THE CONNECTION BETWEEN DISCIPLESHIP AND LEADERSHIP IN CHURCH
MINISTRY AND THE ROLE OF THE LEADER
LeRoy L. Watkins
DSMN 500 Discipleship Ministries
June 19, 2022
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THE CONNECTION BETWEEN DISCIPLESHIP AND LEADERSHIP
The Great Commission leadership and the similarities between developing disciples and
developing leaders in my church.
In Mathew 28:18-20 Jesus gives us The Great Commission which is our marching orders
for His glory. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines commission as “an authorization or
command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts: authority to act for, in
behalf of, or in place of another: a group of persons directed to perform some duty” so this is
something that was simply not suggested that we go out and do if we feel like it. This is
something that we are charged with in order to spread the gospel on behalf of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. If we are not complying with this commission, then we are in effect, sinning
as stated in James 4:17 NKJV “Therefore to him who know good and does not do it, to him it is
sin.” Every Christian must be actively pursuing the Great Commission in some form or fashion.
This is a growth process which takes time, patience, and learning. This is where discipleship is
needed and the leadership of the church must be proactive in making sure that from top to
bottom, it is happening at all levels in the church.
The idea of looking at the church leadership and the similarities between developing
disciples and leaders within the church is something that has been on my mind for a couple of
years. In looking at the top down after reading through the material, things have started to clear
up and the picture is starting to come into focus. The church leadership at my church is focused
on its mission statement of “Taking a Real Jesus to a Real World” but how that happens has
always been a little out of focus. The focal point has been creating a place of worship and
opportunity for new believers and for a place for them to serve. There are the occasional small
groups that usually run the same schedule as schools, there are some focused groups to help in
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certain areas and needs but when it comes to actual discipleship and the closeness that is
required, that is where there is a lack exists, like that of a giant black hole. The World Harvest
church doctrine does not even mention the word discipleship in it but it does refer to “our
behavior will more and more reflect His life in us and His purposes for us. A vital part of this
process is living life in the community of believers that make up the Church and allowing
ourselves to be built up by our relationships with other believers.” This is the essence of
discipleship as a byproduct but a directive or focus of the church.
The one area that the church does well is developing leaders for the next generation. The
lead pastor has a heart for the future and has established what he calls a “Next-Gen” pastor role.
Pastor Brad has a solid character and has a vision for building up those that he is close to, which
is his immediate family that is his church staff. His home life truly reflects that of what 1
Timothy 3 and Titus 1 discuss as well as what Putnam and Harrington talk about when they list
some qualities of a godly leaders as “above reproach, self-controlled, and respectable” as well as
“being authentic and immersed in the Word of God, yielded to the Holy Spirit, and in
relationship with other people.” As someone that is very close to Pastor Brad and has been for
over a decade, there has been no discipleship between us nor any talk of it. This is something that
I had thought of often but really didn’t give it much weight until recent years. There are certain
aspects of the church that I take care of with the men’s group and things that he calls me to help
with but that is about it. We are a part of two small groups together and those he is even guarded
in as he has been hurt in the past by people that he has gotten too close to. He has talked about
this pain from the pulpit and how it is difficult for him to get to close to anyone after dealing
with the hurt and pain from his past.
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The developing that does happen in the church are those that volunteer to serve on
Sunday’s. These folks get the training that they need in order to be the best that they can be on
Sunday mornings. The focus is to attract new commers and then retain them so everyone needs
to be on their A game on Sunday’s. My wife and I have led a small group for the last couple of
years and the format for that small group has been a list of questions and an outline handed out
by the pastor to discuss that day’s message. The meetings are usually every other week and these
have been great at being able to open up the doors to make new friends. The schedule is not
frequent enough to be able to hold each other accountable and really get into the meat and
potatoes and really disciple one another. As a matter of fact, discipleship was not something that
was discussed prior to starting these groups.
