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Writting assignment 2 Spheres and Stages of
Discipleship
Discipleship Ministries (Liberty University)
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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL
SEMINARY
Spheres and Stages of Discipleship
Submitted to Dr. Rick Garner
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500-B12
Discipleship Ministries
by
Kenneth Bass
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
5 stages.............................................................................................................................................3
Spiritually Dead...............................................................................................................................4
Infant................................................................................................................................................5
Child................................................................................................................................................5
Young Adult....................................................................................................................................6
Parent...............................................................................................................................................7
Four Spheres....................................................................................................................................7
Relationship with God.....................................................................................................................8
Relationship with the Church..........................................................................................................8
Relationship at Home......................................................................................................................9
Relationship to the World................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Personal Discipleship Stage and Sphere........................................................................................10
What does it mean to be in submission to Christ...........................................................................11
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
Each summer there are children who learn how to swim. You hear it said often, the way I
learned to swim was by being pushed into the deep end of the swimming pool, with the words,
good luck. This approach is known as learn on the fly or learn on your own. So often, churches
have this same approach to teaching a new Christians about their new faith. When they accept
Christ into their life, they are handed a Bible with the words, good luck. When this happens the
new disciple can barely keep themselves above the water line, more or less learn how to grow in
their new faith. As Grant Edwards state; “I’d convinced them to jump in by holding my arms out
to them – but I hadn’t taught them and coached them how to survive in the new environment of
faith.”1 The correct approach to teaching a child to swim is to spend one of one time with them
in the water, teaching them the basics first and moving on from there. Churches need to learn
how to teach new believers and “older” believer how to swim on their own, so they can survive
in the world around them. The church must have a plan in place that they will be able to identify
where the new believers and the older believers are in the disciple process.
5 stages
When disciplining a person in their new faith or old faith, it must be approached with the
mentality it is not going to be a microwave moments. It is going to take time to training them, it
could take years. But before any of this training can take place one must know how to train,
where their trainee is currently in their training sessions and what should the final outcome of the
training look like. Jim Putman states, people are taught in the church that we are not to judge
people or try and categorize them. When it comes to disciplining a person it cannot be effective
1Grant Edwards, Swimming + Lessons: How to Keep New Christians Afloat in a Sinking World (USA:
Specificity Publications, 2010), 22.
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if the teacher does not understand or know where their student is. “An intentional leader
understands the field of study he is attempting to teach. He is also able to evaluate where a
student is on that journey and can create environments that will push their students to further
knowledge and growth.”2 In the book Discipleship Shift teaches a method of evaluating where a
person is in their relationship with the Lord. They state growth is not typically happening in a
linear fashion, but there is a path of progress that needs to be followed. They have categorized
this path in five stages and 4 spheres.
Spiritually Dead
Stage one, is described in Ephesians 2:1-5 as a person who is “dead in their
transgressions and sins. People in this stage have not yet accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.”3
In this stage the person may not even know anything about who God is and what He is offering
to a lost world. They may have heard about God’s salvation before but totally rejected it. They
may claim to know God or call themselves Christians, but they have not really accepted Christ
as Lord and Savior. This can be identified by examining the spiritual fruit that is being produced
or better stated not being produced. They are spiritually dead and living according to their dead
human nature and nothing is going to change until they have been brought to life by accepting
Christ. To easily indentify a person in this stage, certain words and phrase can be heard from
them such as; “I don’t believe there’s a God, the Bible is just a bunch of myths, or religion is a
crutch for the weak.”4 When a person has been put in this category they are left there, what
needs to happen is intentional relationship building. Through honest friendships and
relationships with person, the gospel can be offered to them, so they can come to a new life in
Christ.
2Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington, Discipleshift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples
Who Make Disciples, Exponential Series (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 56.
