“Expanded Section” from the Workbook: Christ’s
Pattern for His Church: Disciples making Disciples
By Jay Wegter
Practical Considerations in Implementing Biblical Discipleship
Biblical Discipleship belongs to the Ecclesiology of the New Covenant
How important is your ecclesiology? Ultimately, your view of the church (your ecclesiology) will govern how you do church. Regardless of how glowing your mission statement—how you do church reveals your actual working ecclesiology. Is the local church a commodity for spiritual consumers? OR, is it a community of the consecrated who are on mission? How we do church will communicate whether or not we see it as an organism rather than an institution—a community or a commodity.
Colin Marshall makes the incisive observation that ecclesiology is the ‘soft underbelly of the Evangelical church’. In other words, our doctrine of the church is tissue-thin and weak and often less than biblical. As a consequence we tend to treat the church as a human organization that can be successfully managed by the same abilities that make a man successful in business.
What we forget is the biblical definition of the church—that the church is the fruits of gospel ministry. We struggle to get people into a local church while forgetting that the ekklesia is made up of individuals supernaturally called out of the world by the gospel of Christ and formed into disciples by obedience to the Great Commission. Our reductionist ecclesiology reasons too much around the structures of buildings, elders, programs, and leaders—and not enough around the gospel itself.
Author Paul Zahl warns that the commodification of (the objectification of) the church has a killing effect upon it BECAUSE it makes it appear as if it is a mere social organization which can be defined by human categories—as if human management techniques are adequate for its flourishing. Not so—when the church is institutionalized and pushed through a bureaucratic business model grid, it sends the message that it is a society that may be directed by natural means. Zahl notes that the power of God in the gospel touches down like a Texas tornado—and by means of forgiveness by the cross and regeneration by the Spirit, a supernatural community is formed animated by the Spirit called the local church (organically joined to, and living because of shared life with her Head, the Lord Jesus Christ). The church is the byproduct of the gospel. Notes Zahl, “To overestimate church as a value in itself is to objectify the non-objectifiable and thus to possess that which never can be possessed” (Paul F. M. Zahl, A Short Systematic Theology, Eerdmans, 2000, pp. 88-89).
Now here is the rub: when institutionalization occurs (with its over-dependence upon business model techniques and entrepreneurial skills) it has a deadening effect BECAUSE it sends the message that merely human methods of management are adequate—or even desirable. The truth is that the way we do church MUST communicate the fact that the CAUSE of the church’s formation is the power of God in the gospel and the LIFE BLOOD of the church which nourishes and sustains her existence is the gospel. The church is a byproduct of the gospel. If we understand this reality, it will totally condition the way we do church—the gospel will ever be front and center as the power source of our vine work.
New covenant ecclesiology means that the radical hierarchy of the mosaic covenant has been replaced with the reality that every believer in Christ is now a believer-priest. We are to offer up ‘sacrifices’ of thanksgiving and service to God (Heb 13:15; 1 Pet 2:5; Rom 12:1). The church is made up of believer priests (Rev 1:8; 5:10). This has everything to do with our philosophy of ministry—literally, ‘how we do church’. We dare not choose a ministry methodology merely because it looks expedient or pragmatic. Christ has set forth a very clear pattern for His body—that pattern set by our Lord is a fully ministering laity (Eph 4:14-16).
Under the new covenant every true believer has an equal portion of God’s Spirit; each believer has the knowledge of God; we each have the anointing of the Holy Spirit to teach us (1 Jn 2:20). We have full and free access to God (Eph 2:18; 3:12). And, we have this believer priest status in order to practice true community and biblical discipleship so that each member may be brought to spiritual maturity (Col 1:28-29).
The way we do church ought to visibly model that we understand we are believer-priests. The radical Old Testament hierarchy of levels of access to God is gone (Gal 3:26-29). Only a couple centuries after Pentecost the gospel doctrine of the priesthood of the believer was under attack and eventually became concealed by the powerful bishops of the Roman church.
The believer-priest philosophy of ministry is rooted in the new covenant. Our ecclesiology must model the reality of the body being made up of believer priests, OR, the glory of Christ and His ownership of His church will be obscured by a ministry far too centralized in mortal figureheads. The more we understand this—that our identity in Christ is that of believer-priests; the more action steps we will take in decentralizing ministry in order to work towards a fully ministering laity (Eph 4:14-16).
The church as the body of Christ on earth is a supernatural community—‘supernatural’ because all true believers are in union with Christ and with one another by means of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). The world (in its love of darkness) is reading our relationships instead of reading the Bible. Our relationships are intended by Christ to go far beyond anything nature is capable of. Consider the ‘supernatural’ character of the following commands—each of these commands is beyond our natural strength: love one another as I have loved you; consider the interests of others are more important than your own; bear one another’s burdens; be filled with compassion and gentleness and be continually forgiving one another; defer to one another; build with Christ in building up one another; relate in such a way that it shows that you are members one of another. Our relationships within the body of Christ are to incarnate the virtues and character of Christ in such a way that, as Jesus said in His High Priestly prayer in John 17:21, the world might believe that the Father sent Me.
