gospel and the
saving Grace of Jesus.
The second stage of the process is level two: Infant. The key to remember for this stage is
that “infants don’t know much.”6 In this stage a person has chosen to repent of their sins and
follow Jesus, but that is about it. They are lacking in knowledge about God’s Word overall and
especially what Jesus taught. According to the author of Hebrews an infant needs “someone to
teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for
everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness,” (Hebrews 2:12-13). They
are open to the working of the Holy Spirit and in a key stage to have someone come alongside
them to disciple them in the correct ways of following Jesus. An infant can be a new believer or
even someone who has followed Jesus for a long time and have just been stagnant.
The third stage of this process is level three; Child. In this stage the person has continued
to grow in their relationship with God and has begun to grow in their relationships with other
followers of Christ. This is a key part as, like a child, they are becoming aware of those around
them and their need for these other believers in their life. Yet, this stage is marked by being
4 Putman, Harrington and Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who
Make Disciples.
5 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version. (Wheaton,
IL: Crossway, 2007).
6 Putman, Harrington and Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who
Make Disciples.
3
“developmentally self-centered”7 Putman, Harrington, and Coleman observed. While these
followers are growing, much of the growth revolves around fulfilling their own needs. They may
choose to obey their feelings more than God’s Word, being unaware that they are focused more
on their own needs/desires/supposed fulfillment.
The fourth stage of this process is level four; Young Adult. Young Adults are marked by
“orienting their lives around God and his perspective.”8 These people have a fire in their belly to
serve God, to love His people, and to apply what they have been learning. They understand that
“knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1b) and therefore seek to serve those
around them to the Glory of God instead of just taking in for themselves. Those in this stage
understand “Throughout the biblical narrative, community is emphasized and commanded; it is
never presented Christian believer as optional.”9 They are “doers of the word, and not hearers
only,” (James 1:22). They have begun to understand their spiritual gifts and seek to use them
rather than being sought after and prodded to use them.
The fifth stage of this process is level five: Parent. While those in this stage share
similarities with people in the Young Adult stage, one of the primary keys that differentiates is
Parents are “mindfulness of the needs of the less mature disciples.”10 Yes, they are growing in
their walk, are connected to the Body – being steady through good and bad, and living out what
they have learned daily in their lives, but they do so with a knowledge and passion to make
disciples who in turn will make disciples. Paul writes about this to his protégé Timothy saying,
7 Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow
(Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2012), 119.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=914339.
10
Putman, Harrington and Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who
Make Disciples.
4
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have
heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to
teach others also,” (2 Timothy 2:1-2). Amazingly, in a single verse (vs. 2) Paul points out four
generations of disciple making! Rod Dempsey helpfully comments, “The goal…of physical
parenting is similar to the goal of spiritual parenting; grow them up and then help them to go out,
find their place in God’s world, in God’s Kingdom, in God’s Mission.”11
These stages are lived out in four spheres of a person’s life. These four spheres are areas
in life which “a disciple understands God’s commands and submits to his authority (head), is
transformed by Jesus (heart), and joins Jesus on a kingdom mission (hands)”12. In essence, these
are the areas where the rubber meets the road and one can see how a disciple is progressing and
where a disciple may need to be built up and challenged. These four spheres are as follows;
Relationship with God, Relationship with the Family of God, Relationships at Home, and
Relationships with the World.13 All of these are grounded in the disciple being connected to
Jesus. Jesus reminds His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me
and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing,” (John 15:5).
From the first sphere relationship to God pours out the ability to fulfill the callings of the others
three spheres.
Identify Your Stage and Sphere
The author of this paper finds himself currently in the fifth stage as a Parent. As
evidenced in his life, he is presently discipling multiple people. Since most of them would
primarily be considered Young Adults, this author recognizes he may need to seek out people
11 Dempsey, “What is Discipleship?”
12
Putman, Harrington and Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who
Make Disciples.
13
Ibid.
5
that fall into one of the other stages presented by the authors. This author is thankful that some
those he has discipled are now themselves Parents, discipling others and fulfilling what is seen in
2 Timothy 2:1-2. This author also recognizes the need to be connected with other believers and
has committed himself to fellowship within a local church, participating in both corporate
worship as well as a small group setting. While there has been a break in regular serving due to
leaving his old church where he was employed and seeking a new one, he has sought after
opportunities to serve periodically as he is getting to be known and trusted within his new local
community of believers.
