Discipleship

[mattrose]

If you were given the job of overseeing the discipleship of over 200 Christians... what would you do?

About a year ago I was given this job description at our church. The first thing I did was go to the Scriptures and take a fresh look at what 'discipleship' really is according to God's word. This ultimately led me to create a list of the 7 MARKS OF A DISCIPLE. I don't claim that the list is infallible, but I do think all of the key components of a disciple fit in there somewhere.

The 7 Marks
1. Disciples get baptized
2. Disciples worship together
3. Disciples pray
4. Disciples learn Jesus' teachings
5. Disciples grow (in the fruit of the Spirit)
6. Disciples serve (using their spiritual gifts)
7. Disciples multiply (they are missional)

The next step was deciding on specific ways to help make these 7 things happen in a local church context. I was not working from scratch since our church has been around a long time. But here's what I've come up with so far

1. Baptism
- We have connection cards that are filled out each Sunday by all attendees (in theory) on which a person may express interest in baptism
- I offer 2-4 baptism classes per year (I developed a simple 1.5 hour class that, I feel, covers the topic very well)
- If anyone takes the class and wants to be baptized, we schedule a baptism service that month

2. Worship
- My goal, here, is to create some mutual accountability. I created Microsoft Excel roster that lists all the known disciples in the congregation
- We track attendance. If someone misses 3 weeks, we call to see what's up.
- We encourage voluntary participation in official membership within the Wesleyan Church (gives us increased authority to shepherd them)

3. Prayer
- We already had a prayer chain, a weekly prayer meeting, an intercessory group that meets weekly, a published prayer request list, and prayer at all of our church gatherings
- I am trying to develop a prayer team specifically assigned to pray for the morning services for 15 minutes prior to the service

4. Learn
- We already had Sunday School, Jr. Church, & AWANA
- We've increased the # of adult SS classes, re-organized the curriculum for Jr. Church, and continued a thriving AWANA program
- I still would like to streamline the curriculum a bit more as there are various ministries 'doing their own thing' here that might create a lot of overlap and/or leave some gaps.
- We've encouraged people with teaching gifts and passion to lead short term Christian Education seminars on various topics or Christian books that have been influential in their lives.

5. Grow
- Perhaps shockingly, there was really nothing structured to gauge growth
- I determined that small group meetings had strong potential for helping individual believers grow together
- We had 3-4 existing small groups
- We have been able to increase that number to 6 so far
- My aim is to have enough small groups so that everyone in the congregation could participate with a ratio of 1 group per 10 attendees
- I determined that to really get a feel for how people are doing, I'd have to meet with each disciple 1 on 1 at least once a year for a sit down meeting in which we will specifically discuss how they are doing in their life with Christ

6. Serve
- We have a great group of lay volunteers doing the ministry of the church
- I developed a spiritual gifts assessment survey specifically designed for our local church context
- On the 'roster' mentioned above, I keep track of who is involved in what and who is not involved in service at all (That i know of)

7. Multiply
- I consider that if we do the first six well, this will happen almost naturally
- That being said, I aim to develop some specific training courses on evangelism and some specific outreaches
- I've encouraged each small group to do at least 1 outreach event per year
- Our church missions program also fits under this category
- I feel like this section has the most refinement to come b/c I felt it was most important to make sure we are producing actual disciples before we aim to bring tons more people into the fold, haha

I am posting this b/c I genuinely am interested in the input of this forum as to whether there are major blind spots here.

[darinhouston]

I mean this in all sincerity. I think that's too great a burden for one man - even Matt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Homer]

Matt,

You are doing a good work! I might have included an 8 & 9:

8. Disciples bear one another's burdens
9. Disciples encourage one another

I am blessed to have the best position at the Church we now attend: chairman of the benevolence committee! So #8 is important to me. When we came to this much bigger church I noticed that people in need had no expectation that their church would be eager to help them and that has changed.

[mattrose]

I mean this in all sincerity. I think that's too great a burden for one man - even Matt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good comment Darin

Of course, I do not take on that burden alone. I am in charge of overseeing discipleship, but there are lots of others involved. One of my strategic decisions has been to select an assistant from the congregation for each of the 7 areas. And, then, each ministry is supported by volunteer ministers within the congregation. We have an absentee follow-up team, Sunday school teachers, children's workers, AWANA directors, small group leaders, and other pastoral staff to bounce things off of. On top of that, of course, God is with us!

[steve]

Hi Matt,

I just want to say that I admire your diligence and conscientiousness in fulfilling the ministry you have been given. I have never really discipled people in an institutional church setting, so I am not able to critique your methods. It sounds as if they are likely to be fruitful in the setting you are in.

I have discipled young men in my home, and I have run schools intended for discipleship, with some success. Though I have preached to church congregations, I have not been in the position to do a lot of personal discipleship in that kind of venue. The churches I have spoken in seemed mostly to have been populated by a mixed multitude. There were true disciples among them, but also people whose conversion is in question. You have been in that church long enough so that the people probably have a good idea of what you think about their basic Christian obligations. When I speak in churches (usually as a guest speaker), I feel like I need to explain what being a Christian (a disciple) is, before I can assume that my hearers are even on the same page.

I knew a pastor who said that Chuck Smith had a special gift of discipling from the pulpit. This seems to have been true, as he did very little personal counseling or hands-on discipleship, yet there are 6,000 pastors, and even more folks like myself, who looked to him as their mentor. Looking back at his ministry, I would have to say the secret to his success was that the Holy Spirit was, in the early days, making real converts in large numbers, who were serious about following Jesus. Like the earliest disciples in Jerusalem, they didn't need to be goaded to obedience. They were already eager to follow Jesus, and just craved to be taught how to obey Him. I remember, in those days, the most frequent question I was asked by young converts was, "How can I know what the will of God is for my life?" I always thought it was a good sign when people wanted to know that.