Christ’s pattern for His church is a pattern of discipleship—that pattern is: disciples making disciples who are capable of making disciples. Unfortunately we have defined the Great Commission as primarily a foreign endeavor instead of also a domestic endeavor. The attitude often is, “We are a healthy church because we have missionaries in the following countries.” But wait, how did we become exempt from fulfilling the Great Commission in the local body here at home? No, we need to reexamine our priorities. The Great Commission teaches us that body life exists to bring each member of Christ’s body to maturity.
Paul summarizes the discipleship mandate in at least two places: “And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power which mightily works within me” (Col 1:28-29). “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful man who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 2:2). Timothy, discipleship has its ups and downs and setbacks. You’ll need to endure hardship as a good soldier if you are to succeed as a discipler of brethren—that’s the context here in second Timothy.
Paul’s focus in fulfilling the Great Commission reminds us that every bit of this discipleship mandate is utterly intentional. In other words, it’s a mandate to bring each believer to spiritual maturity (Col 1:28-29). Our relationships exist for the purpose of growing up into Christ. Genuine fellowship is spiritual; it doesn’t just exist for our social needs—it exists for the purpose of doing spiritual good to another that the body might grow up into Christ its Head. “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Eph 4:15-16).
It is here, at this juncture where we need a mind shift. For it is common to think of the activity of the body as a series of programs devised by the leaders (approved programs that we participate in). Christ’s pattern for His church differs substantially from this perception. Here is the reason why: all forms of ministry are to be some form of expression of the Great Commission. That means that all forms of ministry exist to nurture discipleship; to nurture disciples; to nurture disciple-making (Colin Marshall).
Equipping through shepherding involves a sacrificial commitment from the shepherd to ‘steward’ the giftedness of his disciple. That means equipping your disciple and exposing him to ministry opportunities and working to unleash him to ministry. Without this commitment to be stewards of the giftedness of those we disciple, our attempts to speak into their lives will be hollow.
A huge mind shift is required if we are to fully embrace Christ’s pattern for His church, for the nature of the church is that of a supernatural community—and as a supernatural community, the way we do community is by discipleship! That way of thinking would certainly change a great deal wouldn’t it—to get into our heads and hearts that our relationships in the body exist for the purpose of discipleship—to bring one another to maturity, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13).
This throws an intense light on the matter—the church is first and foremost an organism not an organization: the church is a supernatural community and that community functions supernaturally by means of discipleship. How can we begin thinking this way?
A radical change in our thinking will take place when we are staggered by the ‘glory story’— that God Himself is on mission and has called us to be on mission with Him. Prior to entering a discipleship relationship many believers may have felt no obligation to share their faith—but when a person enters biblical discipleship it is normal for them to believe they are sent on mission. If we are serious about implementing discipleship we will need to ask these questions: is this a bigger dream for the church than we have entertained ourselves? Does this picture seem too idealistic? Is the discipleship lifestyle just described considered normative in the New Testament? How do we begin to live this way? How can we form caring relationships in which discipleship will thrive?
One of the major impediments to discipleship is apathy and self-protection. We fear being known; having our sins discovered; our reputation being damaged; or our spiritual immaturity uncovered—and/or, we have some apprehension that a discipleship relationship will turn the screws of high accountability and wind up being a ‘black hole’ drawing us into an unending commitment—eating up too much of our discretionary time. I want to lay those misconceptions to rest. The majority of discipleship takes place in a context of the informal. Jesus spent time with His disciples not only during ministry; but in traveling, meal time, recreation, and rest. They ‘hung out’ together they talked as they walked and ate together. There was as much ‘caught as taught’ in these casual moments of fellowship. As we will see in a moment; only gospel saturation has the power to set the conditions necessary for mutuality; interdependence; and vulnerability.
Our truncated ideas about discipleship too often narrow our concept to the curriculum used in discipleship, as if studying a book together is enough to accomplish discipleship. I want to blast us out of the classroom model of ministry (the lecture-student approach) and shift our thinking to the caring relationships themselves—in which there is mutual edification and mutual access to one another’s lives. It is incumbent upon us to grasp that discipleship is a two-way street. As the discipler shares his struggles and communicates God’s faithfulness amidst his trials, the disciple is encouraged to grant greater access to his life. This is reciprocity and not a matter of those ‘who have arrived’ instructing those ‘who have not arrived’. Life on life soul care is impossible without interdependence and mutual vulnerability.
Biblical discipleship can be as simple as determining to prayerfully speak God’s Word in our relationships. Much discipleship will be informal and spontaneous. We can be proactive—determining that we will not allow our conversations to remain in the realm of the mundane. As soon as you approach conversation with edification in mind; you are in a position to provide discipleship input. To be on task in discipleship is to purposefully steer the conversation in the direction of redemptive language. Let me define that for you. Redemptive conversation involves initiating comments and questions which draw out Scripture truths and principles and apply them to life. Every believer can be in some form of disciple making simply by asking, “Who am I helping grow in Christ?”
Redemptive questions and comments can be as simple as: How’s your walk with the Lord? Where are you getting beat up this week? Is there a ministry opportunity you are thinking about taking? How can I pray for you? I’ve got to share with you what God has been teaching me. Here is what I have been going through at work as far as my testimony. I sure could use your prayers; I am going through a time of trial. Have you ever considered how your attitude about Christ’s second coming is a supreme litmus test of where you are at spiritually? Hey, want to go witnessing? Let’s invite those unsaved guys over for a bar-be-que. Etc.
