LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Written Assignment #3
Submitted to Dr. Rod Dempsey,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 – B01
Discipleship Ministries
by
Cara Hartley
September 20, 2020
Contents
Disciple Making in the Local Church............................................................................................1
Disciple Making in a Christian Community..................................................................................2
Body of Christ................................................................................................................................3
My Church.....................................................................................................................................4
Importance of the Local Church....................................................................................................5
Bibliography...................................................................................................................................7
ii
1
Disciple Making in the Local Church
While every believer is called and commanded to make disciples of others, the main
responsibility for this process is within the church. Dave Early and Rod Dempsey state in
Disciple Making Is…, “The church exists to spread the gospel and develop the believer to the
point where they become the missionaries of the movement.”1 The church has many roles
including providing community for its congregation, partake in missions whether that is on a
local, national or global level, teach and mature its congregation, etc. Through all of these roles,
discipleship is embedded in every part of a church. The pastor conducts spiritual growth through
the messages that are presented to the congregation. Paul discusses in Ephesians the role of a
pastor in chapter four verses eleven through fourteen. “ And he gave the apostles, the prophets,
the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by
every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:11-
14)2 In an article by Dan Saines entitled Learning to be the Church, the author discusses the role
of the church in discipleship through learning. “From early times the church saw itself as a
lifelong learning community, it pursued paideia as Frances Young has argued. In other words, it
was involved in ‘a full and rounded educational process, the training of youth up to maturity
physically, mentally and, above all, morally.”3 Although the foundation of discipleship may start
1 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is . . . How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), pg. 42.
2 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced employ the English Standard Version (Wheaton,
IL: Crossway, 2008).
3 Don Saines, “Learning to Be the Church: The Value of Learning Theory for Discipleship and Mission,”
Pacifica: Australasian Theological Studies 28, no. 3 (January 24, 2107): pp. 290-307,
2
in a church, the fulfillment of discipleship is a responsibility of every believer and the
community that is built.
Disciple Making in a Christian Community
Pastors and churches should be great advocates for Christian community because as most
pastors will say, Christians were never meant to do life alone. This community is bread within
the church through fellowship and small community groups. Hebrews 4:10-11 says, “And let us
consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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.” As most know, doing life by themselves does not work out well and becomes very lonely.
Churches build community within their congregations with bible studies, community
groups, and fellowship throughout the year. Community brings accountability, wisdom,
friendship, and so much more. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I
among them.” (Matthew 18:20) It brings believers closer to God and His will for their lives.
Timothy O’Connell wrote in his book Making Disciples: a Handbook of Christian Moral
Formation, “Discipleship involves affiliation with others similarly committed, such that support
is given and received, wisdom is offered and accepted.”4 Proverbs 27:17 describes this so well
when the author wrote, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Small groups and
Christian community becomes believers building each other up in their faith, challenging each
other in their actions, doing life with one another, and serving with one another. A doctoral
Student out of Southeastern Seminary wrote his dissertation on Community and its role in
discipleship. The author wrote, “Christian community inevitably produces the doing of ministry
https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570x16683967.
4 Timothy E. O'Connell, Making Disciples: a Handbook of Christian Moral Formation (New York, NY:
Crossroad Pub., 1998), pg. 142.
3
together. Being a part of a community of believers in Jesus Christ allows disciples who are
growing in their relationship with Jesus to participate in the work of Christ.”5 The work of Christ
means being willing to put oneself and their family out of their comfort zones to reach those that
are not believers. Jonathan Dodson explains the role of a disciple in his book Gospel-Centered
Discipleship: “Disciples should do, say, and try to feel what is best for others, not for themselves.
In doing so, they find a deeper contentment as they live out their disciples-in-community
purpose. To be blunt, disciples of Jesus should regularly sacrifice privacy, convenience, and
comfort in order to love and serve others.”6
Body of Christ
Scripture tells a lot of what the body of Christ is and what its purpose is. 1 Corinthians 12
discusses the Body of Christ in length. Paul discusses that the body of Christ is made up of many
members with each having different functions just as a human body has several different limbs
and parts that make it function. Verses twenty-four through twenty-six say, “But God has so
composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division
in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member
suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” The beauty of the
body of Christ is the individuals work together as one to further the kingdom of God and His
purpose. God designed the body of Christ so that each person has unique giftings. Spiritual gifts
allow the body of Christ to be unique and make up the full church and fulfilling the will of God.