3 Putman and Harrington, Discipleshift, 61.
4 Ibid, 62.
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Infant
The second stage is the infant stage. This is where the person has come to life spiritually
because they have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. 1 Peter 2:2-3 describes the person like a
newborn baby who is carving spiritual milk so they can grow in their new faith.5 This also can
include the person who has stayed stagnant in their faith for many years. When a person is in this
stage they typically lack knowledge concerning the teaching of Jesus. It is not that they are
unintelligent; it is just simply they are uninformed and need to learn the truth of God’s word.
They will conduct their life the same way the world does because they are still following the
custom and patterns of this world. Spiritual infants can often be heard saying things like; “I need
to go to church regularly, I’ve never heard that before, I don’t need anyone else, it’s just me and
Jesus.”6 In this stage there needs to be someone who can care for them because they will have a
lot of questions. The caretaker needs to teach them how to feed themselves so they can grow and
thrive in their own spiritual life.
Child
Stage three is the childhood stage based off of 1 John 2:12 and 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12.
In this stage the person is continuing to grow in their relationship with the Lord, as well as with
other believers. Even though they are growing, there still is a lot of self-centeredness. They want
their personal needs and desires met. They have not learned that is not all about themselves, but
God wants them to meet the needs of others. A person is in this stage can be dogmatic, seeing
things in black or white. They can be over confident, prideful or timid, shy and defeat. They are
connected to the church family, but the world still revolves around them. A person in this stage
can be a new believer or a believer who has been in the church for years. They can be heard
5 Putman and Harrington, Discipleshift, 63.
6 Ibid 64
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saying; Why do we have to learn new songs, I like the old ones, No one ever greets me at church
anymore, I did not get anything out of the service today.7 A person in this stage needs to spend a
lot of time with a mature believer. During their time together they need to focus on being less
self-centered and more God and His purpose focused. They need to learn what it means to have
a servant’s heart.
Young Adult
Stage four is where you find spiritual children shifting to becoming young adults. When
this is accruing there is a shift from being self-centered to being God – and other centered. They
are learning God has a purpose for their live which is personally for them. 1 John 2:13-14
describes a person in this stage.8 In this stage they have learned to serve people, the church and
God for the right reasons. They are continually looking for places to serve. You can hear them
saying, in my devotions, I felt the Lord said, I was sharing my faith with a friend yesterday or we
need to make room in our small group for a friend who does not know Jesus. In this stage they
need somewhere to serve and to continue to grow in their knowledge of God’s word. They need
to be encouraged to move on to the next stage.
Parent
The final stage is the spiritual parent stage. In this stage the emphasis is on reproduction.
This is the reason it is labeled “spiritual parent” instead of “spiritual adults.” 2 Timothy 2:1-2
describes people who are full of God’s grace. They have a strong understanding of God’s word,
a deep relationship with God and desire to train up new disciples.9 In this stage the parents are
not
7 Putman and Harrington, Discipleshift, 66.
8 Ibid, 67.
9 Putman and Harrington, Discipleshift, 69.
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perfect, but still growing in their own relationship with Christ. During this time they are growing
in how to be better spiritual parents to their disciples. People in this stage make statements like; I
feel God is leading me to invest in David, I am praying about going on a mission trip to help the
people grow in Christ, or the most important discipleship is with my family.10 The key to helping
people in this stage is to keep them involved with other spiritual parents. They need to be
encouraged and allowed to make more disciples within the church.
Four Spheres
It is easy to identify where a person is in the discipleship process using the five different
stages to assess them. It is more difficult to actually know how to allow the disciple to grow. To
assist a person’s spiritual growth, tools are needed to grow so the disciple can move to the next
stage. For this to happen there needs to be a specific focus on what to work on in each sphere.