So, with that analysis of the difference in developing of disciples and the developing of
leaders in my church, the bottom line is that the church has been great and developing a few
leaders when they see the need and where they see the need but developing disciples isn’t even
mentioned anywhere in the vision or beliefs statement nor is it specifically talked about or
focused on. This has been a topic of discussion between myself and the associate pastor but it
hasn’t been brought up to the lead pastor.
Compare and contrast LEADERSHIP between Earley & Dempsey vs. Putnam &
Harrington
The word leadership can be taken for granted, misused, misinterpreted, and even
misrepresented. Historically, there have been great people that have led by example, even great
leaders in the Bible like Noah, King David, King Josiah, Paul, and even the disciples. One of the
more modern times greatest leaders, General Patton was known for leading from the front,
getting in the trenches and being seen, not just heard. This is something that all four of the
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authors from the readings for this week agree upon. Patton was known for his courage and “he
would direct his men from the front lines, where he was in the greatest danger” according to
Joshua Travers. This is something that pastors must do on a regular basis as we are in a spiritual
battle and we must lead from the front. Forbes website has a definition of leadership listed by
Warren Bennis that reads “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” as well as
the leading contributor Kevin Kruse who wrote “Leadership is a process of social influence,
which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.” These definitions are
some that I feel fit the mold for how the vision of the church can be transformed into reality.
The authors all agree that the life and character of the church pastor must be above
reproach. The lead pastor must be authentic, they must be an influencer who is transparent and as
Putnam and Harrington state “Leaders need to model for their churches what it means to
stumble” and that “a pastor can be open and honest at every level of ministry” which allows for
the congregation to relate to him or her and see that they are human and that we all fall short.
Putnam and Harrington are more focused on the pastor, their authenticity, how they make
disciples, casting the vision of the church, and equipping the church to continue the Great
Commission whereas Dempsey & Earley are focused on the same things, the are more hyper-
focused on the health of the church and what that looks like. Their in-depth analysis of the health
of the church really helps to look at what areas you are lacking, what areas you are doing well in,
and the areas that you need some help to reach the peak. One area that Putnam and Harrington
seem to focus on more is that of equipping the church and that “leaders must be fully committed
and involved in shaping the process” as well as that “leaders need to make a shift from informing
the congregation to equipping them.” Dempsey briefly touches on this when he wrote “we need
an equipping, empowering, and releasing model” in reference to reaching the world.
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The biggest difference between the two books is that Earley and Dempsey focus more on
the health of the church and how to analyze this. The goal of discipleship is a healthy church and
to get there you need “multiplication of leaders, disciples, groups, and churches” according to
Dempsey. The health of the church depends on the health of the pastor as well as each member in
the congregation. Dempsey lays out twenty questions with scripture references to back up why
these questions are important and how the implications of them impact the church.
A healthy church: the goal for discipleship
In looking at the health of the church, some of the components that were fascinating were
the ideas of looking at things through a lens of a business organization that focuses on the bottom
line which is the dollar and the church organization where the bottom line is winning souls for
Christ. This can change how you define leadership, what your vision and mission statements are,
and how you measure success. When you look at the twenty questions posed at what a healthy
church is, we must keep in mind the Kingdom principles that we need to follow in order for the
church to be healthy. If you were to apply the same twenty questions to a business organization,
you would have a mess on your hands. The reason, the goal for the two are totally different and
the path to getting there is not the same. The health of church requires a healthy body, which
requires every organism within it to be healthy. The way that happens is through personal growth
through Jesus Christ by spending time in the Word and discipleship with one another. Eph 1:23
gives a great representation of how intricate this is and how we need each other for the Kingdom
of God. A healthy church needs discipleship so that people will grow and learn to serve which
helps the pastor. The pastor should not be the one doing everything all the time, that will cause
burn out or the feeling of being on a treadmill that never stops.