The Apostle Paul’s focus is unmistakable: discipleship is the “X Factor” in spiritual maturity. Discipleship is an important avenue in finding our place and part in the body of Christ. A faithful discipler will help equip and ‘unleash’ his disciple to ministry. The discipler will actively look for situations where his disciple can be exposed to various ministries and be given opportunities to gain ministry experience. True piety is joined to body life—for we are members one of another in Christ.
Therefore it is of key importance that we remember that our spiritual growth and sanctification is a group effort. In other words, our growth cannot be sustained by sequestering ourselves like St. Francis of Assisi under a tree in the woods. We need the mutual edification of the members of the body of Christ in order to grow. We mature spiritually as we find our place in the body of Christ and then serve there enthusiastically. Discipleship is the central instrument in moving this process forward.
What actually gives a believer ‘permission’ to jump into the discipleship continuum (2 Tim 2:2) without reservation? How is it that believers become empowered enough for discipleship ministry to happen? There is no net change in practical holiness UNTIL a Christian has a captivating vision of Christ; a thrilling and stirring kingdom consciousness; and an awestruck awareness of the holiness of God. The paradigm shift comes when we begin to realize that this must come from sources in addition to the pulpit; we need to hear this from one another; and remind one another of this all-consuming spiritual reality that all of this life exists as preparation for life to come. There is no substitute for the spiritual fellowship commanded by Paul (Rom 15:14; Col 3; Eph 5; etc.).
In our culture of marketing; consumerism; personal autonomy and anonymity, the church ought to shine into that darkness as a place of supernatural true community—this ought to be one of its strongest ‘selling points’. But instead we commonly see these three: spectatorship; marketing/consumerism; and autonomy/anonymity as characterizing much of church culture. Our drift from the Great Commission is evidenced by how we do church. Church becomes an event, an institution, a bureaucracy, a performance viewed by spectators, and a collection of programs. Recapturing the Great Commission is inseparable from practicing a biblical ecclesiology.
Discipleship is ‘spiritual parenting’ for the purpose of helping fellow believers develop ‘first hand’ convictions. We live in an age of ‘screen culture’—immediacy characterizes the way we locate and assimilate information. But, the process of growing in our knowledge of God cannot be successfully conformed to a five minute Google search and download. In our consumer-information age, efficiency is associated with ‘short cuts’ and consolidation of time and resources. Living for Christ cannot successfully be adapted to these two values. Nonetheless, the temptation in a sound-bite, instant society is to live vicariously through our celebrity pastor leaders.
Consequently, church culture pulls in the direction of an informed, but passive spectatorship. Associated with this problem is the fact that few professing believers actually meditate upon Scripture so that the truth of God is presented to the mind’s eye and then to the religious affections. Consequently we have churches full of people with second hand convictions—professing believers who have contented themselves with merely a God concept instead of a passionate growing intimate knowledge (epiginosko) of the Lord (2 Pet 3:18).
I saw a striking illustration in our neighborhood which reminded me of the dangerous complacency surrounding second-hand convictions. A windstorm had swept our community and numerous medium-sized trees were completely uprooted and laying on their sides. I immediately saw a sermon illustration in this; for what had been hidden from view, the root systems, were now above ground and laid bare to the eyes of all. The trees that had been toppled were not to be replanted; they were destined for the chain saw and the wood chipper. It was a sad sight—the well-shaped boughs of leaves still green and attractive; but, having fallen over, had lost their connection with the earth—death was imminent.
Now here is the lesson: the carefully landscaped trees which had blown over revealed shallow root systems. Their carpet of roots was only inches deep; they had been living off of their daily ration of sprinkler water. They had no apparent need or motivation to send their tap roots deep to find their own liquid nourishment. Therefore, when the windstorm hit, there was no adequate support to help them weather the gale. They blew over far too easily; never to grow again.
For me this was a vivid picture of second hand convictions. Like trees planted in a landscaped park-like environment depending on timed sprinkler water, many church goers sit complacently under the pulpit week after week; but never learn to meditate on the Word so as to develop first hand convictions. They have never learned to send their own roots deep—to seriously feed themselves and gather their own ‘manna’ (and water) from the Word (Ps 1:1-3; Jer 17:7-8). Therefore, they will be remarkably vulnerable when the storms of life come.
As disciple-makers we will be ministering to this very kind of individual ensconced in church culture. True discipleship is not simply going through a particular curriculum; it is speaking your first hand convictions into the lives of others. Your disciple needs to see and hear your first-hand convictions ‘first hand’ from you—in an up close relational space with you. This is an indispensable part of training in biblical discipleship (spiritual passion is caught more than taught).
The loss of the centrality of the gospel is always through the blight of second hand convictions. It has been said that the first generation preaches the gospel; the second generation assumes the gospel (second hand convictions); and the third generation denies the gospel. Colin Marshall notes that first hand convictions start when theology becomes connected with deep reading of the Bible. By meditating on Scripture and connecting deep reading of the Bible with doctrine, our passion for Christ will naturally be increased. And, it is not possible to hold these passionate first hand convictions in the abstract—they will translate into Christian character in our relationships and the fruit of the Spirit.
Out of convictions flows character and fruit-bearing. These three: conviction, character, and competency will be the focus of the leaders engaged in training disciples and disciple-makers. Leaders will always be working on these three in the lives of those they are training.