It is in the sphere of Relationships with the Family of God where this author believes he
needs to submit more to the centrality of Christ. While there has been some movement forward
in loving, serving, and connecting with other believers in the new congregation, there needs to be
more. Bonhoeffer remarks, “The road to faith passes through obedience to Christ's call. The step
is required; otherwise Jesus' call dissipates into nothing.”14 Jesus has called each of his disciples
into the obedience of loving one another. In John 13:34-35 Jesus tells his disciples, “A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to
love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.” This author must submit Himself in obedience in this area even more. Again, turning to
Bonhoeffer one is reminded, “only the believers obey, and only the obedient believe.”15
Submission To Christ
According to Early and Dempsey, “Being a disciple of Jesus is more than merely belief in
Jesus…discipleship requires that we embrace the cross, forsake all to follow Jesus, and bear fruit
14 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Call to Discipleship,” in Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4, ed. by John D.
Godsey, Geffrey B. Kelly, and Martin Kuske, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003) 80.
https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cdocument%7C4748222.
15 Bonhoeffer, “The Call to Discipleship,” 80.
6
by abiding in Christ.”16 Ultimately, what a disciple needs is to be in submission to Christ. But
what does that mean and what does that look like?
James 4:7a states, “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” The word used here for ‘submit’
is the Greek work ποτάσσω.ὑ17 This means to arrange under, to subordinate, to subject. So, a
disciple must subordinate their thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, and lives to God. A disciple
must die to their self in such a way as to live to Christ. Over and again, one sees this idea
expressed in Scripture.
Primarily one turns to Jesus as he tells His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” (Matthew 16:24-25). Luke plainly records
Jesus as saying, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple,” (Luke 14:27). So, what does it mean to bear one’s own cross? Does it mean to carry
around a crossbeam everywhere one goes? To actually put oneself up on a cross in imitation of
Jesus?
While a disciple of Jesus who lives in submission to Him and His will must be willing to
do both of those things written above if called to by the Lord, it does not seem that this was what
Jesus meant when saying to “take up/bear his own cross.” As observed by Sverre Böe, “Jesus did
not say: ‘Deny Yourself! Get Crucified! Follow Me!’ Instead, he demanded self-denial in such a
manner and to such an extent that it amounted to a death sentence on ‘oneself.’”18 Living in
submission to Christ means that a disciple must be willing to live out all that is demanded of the
16 Early and Dempsey, Disciple Making Is.
17
"G5293 - hypotassō - Strong's Greek Lexicon (ESV)." Blue Letter Bible.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5293/esv/mgnt/0-1/.
18 Sverre Böe, Cross-Bearing in Luke, (Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2010), 122.
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=873226.
7
commandments to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind…And…You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:37b, 39b).
Conclusion
Part of being a disciple of Jesus is growing more and more into His image as one follows
Him. A helpful way to measure and promote this can be by viewing the growth through the five
stages of Spiritually Dead, Infant, Child, Young Adult, and Parent as they are lived out in the four
spheres of relationships with God, with the Family of God, at Home, and with the World. As one
uses this tool of measurement, they must keep in mind that “no stage of discipleship is more
important than any other.”19 What is truly important is that each disciple is learning to trust God
more and submit each part of their life to Him.
Bibliography
Blue Letter Bible. "Strong's Greek Lexicon (ESV)."
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5293/esv/mgnt/0-1/.
Böe, Sverre. Cross-Bearing in Luke. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/lib/liberty/detail.action?
docID=873226.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. “The Call to Discipleship,” in Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4,
edited by John D. Godsey, Geffrey B. Kelly, and Martin Kuske, 74-93. Minneapolis, MN:
Fortress Press, 2003.
https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cdocument
%7C4748222.
19 Putman, Harrington and Coleman, DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples
Who Make Disciples.
8
Dempsey, Rod. “What is Discipleship?” Liberty University. MPEG-4, 8:24, 2014.
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/273271/pages/watch-what-is-discipleship?
module_item_id=21757671.
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.
Geiger, Eric, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation. Transformational Discipleship: How People
Really Grow. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2012.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=914339.
Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2013. https://app.logos.com/books/LLS%3A9780310492634/offsets/76763.
