LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Written Assignment 1
Submitted to Dr. Donald Hicks
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 – B03
Discipleship Ministries
by
Thomas Long
June 2, 2019
Updated 6/30/2019 10:22 a6/p6
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Three Areas of Spiritual Growth..................................................................................................1
The Impact of the Holy Spirit.......................................................................................................3
Personal Growth Assessment........................................................................................................4
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................6
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Introduction
Training for proper discipleship is like training for any other sport or activity in that
starting well is just as important as finishing well. For a runner, much of the outcome of the race
is determined by how well they can get off the blocks. For a football player, much of the
outcome of the season happens in the weight room and on the practice field long before the
season begins. For those who have a desire to disciple others in the name of Christ and to train
them to do the same, much of their success will be determined by how well they have been
formed spiritually before the discipleship processes even begin. Spiritual formation is a key
aspect in the lives of all Christians and is a determining factor in their ability to do what the Lord
has called them to do with effectiveness and excellence. In order to understand how to best
approach the concept and process of spiritual formation, as it relates to discipleship, a wholistic
approach is not only helpful but necessary. Those seeking to deepen their understanding of what
it means to be formed spiritually need to understand their role and capability in the process as
well as the role and capability of the Holy Spirit. This paper will discuss the three areas related to
spiritual growth, the impact of the holy spirit on spiritual formation and discipleship, and will
then discuss the outcomes of a personal growth assessment conducted by the author.
Three Areas of Spiritual Growth
If someone was seeking to deepen themselves spiritually and to be formed in such a way
that they were a more effective disciple, the most important thing for them to understand might
be that spiritual growth is not only helpful…but necessary. When discussing the process of
spiritual growth Earley speaks about spiritual training, similar to how athletes would train for
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their respective sports. “This training has three aspects…it includes adding spiritual exercises
into our lives…wise abstinence…and consistency”1.
The first aspect worth considering is adding spiritual exercises into our lives. Spiritual
exercises are usually fairly straight forward and include things like reading the bible, praying,
and going to church. However, these things are the bare minimum of what a Christian should be
doing, and in order to be a disciple to other Christians, those who would seek to be formed
spiritually need to be doing more than the bare minimum. One of the key aspects of deeper
spiritual exercises is understanding that following Jesus means following his command in Luke
9:23 by denying ourselves, picking up our cross, and following him. “Inherent in the decision to
follow Jesus is the choice to forsake other things to do so. There is a cost to following Jesus. Any
disciple-making strategy that merely adds Jesus to already busy lives is doomed for failure.
Potential disciples must be called to forsake all to follow Jesus.”2. Spiritual exercises can be
tailored to the individual but should always focus on pulling the attention off the self and onto
Christ. “to “take up your cross” meant to treasure Jesus more than we treasure human approval,
honor, comfort, and life. Our suffering is not a tribute to Jesus unless we endure it because we
cherish Jesus. Taking up our cross-means Jesus has become more precious to us than approval,
honor, comfort, and life.”3. Some practical ways this kind of formation can be achieved is by
incorporating things like giving up non-essentials, volunteering time in the service of the church
or charities, or actively denying your own interests for the sake of the interests of others. In a
world where self-promotion and individualism reign these kinds of actions can help us to see the
world and the lives of those around us through new lenses with a new perspective,
1 Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Spiritual Formation Is. p.83
2 Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Disciples Making Is. p.97
3 John Piper, “Deny Yourself for More Delight.”
2
The second aspect to consider is wise abstinence. This is something that may seem simple
at first but is usually easier said than done. The key word in this situation is wise, those seeking
to grow spiritually should not simple desire to be abstinent but to be abstinent in a wise way. In
the modern American church abstinence usually refers to sexual abstinence or waiting until
marriage. However here abstinence is referring to abstaining from things that may hold one back
or distract them from the purpose of spiritual growth, even if those things are not inherently bad.
“Athletes not only need to add certain exercises to their lives, but they also need to cut out
certain activities and attitudes that limit their growth.”4 Practically, this may look like abstaining
from watching or listening to things that are not going to build one up spiritually, or removing
oneself from situations or social circles which are no spiritually edifying.