Many times people are asked, what should a disciple study to advance to the next stage? There is
a common answer that seems to come out; they need to study the Bible. The Bible is a vague
answer and needs to be narrowed down. The teacher needs to focus more on certain areas to train
the new disciple. There are four spheres the disciple should focus on when it comes to growing
spiritually. First, their relationship to God, next their relationship with God’s family, the church,
followed by their home life and finally, their relationshp to the world.11
Relationship with God
The first and most important sphere is the centrality of a relationship with God. Here it is
important for the disciple to be reminded that we are saved by grace and our security, strength
are from God and not from ourselves. If they forget these truths they can fall into a works based
10 Ibid, 70.
11 Putman and Harrington, Discipleshift, 78.
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salvation. When walking a person through this sphere, it is important to relate things to our
body. We have a head, heart and hands in which God gave us to use for His glory. With each
one of these we need to ask questions of our disciples to make sure they are growing in each
area. The head represents our knowledge. Does the disciple know what Jesus teaches about
growing in their relationship with Him? Are they willing to surrender it all to Christ? Are they
spending time in His word daily? Heart is the total surrendering place. In this area one needs to
look to see if the disciple has any visible changes taking place. See if they are doing thing for the
right reason, along with, is there a pattern of spiritual growth taking place. The hands represent
the physical elements of their life. Are they willing to follow Christ in any direction He leads
them? Are they applying all they are learning? Are they using their spiritual gifts to help others
come to Christ? Without having Christ at the center of their personal life, there is no way the
disciple can grow in any of the other spheres.
Relationship with the Church
“The second sphere of relationship is where they grow within the body of Christ.”12 In
this sphere is where the growth of serving one another is worked on. It is where they should be
building up one another, putting aside their personal desires for the desires of others; they see it
is about getting other to have a personal relationship with Christ. There are head, heart, and
hands questions which can be asked in this sphere to help evaluate progress. The head question
asked is, does the disciple know and understand what the Bible says about the church? The heart
question is, are they growing in their love for others in the body? The hands questions are, have
they developed relationship skills needed to minister to other people? Do they themselves need
12 Putman and Harrington, Discipleshift, 86.
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encouragement? What specific skill do I need to teach them to grow their relationship with other
Christian and the church?
Relationship at Home
The third sphere they should be concerned with is their relationships at home. This sphere
could be said to be the second most important area. If the disciple’s home is unhealthy, the rest of
their relationship will follow the same directions. Everything the disciple is learning and doing
personally and with other believers, should be happening within their own home. So often a
disciple will focus on themselves and those around them outside the home and they forget to
minister to those the closest to themselves, their family. Reminding them to focus on practicing
what they are learning and teaching to others, needs to be done at home also.
Relationship to the World
This sphere is misleading by its title. What it is talking about is the area they are working
in. The question to ask is how is the disciple’s relationship with those they work with? Are they
working and representing themselves in a manner that is bringing glory to God? Do they see the
job there are doing is from God and they are to serve as if they are serve the Lord Himself? Do
they do everything they can to be the light in a dark world? When they understand God has them
in a certain place at a certain time to do certain job, they are living out the purpose He has for
them.
Conclusion
When asked, how do you teach a person to swim, the answer is simple. You get in the
water with them and start with the basics. Disciplining a new Christian’s is no different, except it
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is easier to identify a person who wants to learn how to swim than a person who want to grow in
the Lord. When it comes to identifying a person who wants to grow in their relationshp with the
Lord, the church needs a strategy to do this. It starts with identifying what stage of life they are
in spiritually. Once they are have been placed in one of the five stages, then you teach them to
grow in each sphere. This seems like a simple progress, but it is not, it takes a lot of time and
energy to succeed. The next time a person accepts Christ, if they are directed through these
stages and spheres; there will be no need to say good luck like when teaching a person how to
swim by pushing them in the deep in.
Personal Discipleship Stage and Sphere
As for me, when it comes to the stage of discipleship I am currently in, it is hard to write
about. A person always feels they could be doing better at serving God, but after reading
Putman’s book, it helped me see, I am doing some things well. I assess myself at the stage of
being a spiritual parent. I say this because after reading through 2 Timothy 2, a lot of these
words are true in my own life. 2 Timothy 2:1-2, “Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the
grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been
confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who
will be able to pass them on to others.”13 An example of this in my own personal life comes by
the story of Danny. I met Danny when he was spiritually dead. I had the privilege of being able
to share Christ with him. He accepted and then immediately I was able to ask him if he wanted
to be discipled. At my church we have a one on one discipleship program that I was able to take
Danny through. During the time we were talking about obedience, the topic of baptism was
13 Unless otherwise indicated all Bible references in this paper are to the New Living Standard Bible (NLT)
(Carol Stream, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004).