‘Gospel saturation’ is the condition necessary for new covenant ministry. By gospel saturation we mean that the believer is to be so controlled by gospel realities that his entire set of goals and incentives is transformed. We live in a culture of anonymity—people want love and attention without vulnerability and commitment. Without ‘gospel saturation’ church members will tend to be content to allow socializing to eclipse true community. I reiterate that according to Scripture the way we are to do true community is by discipleship. The gospel gives us all the reasons for true community—for kingdom living—for self-forgetfulness in the care and discipleship of others. The gospel gives us the mandate, the equipping, and the ‘want to’ for true community.
The gospel is relational from beginning to end—living a gospel-centered life is about translating God’s vertical love to us into horizontal love to the brethren (the theme of 1 John 4). That is intensely counter-cultural; for in our society of ‘me first’ consumerism; of brands and logos; and of anonymity—we find no concrete reasons to lay our lives down for one another. The gospel alone gives us the reason and the desire to love sacrificially.
Gospel saturation makes believers willing to prefer one another without feeling personally diminished. Gospel saturation enables us to defer to the giftedness of another in the body without the fear that we will lose our rung on the ladder. This willingness to defer to the giftedness of another is the heartbeat of body life. This mindset is vital to new covenant ministry. We can talk about spiritual gifts all day—but the mind-shift only comes when I can say it and mean it (including the leadership saying this), “I need your giftedness; I am willing to come under the influence of your giftedness. I can’t do what God has enabled you to do. And isn’t it a blessing that you can’t do what God has enabled me to do? Our gifts work together to make the body function as a harmonious whole to edify itself.”
Only in the gospel in which Christ is proclaimed will we be made whole so that we can risk mutual admonishment, interdependence, accountability, and sacrificial love and commitment. The gospel demands and enables us to incarnate Christ in our relationships so that the reality of being members one of another is lived out. Without gospel saturation we will ‘do church’ in a default mode characterized by mega-church values of: celebrities; hype and fanfare; spiritual consumerism; hyper-structuralism; spectatorship; and success judged by numbers.
The gospel gives us the ‘shape’ of the Christian life. Without a clear grasp of the gospel ‘mould’ or shape, believers tend to slip into a fall-back position, or default mode of performance Christianity. Here are the major gospel elements that give the proper ‘grace-life’ shape of our Christian walk: we who are redeemed are now the Lord’s possession—and we are to diligently care for this relationship given at salvation. As the Lord’s possession, we are to joyfully give ourselves (offer ourselves) back to God each day. Because of union with Him; we are to regard Christ as our life—as our ‘Source Person’—out of this reality of Christ the ‘vine’ flows the reality of abiding in Him —the Christian walk is ‘shared life’ with Christ—living upon Another. We are to define ourselves by the cross and the resurrection—these redemptive events tell us who we were; who we are now; what we are becoming; and what we will be— this is to form our identity and control our walk—we ‘live between’ the cross and the resurrection. We are saved to serve—we are to be faithful stewards of our spiritual giftedness. Therefore it behooves us to find our place of service in the body of Christ so that we may build together with the Lord in building the Body of Christ.
In the realm of ecclesiology, the failure of institutionalism in the church is tied to its streamlining, or reductionist concept of church life—that is, the attempt to codify the Holy Spirit’s work through layers of programs. The institutional problem is generally always the same: it is a phenomenon which takes place when we presume that the trellis is real “vine work” when it is not. The answer comes back to the Great Commission. No substantial change takes place until we reach a point at which the Great Commission mandate is throbbing in our veins.
It is so important to understand that our biblical efforts to recover the spiritual life and vitality of the primitive church will not automatically occur by merely abandoning our structures (our hyper-structuralism) for a new model. What is needed is disciples speaking their first hand gospel convictions into the lives of other disciples and then watching God work in power. The gospel is the CAUSE of the church’s origin and the gospel is the CONTENT of the church’s growth into the likeness of her Head (Eph 4:13-16). In our bureaucratic arrogance, we assume that human structures can set the needed conditions for vine work. Such is not the case. In this church age, God is concentrating His power in the gospel’s transforming ability (Acts 20:32).
Discipleship is deliberate--when we begin to be deliberate, our relationships will no longer be viewed as existing merely for social reasons; but for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission. The more radically identified with Christ we are; the more radically identified we will be with His mission. This means that the reception of Christ’s love in our life demands expression—we cannot be content unless we pass it on in love and self-less service. Our passion and heart’s desire will be to see our brethren brought to maturity and presented perfect and complete in Christ (Col 1:28-29). We will make the effort and the sacrifices necessary to see that happen. The answer is the exchanged life in action— Christ’s love and power exchanged for my selfishness and weakness (Gal 2:20). What would you attempt that you wouldn’t ordinarily do IF you were convinced Christ was calling you to do it and was waiting to empower you? Why is pursuing one another so vital to intentional discipleship?
Implementation of Biblical Discipleship in our Relationships (adapted from Colin Marshall’s Book and Workshop, The Trellis and the Vine)
Spiritual fellowship and church life is just the gospel bearing fruit—working itself out as God reconciles all things to Himself. Seeing all of life through the gospel grid will help ‘shrink the swelling of program-it is’. It requires doing less things IN the church in order to do MORE outreach to the lost. The ‘mega-church values’ of getting everyone into a core group is NOT the same thing as being missional—being on mission comes about through very deliberate discipleship training and equipping.