The aspect to consider is that of spiritual consistency. Those seeking to be good disciples
must realize that the two previous aspects do not stop once discipleship begins. These things stay
with us throughout our lives and are things which should be built upon. The best example for
those seeking to grow spiritually in a consistent way is the apostle Paul. “The apostle Paul had a
strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life
change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not
consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally.”5 Using
Paul as an example, Christians should seek to remain in a constant state of spiritual growth
regardless of changing external circumstances
The Impact of the Holy Spirit
4 Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Spiritual Formation Is. p.83
5 Oswald Chambers, “The Secret of Spiritual Consistency”
3
A proper understanding of the Holy Spirit is crucial to the life of any Christian and is
especially important for those who wish to be good disciples. The Holy Spirit may perhaps be the
most important agent in the lives of believers because without the Holy Spirit Christians are
powerless, this makes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the defining characteristic of church-age
Christians. “The overall trajectory of our life is to live set apart for Christ. This comes with the
humble recognition that we will never be perfect this side of heaven, yet we also recognize that
the Holy Spirit is doing his work and increasing spiritual fruit in our lives.”6.
Because of the importance and power of the Holy Spirit walking in and under the control
of the Holy Spirit can and should impact every aspect of spiritual development. If Christians seek
to incorporate spiritual disciplines into their lives without relying on the Holy Spirit they are
doomed to fail due to either human apathy or the influence of Satan drawing them away from
what God has called them to do. However, with the power of the Holy Spirit Christians can be
sure that they have a member of the trinity dwelling within them that will stir them to become
better Christians and guard them against the influence and temptations of sin. In the life of a
believer the Holy Spirit can help Christians to understand and apply scripture, to become more
like Christ, and to turn their focus from themselves to Jesus. This kind of power is essential to
growing spiritually in any sense and it is only with this power that Christians can ever hope to
develop into proper disciples of Christ.
Personal Growth Assessment
For the purposes of self-examination, I took the personal growth assessment. My overall
score was a nine and although this is seemingly quite good, there is a certain amount of
6 Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman, DiscipleShift : Five Steps That Help Your
Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples p.106
4
subjectivity to the exam. In other words, I think I am doing well, but I’d be interested to see if
someone who knows me well thinks so as well. Regardless, my strongest category was Love for
One Another (In) and my weakest was Love for God (up). This was a bit surprising for me at
first, but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. Because of my job in which I serve
the local church and my career as a student in which I spend a lot of time with other people, it is
easy for me to interact with and think about others. I am someone who really enjoys small group
scenarios in which I can discuss with others my personal spiritual journey and we can grow
together. However, what I am realizing is that I tend to talk more about God than I talk to him.
I think the best way for me to address this issue is to work to actively fill in the areas of
the Up category that I am severely lacking in. The first thing for me to do is to begin writing out
key passages and meditating on God’s word. Writing things down helps me to remember them
better, and after a few months of being faithful to this task I should have a nice compiled list of
passages that are valuable to me. The next thing I would like to do is to keep a journal and record
how the Lord is working in my life. As I think back on my spiritual journey there are so many
moments in which the Lord has done something major in my life, things which have made me
the man I am today. I would love to be able to go back and read how I was feeling in those
moments to remind myself of just how awesome my God really is. The last thing I would like to
start doing is to begin regularly fasting. I think for me fasting requires more than just fasting
from food, but I need to begin fasting from social media, video games, and other distractions in
my life so that I can focus more on Christ and what he is calling me to.
5
Bibliography
Chambers, Oswald. “The Secret of Spiritual Consistency” Utmost, Last modified November 25,
2019. https://utmost.org/the-secret-of-spiritual-consistency/.
Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Spiritual Formation Is. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018
Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Disciple Making Is. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018
Piper, John. “Deny Yourself for More Delight.” Desiring God, Last modified May 30, 2017.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/deny-yourself-for-more-delight.
Putman, Jim, Harrington, Bobby, and Coleman, Robert E. DiscipleShift : Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
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