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Spheres and Stages of Discipleship
Final
Discipleship Ministries (Liberty University)
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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Spheres and Stages of Discipleship
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in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 – B03
Discipleship Ministries
by
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Contents
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Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
The Five Stages of Discipleship.....................................................................................................2
Stage 1: Spiritually Dead.....................................................................................................3
Stage 2: Infant......................................................................................................................3
Stage 3: Children.................................................................................................................4
Stage 4: Young Adult..........................................................................................................5
Stage 5: Parent.....................................................................................................................6
The Four Spheres of Discipleship.................................................................................................6
My Stage and Spheres of Discipleship.........................................................................................7
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Disicipleship is not a one time event, but it is a series of events or learning processes that
occur over a lifetime. If a believer does not have an understanding of this process, it is possible
for them miss out on the importance of their own spiritual growth as well as the growth of
others. Learning how to be a disciple is of such importance to following Christ, that the believer
needs to understand what stage of growth they are presently in as well as their sphere of life.
When a believer is “born again,” they are just that. They begin their Christian journey as
having nothing, then moving from their infancy of spirituality and discipleship through their
young adult years all the way through being a parent. Jesus devoted several years of His life to
prepare the disciples before sending them out into the world to make disciples as they were
commanded. He understood where the disciples were at in their walk with Him, and he equipped
them for their Christian lives as a parent would equip their children to become adults.
During this cycle or pattern of discipleship that is followed, the disciple experiences
transition and growth throughout the stages of discipleship. Their transformation culminates in a
commitment to the spheres of discipleship. These are represented by their relationship to God,
their relationship with the church, their home life, and their relationship to the world. Everybody
who transforms, does so at different rates and are usually not in the exact same place in their
relationship as others.
As we begin our journey or help others on theirs, we should understand that not all
journeys are the same and should not be treated as such. Through an analysis of the five stages
and four spheres of discipleship, an understanding will be gained of how to effectively become
or lead others to proper discipleship.
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The Five Stages of Discipleship
As mentioned earlier, growing in discipleship does not happen in an orderly fashion.
There are stages to it, but these are not checkpoints or explicitly laid out benchmarks for one to
achieve before moving onto the next stage. This is not an easy process as one may work their
way through the different stages and then depending upon circumstances in their life, fall back to
different stage. These stages require the knowledge that God is with us at all times and He is here
for us. This experience should be a “should be a powerful, life-forming, paradigms hifting
experience leading to increasing levels of Christlikeness.”1 The stages of discipleship are broken
down into five stages: dead, infant, children, young adult, and parent. They all represent the
typical stages of life that we move through. It is written in 1 John 2:12-14, “I am writing to you,
little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you
have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to
you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men,
because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil
one.”2 This passage is significant in that it addresses the people not in their stage of life, but in
their stage of spiritual growth.
Stage 1: Spiritually Dead
1James A. Lang and David J. Bochman, “Positive Outcomes of a Discipleship Process,” Journal of
Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 10 (Spring 2017): 51.
2 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016).
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To be spiritually dead is to have “a fog of loneliness, characterized by the erosion of true
friendship.”3 The spiritual death is even referred to in Ephesians 2:1 as one is “dead in their
trespasses and sins.” This does not mean the physical death of someone but it is stage that
someone may be in where they “have not yet accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.”4
Whoever is in this phase may have rejected God, may be seeking God, or possibly may claim to
be a Christian but do not have the Holy Spirit living within them.5
This is the stage where the lack of a relationship with God leaves the person empty. This
person may be angry and blame God for everything wrong in their life or may rebel against God.
They act as if they are physically dead and will not change until they have been made alive by
Christ.6 If they are willing and open to learning about God, they will need clear answers and
explanations as they are in their “pre-conversion” to becoming a believer.