It would be much easier, I think, to disciple a group of people who had been brought to faith, initially, under proper "kingdom of God" evangelism. The funny thing is that Chuck Smith did not seem to understand or teach the kingdom of God in the way that I believe it should be taught, but his love for Jesus and for people seemed to model the kingdom values sufficiently to inspire people to want to be true disciples, like him. In fact, I think the success of the discipling enterprise rests much more on the character and gifting of the mentor than on the content of the program.

I hope never to be a pastor, but if I were again to teach prominently in a pre-existing local congregation (that seems to be a development on the horizon here in Temecula), I would start out very basic. I would not assume that those who have been evangelized in this country have the same assumptions and motivations that I consider central to discipleship. I would have to teach what discipleship is and what the kingdom is—probably from scratch. This doesn't mean that I don't think anyone in the American church has it right. I simply can't count on people who have been in church for decades having heard any of these things.

Your church, though, I think, is different. They have had the benefit of your teaching for years, and I expect most of them are pretty well-educated in these matters. All that would remain, then, would be the formative process. I am no fan of church "programs," generally, but I think they can, with the right content and the right gifted communicator(s) involved, bear good fruit. You are more a true pastor than I will ever be, and I trust that you have your finger on the pulse of what is most likely to reach your people. You have obviously thought this through very thoroughly, and, unless you sense the Holy Spirit leading a different direction, I imagine this plan will accomplish much of what you desire for it.

[mattrose]

Matt,

You are doing a good work! I might have included an 8 & 9:

8. Disciples bear one another's burdens
9. Disciples encourage one another

I am blessed to have the best position at the Church we now attend: chairman of the benevolence committee! So #8 is important to me. When we came to this much bigger church I noticed that people in need had no expectation that their church would be eager to help them and that has changed.

Good thoughts Homer! My idea is that the small groups in the GROW category would be the first line of offense when it comes to your 8 & 9.... but that each small group leader would feel free to come to me if there was an issue too big for 1 group to handle.

Another reason why your 8 & 9 might seem a bit left out is b/c when the job descriptions were given out, 'Fellowship' was its own area (not directly tied to discipleship). Obviously there is a lot of overlap.

[mattrose]

Hi Matt,
The churches I have spoken in seemed mostly to have been populated by a mixed multitude. There were true disciples among them, but also people whose conversion is in question. You have been in that church long enough so that the people probably have a good idea of what you think about their basic Christian obligations. When I speak in churches (usually as a guest speaker), I feel like I need to explain what being a Christian (a disciple) is, before I can assume that my hearers are even on the same page.

Thanks for commenting (and for your comments) Steve

Our church is definitely a mixed multitude too. Indeed, one of the hardest decisions I make with this job description is who to include on the ROSTER that I have on my computer. I don't just automatically put all regular attendees on my discipleship roster. There are only a few ways to get on my roster (and, therefore, fall under my particular area of responsibility):

1. You get baptized (or volunteer the fact that you have been baptized and desire to be faithful to that baptism).
2. You become an official member of the church (Which includes a statement of commitment to Christ, of course).
3. You directly share that you have become a Christian and are intending to follow Christ

Even when someone makes it onto my 'roster'... I don't consider that they are necessarily on the same page with the Bible as to what discipleship really means. I've been posting, publishing, sharing A LOT about discipleship since I was given this job. I feel very repetitive, but I think it is necessary. I think there is still a lot of progress to be made.

Just to share some specific numbers. About 350+ people would call our church their home church. Weekly attendance is just over 200. I currently have 211 on the roster. I am only beginning the 1-on-1 interview project this week! So I have a lot of information to discover. My thinking is that after I meet with all 200+ people, I'll have a much better grasp of where we're at and be able to make some necessary adjustments.

[nancyer]

The 7 Marks
1. Disciples get baptized
2. Disciples worship together
3. Disciples pray
4. Disciples learn Jesus' teachings
5. Disciples grow (in the fruit of the Spirit)
6. Disciples serve (using their spiritual gifts)
7. Disciples multiply (they are missional)

Thank you Matt. Your list and definitions are a big help in my own study and struggles on what it is to be a disciple for Christ. #7 is the hardest for me in that I am not great at speaking out to others (unless they approach me). It's the area I want most to work on.

[Paidion]

Hi Matt,

Just wondering whether these words of Jesus have any relevance to your discipleship program:

"...whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:33)

[jriccitelli]

Amen Matt!
I would add 3 marks to your list also:
The disciples ate (communed, and walked) together.
The disciples knew one another.
The disciples loved one another.

I think the first one proceeds the second, and the second proceeds the third.
As I have said here before, how can you ‘love’ one another if you do not ‘know’ one another?

I did not come to this point of view because of any need or personal dissatisfaction with the institution of the church, I came to this conclusion because of theological reasoning. While teaching on: the Body of Christ – The Church – The Temple – The New Creation and the new man – the Authority of scripture –The Kingdom of God – The Holy Spirit – Love – Discipleship -and other doctrines, it became clear that the goal of Christianity was not to teach, or something learned, but the goal was to become something.
What we are, and are becoming, and will be is: ‘One with Christ and His body, that is the Church’. We are not to just teach and talk about becoming the body, we are actually meant to become the body. And unless my group knew one another, and me them, I was not one with them and they were not one with another, and we were not what I understood love to be 'in Christ'.