Serious assessment is an essential step that moves us into the Great Commission. Begin by answering the following questions so that the gospel is part of each one of your answers: what is the Christian life? What is church? What is the ministry of the church? What is the mission of the church? What would you do with who you have if you did not rely on inherited programs? What new things would need to happen? What would change the pew from a parking place to a place of peer leaders? How do you plan to reach the goal of Christian ministry—to present everyone complete in Christ? What does it mean, “We must be a disciple before we can make a disciple?”
To be gospel-centered the gospel itself must be front and center so that Christ’s vicarious life and death control our spiritual fellowship—that we might be willing to lay down our lives for one another and to die for Jesus and the gospel. By being truly gospel-centered, the mission of the church becomes increasingly clear. The all-pervasive mission is: make disciples of Christ BY the gospel—for that is the logical application OF the gospel.
By doing a deep work in the lives of a few and then allowing God to multiply the work is the pattern Christ left for us. The caution is: don’t adopt this way of thinking UNLESS you are willing to go deep. Trying to get everyone to come to everything (every program)—and trying to get everyone on board is not the same thing as biblical discipleship—neither is filling a room with potential disciples as you distribute printed curriculum. When you go deep you are practicing life on life soul care to systematically move your disciple forward in the areas of conviction; character; and competency.
That is vine work: to share the gospel in a close relational space as a servant of the gospel. The goal of all Christian ministry is to present everyone as fully complete in Christ. Thus, vine work involves moving people to maturity—the Great Commission is disciples making disciples. But, like layers of old paint, generations of clergy-laity religious tradition and hyper-structuralism (trellis), have obscured the clarity and simplicity of our Lord’s discipleship mandate. Church has become event-based and program-based; AND if there is some spillover so that actual discipleship does takes place; it is too coincidental and not nearly intentional enough.
Our problem is we too easily read 2000 years of church history into our ecclesiology—forgetting that in Paul’s epistles God is commanding the saints to engage in gospel-filled conversations (Col 3:16). That is an indispensable part of presenting everyone complete in Christ. Vine work involves moving people to maturity—and this is carried out by means of our obedience to the Great Commission—which is, disciples making disciples.
We don’t move on beyond the gospel—there is no graduation from the evangel itself. Believers need to be gripped by the sheer scope of the gospel. The good news is about the whole universe—the entire cosmos coming under the lordship of Christ (Col 1:3-29). The divine rescue mission of the nations involves the ‘construction’ of a new humanity in which believing sinners are rebuilt around, and restored in Christ so as to be co-heirs and co-rulers with Him.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ SO THAT we might be full (complete) in Him (Col 2:9-10). He provides everything we need for life and godliness and for heavenly life in the age to come. This is an immense drama involving the reconciliation of the entire cosmos. It is God’s grand eternal plan to give His Son a people and to give His Son absolute authority in the cosmos (Eph 1:9-10).
The gospel comes at us in a baffling way at first; for it upsets our natural religious instincts. It does so by telling us that not only human sin; but also our morality and religious effort is judged by God. This is remarkable; all that mankind is at its best (in religious and moral effort) deserves the judgment and condemnation of God. This causes consternation because by the cross of Christ God is saying that you cannot work out the question of knowing God yourself. Thus the gospel is proclaiming to us that the only way to meet God and know God is to find oneself in the event of the cross (i.e. as I look upon Christ crucified, I see Him receiving what I justly deserve from my Creator—there is no other door to knowing God). The good news is that God has accepted in Christ the full penalty that believing sinners deserve. The gospel begins with the redemption of God’s people and reaches out to be a very big story and a dramatic all-encompassing plan.
All Christian ministry exists to get people to live under the lordship of Christ. By means of the gospel we invite, encourage, edify, admonish, and implore—to come under, and abide under, the lordship of Christ. The gospel is the hub of all that God is doing in the world—for all human history is summed up in the lordship of Christ—this is God’s agenda. The gospel transfers individuals from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of the Son and thereby recreating the world as it goes around the world (Col 1:13).
Pastors must be continually encouraging and empowering those who are serving. Ask, which people in the congregation are sharing the gospel and discipling others? There is normally too much reliance on staff and elders to do it. Programs certainly aren’t doing it. The Colossians learned the gospel from Epaphras (Col 1:23-28). Biblically, church on Sunday is about coming together to teach one another (not just listen to professionals and pastors) (Col 3:15-17).
Vine work starts slow. It has many contexts within the other six days of the week outside of the Sunday church service. Traditionally, reliance upon events and programs tends to be a substitute for vine work. The mind shift toward vine work means that each member will come to church with a readiness to prayerfully speak the Word into the lives of others. The paradigm shift will mean understanding that we are all ministers in the pew. The mind shift will show itself in a clear vision from the pastors so that the members know how to be trained as teachers and disciple makers (this involves going deep). Multiplying disciples leads to multiplying churches.
The vine grows as staff pastors and volunteers function as trainers. But they are training the faithful members to do the discipling and pasturing and NOT just the staff. The two major impediments to faithful discipleship are family and money. In this regard, things haven’t changed that much in 2000 years. Overscheduled lives and busyness are not just about practicality and time; the issue goes right to the heart. Do we love what God loves? Are we building with Him? Are we convinced that in His giving of the Son, God has made the ultimate commitment to construct a temple of living stones (Eph 2:19-22)? The gospels clearly lay out before us the cost of discipleship. If we are going to be involved in the vine work God commands, we will be facing the fundamental challenge from church people who welcome layers of bureaucracy so that they themselves may remain in the role of a spectator.