Stage 2: Infant
The infants of stage 2 are those who are brand new to the faith. They are described in 1
Peter 2:2-3 as being “like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may
grow up into salvation-if indeed you have tastes that the Lord is good.” These people are now
alive with the Spirit and have only made the decision to follow Christ. This group is uninformed
about their newfound faith and the seed has been planted to begin our journey. God is the
ground
3Trevor B. Williams, “Frankenstein: A Theological Meditation on Spiritual Death.” Perspectives in
Religious Studies 47, no. 3 (January 2020): 322
4Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington with Robert Coleman, Discipleshift: Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples (Grand Rapids: MI: Zondervan, 2013): 61.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
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of the faith and as us being a seedling, we need the sustenance of God’s giving in order to begin
growing in our spirutality.7
Just like an infant, people in this stage need to be cared for and need a steady flow of
attention and can be demanding of their teacher. The infant will question whether or not they
need to attend church on a regular basis, will question the place of Christianity in relation to
other world religions, want to know why all of their problems have not been solved once they
have accepted Jesus. They may have concerns about promises they heard about but are not
biblical or may develop bad habits if not properly cared after and nurtured. They are brand new
and require a lot.
Stage 3: Child
The child is still a newcomer to the faith or may be a returnee. A person in this stage knows
enough about Christianity or the “lingo” that is used. The child can hold conversations about the
faith but can self-centered and feel the world still revolves around them.8 The people in this stage
can be newcomers or those who may have attended church their entire lives. Just because they
may be in the child stage, does not mean they are young. They know enough to make it through
the day, but still need someone to depend on.
While the child may be selfish in their learning, they need to grasp the idea of humility
and have a willingness to learn. This is where they need to branch out and realize what works for
them may not work for everyone else but they need that strong spiritual connection with their
7 Christopher Chapman, “Striving for Perfection or Growing into Fruitfulness?” The Way 57, no. 3
(July 2018): 11.
8 Putman, Harrington, and Coleman, 65.
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congregation.9 The child requires teaching about who are they are in Christ and how to have
close friendships with other believers.
Stage 4: Young Adult
The young adult stage is when the believer has “overcome the Evil one and the work of
God abides in them.” They have begun to focus on those around them and not themselves. God
is becoming the center of their world and they understand that God has called them to give to the
body of Christ.10 The young adult is gaining the openness to serve God and have learned the
reasoning behind what Jesus did for them. Their calls to ministry and serving are stronger and
they are more comfortable with sharing the Word and doing so in front of group. The young
adult is understanding of the failures of people but Jesus will not fail them.
People who fall into this stage are orienting their lives around Christ and look for
opportunities to serve. This is a stage where a spiritual mentor or coach is needed to keep them
on the right track as they grow stronger ties to their Christian friends and serving teams. They
need help with the proper management of groups as they come into their own with their skills
and gifts even though their hearts are in the right place. The young adult may “need to be re-
oriented to seeing the goal of their adulthood not as self-sufficiency, but as the conviction of the
sufficiency of God and the value of pursuing his purposes.”11
9Brian Labosier and Jeremy Labosier, “A Thirty-Year Experiment in Teaching Spiritual Formation: Twelve
Lessons We Learned,” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 11 (February 2019): 129.
10 Putman, Harrington, and Coleman, 67.
11Fran Blomberg, “Contentment: Radical Discipleship for Young Adults” Journal of European
Baptist Studies 17 (Spring 2017): 44.
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Stage 5: Parent
The parents in stage 5 are those who have matured enough and are qualified to teach others.
They are reliable and have an understanding of what it means to have a deep relationship with
God and have a solid grasp of the Word. The parents live their daily lives in God’s Word and
“kingdom-centered and God-dependent.”12 The parent is not perfect but are solid base for
others gravitate to in order to deepen their faith or find answers to their questions.
The parent is midful of the needs of the less spiritually mature around them and are good
at peer accountability. There may be times where some prodding is needed to get the parents to
go out and make disciples on their own but are held in high regard as they are people who
others aspire to be like. They are also key to developing and maintaining the discipleship
culture.
The Four Spheres of Discipleship
The growth of a disciple can be measured by the “four spheres of discipleship.” These
different stages of one’s life shows where they are it in their relationship to God, with God’s
family (church), their home life, and their relationship to the world.13 A way of looking at these
spheres is to see how the disciple “understands God’s commands and submits to His authority
(head), how they are transformed by Jeses (heart), and joins Jesus on a kingdom mission (hands)
in all areas of their life.”14 These spheres of discipleship work alongside with the five stages of
discipleship and everybody is in a different sphere or stage during their lifetime.