5 Keenan W Braden, “An Examination of Intentional Christian Community Engagement among Single
Adults and Its Role in Discipleship within Large Southern Baptist Churches in Alabama” (dissertation, ProQuest
LLC, 2019), pp. 1-117, pg. 30.
6 Jonathan K. Dodson, Gospel-Centered Discipleship (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), pg. 111.
4
My Church
As I just moved into a new area, I am still transitioning within churches. For the purpose
of this assignment, I will be assessing the church that I grew up in. Based on the TAHO chart,
my home church leans more towards the traditional side of the categories. It was a church that
was pastored by my father after he had taken it over from my grandfather. The congregation was
less than a 100 people. While it had many traditional aspects such as church structure, staff,
church location, and evangelism, it also had aspects of different levels. In the acctractional
category, my home church got Change attitude, gifts, preaching, prayer, and budget. The areas
that scored in the Hybrid section would have to be small groups, discipleship, worship, and
missions.
In doing the Healthy Church Assessment, I noticed that the church that I once attended,
scored very similar in all three sections. Love for God scored highest, then love for one another
and lastly love for our neighbor. The church had a consistency of believers who spent time in the
word, memorized scripture, and spent time in worship outside of the corporate worship setting.
In addition, the church was more like family and each person was in community with one
another whether that was through small groups, encouraging others in their gifts, or keeping one
another accountable for their actions. Lastly, this church was very engaged in our community
with servanthood evangelism through sports camps, back to school bashes, and gas buy downs.
Now while some of those don’t define what happened, the church was out in the community to
let others know that “Jesus loved them with no strings attached”. In addition to the local
evangelism, the church took several international mission trips.
5
Importance of the Local Church
Thinking about the topic of this heading, it is hard to envision not having a local church
in areas around the world. How would believers grow and mature in their faith and one another?
The importance of having a local church, pastors, church members, etc. is that it is part of the
will of God. Faith Lawyer wrote an article on justdisciple.com and the answer that she gave to
this exact question hit the nail right on the head. She wrote, “The local church is important
because it is ordained by God. It is the vessel through which God brings His Kingdom to the
earth. The local church is the level at which people are discipled, grown spiritually, cared for
physically, and able to serve others. Furthermore, the local church makes up the global church.
Local churches support, fund, and make possible missions, ministries, and outreaches to preach
the good news of the Kingdom of God.”7 Within the local church, believers are formed,
discipleship starts, spiritual maturity happens, community forms, missions are funded and take
place, etc.
Without a local church, the meaning of being a Christian would look very different. Many
Christians attend church, serve within their church, attend small groups, and get spiritually fed
from that outlet. By no means would Christianity cease to exist of the local church was not
established. Scripture shows readers the importance of the local church. Acts 2:44-45 says, “And
all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their
possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Faith Lawyer
wrote many reasons for the local church in her article, but she states upfront, “The church is, the
manner in which God establishes His rule and reign on earth…The local church is the gathering
7 Faith Lawyer, “The Importance of the Local Church: Locally & Worldwide,” Just Disciple, February 20,
2020, https://justdisciple.com/importance-of-local-church/.
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6
in which believers meet.”8 God intended for there to be a local church so that the will of God
would prevail and the kingdom of God would continue to flourish.
8 Faith Lawyer, “The Importance of the Local Church: Locally & Worldwide,” Just Disciple, February 20,
2020, https://justdisciple.com/importance-of-local-church/.
7
Bibliography
Braden, Keenan W. “An Examination of Intentional Christian Community Engagement among
Single Adults and Its Role in Discipleship within Large Southern Baptist Churches in
Alabama.” Dissertation, ProQuest LLC, 2019.
Dodson, Jonathan K. Gospel-Centered Discipleship. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012.
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is . . . How to Live the Great Commission
with Passion and Confidence. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014.
Lawyer, Faith. “The Importance of the Local Church: Locally & Worldwide.” Just Disciple,
February 20, 2020. https://justdisciple.com/importance-of-local-church/.
O'Connell, Timothy E. Making Disciples: a Handbook of Christian Moral Formation. New York,
NY: Crossroad Pub., 1998.
Saines, Don. “Learning to Be the Church: The Value of Learning Theory for Discipleship and
Mission.” Pacifica: Australasian Theological Studies 28, no. 3 (January 24, 2107): 290–
307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570x16683967.
Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced employ the English Standard Version
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008).
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