One of the costs involved in vine work is cutting away layers of trellis that do not actively support vine work. So often the trellis is so overwhelming (hyper-structural, program-itis) that churches see little or no fruitfulness of vine work. Mere professionalism exists IF the focus of ministry is not helping us make disciples capable of making disciples. If locked into forms that are not NT functions, it means that there will be complacency about doing what we have been doing for years.
The controlling aim should be to move people to ministry and maturity. If we are not seeing people maturing and becoming capable of making disciples; then it is likely we have trellis and not vine growth. If there is going to be positive change; you will have to cancel things and admit where ministry has been an exercise in professionalism. The key question is: is your trellis work crowding out the making of disciples? What priority are you giving to disciple-making?
The casting of the vision for discipleship involves specifics: people need to know precisely where, and in what way, they are going to be moved toward maturity and disciple-making ministry. It takes patient enduring repetitive casting of the Great Commission vision in order members to actually reach a point of expectancy that God will use them to make disciples. First we point them to the Lord through discipling them in the gospel. Then we lead them to be disciples of Christ. All kinds of changes will take place among the church members IF they begin to think of themselves as disciple-makers.
Traditional church culture has a way of dragging the effective ministers into organizing ministry and doing less and less real vine work and more trellis work. The net result is less time with others in the Word and in prayer. Those effective in ministry ought to guard their role of spiritually parenting other believers. Every Christian person needs another believer spiritually parenting them like a father or a mother—that role was exemplified by Paul in his ministry to the Thessalonian believers (1 Thess 2:1-12 ).
In spiritual parenting there is time taken to meet one on one. Does everyone in the church have someone like that (a spiritual parent)? Discipleship comes before discipline. In other words, inactive members (not on the church roll) should be offered discipleship so that through spiritual parenting, their discipler may work with their ‘spiritual blockages’ so that they may return to a faithful Christian walk.
The ‘trellis question’ helps reveal whether or not your ministry thrust is characterized by intentionality: are you organizing ministry, or are you doing ministry (teaching for the purpose of making shepherds; evangelizing for conversion; and training for disciple-making disciples)? We ought to have vast encouragement concerning the power of the gospel. Only the gospel could turn the Thessalonians from idol worship to follow Christ amidst incredible persecution and opposition. Here is the point: Paul had modeled a thriving Christianity WHILE under persecution. When we share the gospel, we worry, “Will people be willing to leave family, wealth, career, approval—for the gospel?” We must come to terms with the fact that we are preaching a gospel that will lead to difficulty, conflict, and loss of comfort. Evangelicalism (with its sweetness and light diet for consumers) has lost its realism in this matter.
In 1 Thessalonians 1:8 it was the Word of the Lord ‘ringing out’. Think of it, the Thessalonian believers lived in an idolatrous society with no technology but donkey carts, yet they effectively evangelized the region—that’s the power of the gospel. It is normal for the newest of Christians to tell others about their new faith. So don’t labor to get new Christians involved in organizing the trellis— instead let them follow their passion to share their faith. Through them the message will also ‘ring out’. The gospel ministry is about ‘collecting people’ through our message and our supernatural community— for the gospel applied greatly increases our capacity to love. It enlarges the heart and makes prayerful warriors (1 Thess 3:11-13).
Discipleship in the gospel is the means of genuine multiplication (the gospel byproduct). Most believers have never come to terms with the reality that God wants to multiply Himself through them. By thinking big, starting small, and digging deep, you will ultimately reach the most people. If we follow Christ and get the training right, there will be more outreach through the ‘depth approach’ than the shallow approach with larger numbers.
It is so easy for the small group model to be of little service to the Great Commission. Some watershed questions in this matter are as follows: how much time are you willing to put into training the group leaders to be disciple makers? Who will turn out for intense training in genuine sacrificial commitment? Will you cultivate a desire for intense training up front by constantly and powerfully casting the vision for ministry?
The key is training. Keep mentoring people in the gospel. The paradox is that the gospel keeps guarding the gospel and keeping it central. The training must be in the gospel; and NOT primarily in structure, program, or organization. You don’t want to set up a condition in which people can’t start things because it doesn’t flow through trellis thinking and because it doesn’t begin with what the elders are thinking. Otherwise the church is too clearly divided between two groups: the mouths and the ears; those who speak and those who merely listen to those speaking. In a two part church (mouth and ears) consumerism is unwittingly cultivated.
But, what keeps churches in the ‘mouths and ears’ mode? Commonly it is due to the fact that pastoral staff and elders tend to fear what may happen if they set an environment for people to start things apart from their leadership. The fear is that it will create a potential for divided loyalties and for disunity. The instinctive response to this fear has traditionally been pastoral over-control. BUT, the biblical answer to this fear has not changed in 2000 years; the answer is that the strong relationships produced within ‘supernatural community’ are produced through gospel saturation. The gospel is the CAUSE of the church’s inception; and gospel is the LIFE of the church for her ongoing nourishment and development; the gospel is the SOURCE of her unity.