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taught. Danny realized he needed to be baptized and asked me if I would baptize him, I agreed.
Danny then understood the need to join the church and a life group. He joined my life group and
he and I now are on the same men’s league team. We have been meeting now for over a year
and he called me his spiritual father the other day. Danny has gone out and is personally
disciplining a person now. The words out of Disciple Shift book were a great reminder that God
can use anyone to bring glory to His name. The sphere I still need work on is in my home. I
truly believe your ministry cannot be any stronger than your home is. I have found myself like
so many others, who have poured out so much to others and neglected my own family. Even
though both of my sons are away at college, I have realized I still need to pour into their
spiritual lives every chance I get. With my wife, she and I have prayed together for years, but
now we are reading books together to help us grow spiritually closer together. I desire that my
home is a light that shines brighter and brighter each day.
What does it mean to be in submission to Christ
What does it mean to be in submission to Christ? If more people in the church understood
a small part of this question, the world around us would be changed forever. To better understand
this question, you need to understand what submit means. Submit means to come under or to
arrange. The word’s full meaning is “to obey, put under, be subject to, submit oneself unto, or
obedient too.14 When reviewing the word submit it is easy to better understand what it means to
be in submission to Christ. I believe the better question is what would it look like to be in
submission to Christ? The person would be a disciple of Christ, sitting under His teaching and
changing their life style to be a reflection of Jesus. When one is totally submitting to Christ that
person is surrendering everything they have to Christ. Luke 14:26, “If you want to be my
14 Merriam-Webster, Inc. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Eleventh ed. Springfield, MA:
Merriam- Webster, Inc., 2003.
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disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.”
To be a true disciple of Christ, one must understand what George Barna wrote, “discipleship is
not a program. It is not a ministry. It is a lifelong commitment to a lifestyle.”15 When a person is
willing to surrender to a different lifestyle they are truly submitting to Christ.
“You will never fully experience Jesus while staying in your comfort zone. You will only
experience Him when you go where He goes. Following Jesus means following Him wherever
He leads, even if it is uncomfortable."16 In scripture we are repeatedly told to expect suffering as
Disciples of Christ. 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ
Jesus will suffer persecution.” Bonhoeffer states; because Jesus suffered, suffering becomes the
identifying mark of a follower of Christ. The disciple is not above the teacher. Discipleship
means, having to suffer.17 To be in total submission to Christ, one is willing to follow at
whatever cost. The person is willing to be totally obedient to God’s call upon their life. As
Romans 12:2 states, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform
you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will
for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Surrendering totally to Christ one must not
follow the world’s ways, but they must follow God’s ways. When a person does this, then they
know God’s will for their life. Because they are totally submitting to God, they will be doing His
will that He has planned for their life. Submission to Christ simply means total obedience to
Christ at whatever cost.
15 George Barna, Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of Christ,
Barna Reports for Highly Effective Churches (Colorado Springs, Colo.: WaterBrook Press, 2001), 19.
16 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is--: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion
and Confidence (Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Avademic, 2013), 90.
17 Dietrich, Bonhoeffer, and Et Al. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4, Discipleship. (Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1996). 89.
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Bibliography
Barna, George. Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of
Christ. Barna Reports for Highly Effective Churches. Colorado Springs, Colo.:
WaterBrook Press, 2001.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. And Et Al. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works Volume 4, Discipleship.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996.
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is--: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Avademic, 2013.
Edwards, Grant. Swimming + Lessons: How to Keep New Christians Afloat in a Sinking World.
USA: Specificity Publications, 2010.
Putman, Jim, and Bobby Harrington. Discipleshift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make
Disciples Who Make Disciples. Exponential Series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
Webster - Merriam, Inc. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Eleventh ed. Springfield,
MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003.
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