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There are several side effects of discipleship, the main goal of course is to serve the Lord
and carry the gospel to all Nations so that everyone can hear the good news. As a pastor, the idea
is to be like a coach and help find each person’s unique God-given gift and help them get
plugged in and using it. Dempsey stated “we make disciples by helping others growing in
Christlikeness and helping them to do what God has gifted them to do” and that he had “come to
the conclusion that a relational small-group environment provides the best opportunity for every
disciple to get involved and use the Lord’s gift.” By doing this, this opens up doors for them to
serve in the house of the Lord and help take the burden off of the pastor. One of the great things
about discipleship and making disciples, according to Dempsey is “you will begin to see life
transformation happen in the lives of ordinary people. Ordinary people can then begin to do
extraordinary things for the kingdom and glory of God!”
10 Kingdom Leadership Principles
The Kingdom leadership and fellowship principles were very interesting to read. There
were several parts that I found convicting to me. The first part is that I am not a leader. This is
something that seems contradictory with the fact that this whole section was about being a leader.
I am conflicted with this particular area as a leader in my church. The notes specifically state
“you are not a leader…you are a follower of a leader” which I understand to a point. Jesus is the
One, the Way, the Truth, and the Leader and we are to lead those that are astray to Him. Once we
connect them as it states in the notes “we are here to connect people to Jesus and once they are
connected to Him...He leads them” then we are no longer leading them but guiding them in a
discipleship style relationship. I found an article about leadership where the author Jacob Morgan
had asked several top leading organizations what their definition of leadership was and one of
them by Kathy Mazzarelli the CEO of Graybar, fit into this equation rather nicely “Leadership is
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about helping others realize their potential and inspiring them to work with you to achieve a
shared vision for the future.” This is one of the few definitions that fits nicely into the category of
discipleship.
The next area that needs attention is Principle number four, spending time with the Lord.
This is something that has been on my heart for some time and I just can’t seem to find the right
balance of time. I know that I need to be spending more time in the Word. I honestly feel like I
am partially severed from the head, hanging on by a thread. I believe part of that reason is being
detached from my church physically right now, not being plugged in and having men around me
to help disciple and keep me on the right path. This lines up with Kingdom Practice number
eight, connecting people to Jesus. It is difficult to connect others to Jesus when I feel
disconnected from others myself. I cannot help others get plugged in and connected when I
myself am not plugged in as I should be.
In conclusion, this has been another eye-opening week learning more about discipleship
and how the process should look like. Being a great leader is something that has always come
easy to me. The military found that in me early and exploited that rather well. My heart and eyes
have been opened up and I just pray that God is chiseling away what needs to and adding what
He wants to make me a better servant for Him.
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Bibliography
Definition of COMMISSION. Merriam-Webster.com, 2019, www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/commission.
Graham, Billy. 2004 The Billy Graham Training Center Bible: Time-Tested Answers to Your
Toughest Questions. Nashville, Tenn.: Nelson Bibles
About - World Harvest Church. Whcpeople, www.harvestenid.com/about.
Putman, Jim, Bob Harrington, and Robert Emerson Coleman. 2013. DiscipleShift Five Steps
That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids
Zondervan.
Definition of LEADERSHIP. Merriam-Webster.com, 2019, www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/leadership.
Travers, Joshua. “Three Lessons in Leadership from General Patton.” Members,
members.cogwa.org/man-blog/three-lessons-in-leadership-from-general-patton/.
Kruse, Kevin, and Warren Bennis. “What Is Leadership?” Forbes, 9 Apr. 2013,
www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/?sh=6c5589575b90.
Accessed 18 June 2022.
Morgan, Jacob, and Kathy Mazzarelli. “14 Top CEOs Share Their Definition of “Leadership,”
What’s Yours?” Medium, 14 Aug. 2020, medium.com/jacob-morgan/14-top-ceos-share-
their-definition-of-leadership-whats-yours-2b89a58576a6.
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