If you are truly ready for disciple-making; then you must be ready for the ‘messy’. In order for things to move in the direction of the Great Commission, we will have to understand that the sometimes random movement of the growing ‘tendrils’ inherent in vine work will be a reality—a messy reality. When you actually begin equipping, helping, and training so as to build around people (instead of programs), it is normally chaotic and messy. This clearly involves a mind shift, for the traditional way of thinking is: we bring someone into our system—so that they will do what I want them to do for our church. No! The Great Commission pattern is to build around people—that means setting conditions for ministry to be built around the person—how he is gifted, how he has been used, his interests, and his vision.
This is a far cry from the old staid approach of enlisting a person to serve on a program and/or a committee so that you can get him to do what you want him to do in the church. In order to build ministry around people you will have to start with people. The best attitude is: who can we prepare for which ministries? Everyone in your church should be plugged in. This takes prayer and time. You might have to drop all but your Sunday service in order to do this. To get everyone involved you’ll have to think about who is qualified to teach now.
When you start with people instead of programs, new things will spring up. For example, perhaps a ministry begins to reach home school parents—it may begin unstructured with some chaos. The joy is that ministry is springing up without being pushed through a programmatic grid. That is a good thing (albeit sometimes ‘messy’). At this juncture what you don’t want is a response from elders saying, “No, we can’t have that because we didn’t start it.”
Disciple-making depends upon building ministry around people—not just around our ministry structures and ideas. In order to grow your own disciple-makers and shepherds, members of the flock need to be equipped at discipling right where they are at in their vocation. Encourage him to stay in the work place.
We have this loopy idea that the only real effective ministry is vocational ministry. Not so, we need to equip folks to be effective disciple-makers while staying with their day job. Now reflect a moment on the task of building ministry around people—first of all, it defies our treasured notions of organization and control. But that is precisely the point—the more difficulty you envision in doing this (building ministry around people); the more you need to do it!
Small groups: are they a boon or bane in terms of the Great Commission? We have tended to pawn off our privilege and responsibility to fulfill the discipleship mandate by assuming that it will take place ‘by osmosis’ if people are in a small group. Most small groups do not rise above social needs. In fact when small groups are committed to little more than long term care and share, you are not going to see the multiplication of disciples.
In order for discipleship to take place there must be mutual admonishment—edification—life on life soul care—as well as academic discussion time. The contribution of small groups to discipleship is only truly valuable to the Great Commission IF there is careful equipping in group and service training. This means deliberately moving people toward maturity in Christ so that they are enable to engage in spiritual parenting, shepherding and teaching.
In order for a small group to contribute to the Great Commission, the vision and practice must rise above the common ‘share and care’ justification of its existence. The acid test is: are the members of your small group really ‘on mission’ together? Are they engaged in focused equipping and training (to make disciples capable of making a disciple)? One powerful way to break a small group out of the ingrown status quo ‘of care and share’ is to use your small group for evangelism. When there is both saved and unsaved in the group the urgency for grounding folks in the faith will be more apparent. It is challenging but of incalculable worth to transform your small group into a neighborhood mission team.
If you want to embrace the small group model; then you will need to set aside pastors and elders to be trainers of small group leaders. But, that isn’t the way we normally do church unless we have an extremely strong commitment for training and discipleship. When the Great Commission has strong sway, you will have the vision that pastors are employed to train people and unleash them to ministry. It requires strong biblical vision to train people to be shepherds and new leaders BEFORE you think that you need them. At first this appears counter-intuitive. But, the advantage of training new shepherds before you think you need them is as follows: new leaders create new groups; new groups equip additional members. That is how real growth and multiplication take place (as opposed to merely swelling numbers through transfer membership).
The Great Commission calls pastors and elders to be trainers of disciple-makers (who also are learning to make disciples). When the elders serve merely as governors of the status quo structures; you won’t have the spiritual growth which leads to multiplication. Too often elders function as keepers of the trellis—‘peering over the wall’ to do a head count. By contrast, when pastors are committed to train small group leaders, it is a valuable way to ‘decentralize’ pastoral ministry.
The motivation to be disciple-makers comes from a continual casting of the vision. First of all, people are inspired to be disciple-makers when they hear the grand plan of God—we preach for this ‘verdict’ from the Word of God. Next they must see the sacrifice of their leaders in making disciples and training. And third, they will learn to gain the courage to make disciples as they minister together with the leaders.
Let’s consider the basic changes that will be put into place so that a small group can begin to serve the Great Commission. The faithful teaching and preaching of the Word is invaluable; but in terms of effectively training leaders, a hands-on approach is even more desirable. The traditional approach is what we might call the “classroom” model of training. Here is how to grow past the narrow lecture-didactic model: 1.) dissolve the lectern approach by changing to more informal interactive team training.
- Introduce more hands-on training followed by evaluation of trainees. 3.) Introduce the discussion of the pastoral counseling needs of the people in the small group (by permission and in accordance with confidentiality principles).
The informal team training approach is designed to model the ‘knitting in’ of each person in the group as a spiritual parent and/or a person being spiritually parented. Through intentional training, a missional community forms—a group that is ‘on mission’ as a disciple-making small group culture (as opposed to merely care and share). You can’t really be ‘on mission’ without this focused training. You must begin to see training not as an expense but as an investment.