My Stage and Spheres of Discipleship
12 Putman, Harrington, and Coleman, 69.
13 Putman, Harrington, and Coleman, 78.
14 Ibid.
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Knowing what stage of discipleship I am currently in required a lot of instrospection with
a dash of self-awareness. The stages are fluid and are not a set of points where I move on the
next level once a certain goal is achieved. At this point, I have moved from young adult down to
the child stage. I am currently searching for a new church to attend so the furlough from
attending a place of worship has definitely affected where I stand in my spiritual growth. It
would seem odd that a person who is working on their Master’s of Divinity would place
themselves at such a lower level but that is where the self-awareness kicks in but I know I am
working may way back up.
I find myself questioning my former church and felt left out by some messages and
honestly, paid too much attention to my own needs. I served regularly, across various sections
of the church, but felt that I was going through the motions. While in the young adult stage, I
was running small groups and even participated in a mission trip to India. During those times I
felt the most at ease with my place in ministry and hope to return to it. As I work my back into
the young adulthood stage, I find myself relating to 1 Thessalonians 5:11 where it states,
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” This is key
to me at this point as I was recently approached by members of my former men’s small group
and was asked to lead the group since our former group leader moved away. I explained to them
that I did not attend the church with them anymore and they were fine with it. I am being
connected to a purpose by them and cannot wait to be back in fellowship with them. The biggest
scriptural advice I need to take with me during this child phase is from Hebrews 10:25 as it
states, “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another,
and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” I need to focus on this as a soon to be group
leader and as motivation to walk into church.
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When it comes to the sphere of discipleship, I need to submit in my relationships to God
and with His family. Bonhoeffer writes of obedience as being a step in following Jesus. This is
the step that I need to get through so I can begin to have success in my relationship to God and th
church. He states, “the first step of obedience has to be taken, so that faith does not become
pious self-deception, cheap grace. The first step is crucial.”15 I ask myself at times if I have truly
given myself to Christ and followed the path He is putting me on. Maybe it is fear or maybe it is
the fluidity of my stages of discipleship that hold me back from strengthening my relationship.
To rectify this, I need to totally surrender and put my trust in him. That is the only way.
Conclusion
Knowing the stages and spheres of discipleship are key to strengthening a relationship
with God and the church. Through the research of these topics, an understanding was gained on
how to fully submit oneself to the Lord and to learn to be a disciple. A proper way of understand
the power of submission to God to ensure true discipleship can be foind in Acts 1:8 where it is
written, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be
my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus command us to spread the Gospel and to make disciples, this can only be done
when we poll ourselves of where our relationship stands and when we account for what stage of
our spiritual life we are in. To look into our heart and and see that we may not be at a stage that
we thought we were in, takes humility and drives home the points that we need to work on. We
fall into a variety of stages that coincide with the stages of life. While I am physically an adult,
my spiritual stage is that of a child. I was once a “young adult” but as life changes, so do the
stages and I fell back into spiritual childhood.
15 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Benhoeffer Works, Volume 4 (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 64.
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I learned that I need to fully submit to God’s will. I know that He will not let me fail but I
do know that the road will not be a smooth one. I have to overcome fears and uncertainties in
order to strengthen my relationship with God and to better the relationship with the church. As I
move back into young adulthood and attempt to run a small group again, I know with submission
and fellowship, I can count on those around me to hold me accountable and to raise me up.
Bibliography
Blomberg, Fran. “Contentment: Radical Discipleship for Young Adults.” Journal of European
Baptist Studies 17 (Spring 2017): 40–56.
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Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Benhoeffer Works, Volume 4. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press,
2003.
Chapman, Christopher. “Striving for Perfection or Growing into Fruitfulness?” The Way 57, no.
3 (July 2018): 7–17.
Lang, James A., and David J Bochman. “Positive Outcomes of a Discipleship Process.” Journal
of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 10 (Spring 2017): 51–72.
Labosier, Brian and Jeremy Labosier. “A Thirty-Year Experiment in Teaching Spiritual
Formation: Twelve Lessons We Learned.” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul
Care 11 (February 2019): 125-140.
Putman, Jim and Bobby Harrington with Robert Coleman. Discipleshift: Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2013.
Williams, Trevor B. “Frankenstein: A Theological Meditation on Spiritual Death.” Perspectives
in Religious Studies 47, no. 3 (January 2020): 317–38.
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