Pastors and elders are to cultivate and keep regular relations for the purpose of training. That is the precise constant that runs through everything. Keep training people in the gospel. That is the genius of the Great Commission—training and equipping is taking place with everyone at the same time. The Great Commission vision is then shaping our ecclesiology. We are oriented first of all UPWARD (vertical) by gospel saturation (focused upon Christ). Second our focus becomes INWARD (horizontal) in the positive sense because we see that our relationships exist for the purpose of bringing each member to maturity. Out of these discipleship relationships come teams of believers ‘on mission’ for the purpose of OUTWARD (global) reach with the gospel.
The gospel produces the needed community life in which members are spiritually parented and ‘on mission’. Therefore instruction and training in the gospel must be a constant stream instead of just a quarterly or biannual hit. Every small group and outreach leader needs to be trained in the gospel. And the vision must be cast widely enough to show how evangelism can be a lifestyle in any station of life. Small group leaders who are trained in evangelism can then facilitate neighborhood evangelistic dinners so that small group members are praying for and conversing with those in their sphere who are in spiritual darkness. The beauty of this is that instead of top down; it is ‘trickle up’—those in the trenches are using their friendship bridges to conduct the gospel to the lost in their particular spheres of influence.
Here are the steps again. Elders and pastors train small group leaders in evangelism. Small group leaders train small group members in evangelism and facilitate evangelistic hospitality. Unsaved persons are identified within workplace and neighborhood social contexts (who would you like to see reached?). Through friendship bridges gospel conversations are conducted over parties, dinners, coffee.
What are the Essential Areas of Content for Equipping Disciples?
Deliberate discipleship has an aim: the maturity of the believer (Col 1:28-28). But, biblical discipleship is designed to occur in the relational space of believer to believer—as much is caught as taught. The “X-factor” is life on life ‘soul care’ taking place within the relational space dynamic— lovingly speaking God’s truth into one another’s lives. The seven essentials are:
- Discipleship in the gospel. By this we mean the full-orbed gospel message which Paul designates, “the word of His grace” (Acts 20:32). It can take a year and one half to learn to live upon Christ and His grace (Gal 2:20). The Pauline model of sanctification unfolded in the Pauline epistles is normally the pattern of: indicative drives imperative. (Gospel-driven curriculum: Wegter’s The Dynamics of Grace.)
- Bible study method. Hands on hermeneutics will involve the mentor showing the disciple how he arrives at the meaning of the text. Gaining capacity in the steps of interpretation is essential in order for the disciple to learn to feed himself from the Word. The disciple will be guided by the mentor in preparing his own lesson plans/sermons. With this track come also the basics in Scripture meditation (See The Dynamics of Grace). (Note the books on Bible interpretation by MacArthur; Mayhew; etc.)
- Biblical worldview studies. Two of the advantages of reading a book on biblical worldview are: Christian worldview gives us the big picture. In our age of fragmented knowledge, the unity of all things under the lordship of Christ is essential in order to have a unified Christian experience. Biblical worldview also gives us categories of thought by which to apply discernment to our culture. (Suggested titles: The World according to God; Total Truth; At the Heart of the Universe; and At the Crossroads.)
- The spiritual disciplines. Within the relational space of a discipleship relationship it is advantageous for the mentor to regularly explain to his disciple his own patterns of prayer, Scripture meditation, confession of sin, communion, marriage/family relations; evangelism, fellowship, worship, and Scripture study. We commonly call these spiritual disciplines, the means of grace. The disciple will benefit from learning why these spiritual disciples are inseparable from spiritual growth. (Suggested book titles include: The Spiritual Disciplines; Disciplines of the Godly Man; The Godly Man’s Picture; etc.)
- Survey of Bible doctrine. A concise book of doctrine (doctrinal survey) is valuable in fleshing out one’s biblical literacy. This includes biblical theology (along with O.T. and N.T. survey). The mentor studies the doctrines of theology with the disciple so that the disciple also understands the ethical ramifications of each truth (practical theology). (30 Days to Understanding the Christian Life; Essential Truths of the Christian Faith; A Concise Theology; Knowing God; and System of Bible Doctrine.)
- Pastoral ministry . In this discipleship track the disciples are given experience in joining the mentor when he counsels and engages in personal ministry. Some of the situations will include: visitation of sick and shut-ins; ministry to the homeless; prison ministry. Also the disciple may under certain circumstances accompany the mentor when he counsels others in some of the following areas: financial debt; backsliding; pornography addiction; cohabitation; sexual immorality; gossip; insubordination; laziness; substance abuse; etc. (See TMC counseling department and book store for titles.)
- Exposing the disciple to ministry opportunities. The faithful mentor actively seeks a variety of occasions for the disciple to exercise his gift. Discipleship is incomplete without an effort to unleash one’s disciple to ministry. It is common for disciples to limit their own ministry potential by thinking solely in the following terms: traditional ministries, full-time vocational ministry, and areas of service solely within the church (ushering, etc.). The mentor can help his disciple by giving him opportunities to minister in a variety of situations: campus clubs; jail ministry; evangelistic Bible studies; convalescent ministries; discipling new believers; and evangelistic outreach through sports, hospitality, etc.
Disciples who have grown to the point of discipling others are always deepening their grasp of Scripture truth. The above Seven Essentials are foundational. The mentor who is working with more mature disciples will want to go beyond these essentials. He will study additional areas of focus such as apologetics, biblical languages, historical theology, biblical counseling, church history, homiletics, etc.