A Whole-Life Discipleship Process
As Jesus prepared to depart back to the Father, he gave his followers their final instructions – their mission to carry out until he would return. Over the centuries it became known as the Great Commission. All four gospels and Acts have a version of this command from various perspectives. Matthew’s may be the most well known:
Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV) 18: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
From now until Jesus returns we’re to make disciples. In Acts 1:8 we see we are to start right where we are and extend outward as the Spirit of God leads, even to the uttermost parts of the earth.
This command to make disciples begins as we encounter people who are far from God. We share the “Good News” about Jesus who came to restore us to intimacy and relationship with our God and Father. Then, once in relationship with the Father through faith in Jesus Christ, we continue to make disciples. We “prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:12-13).
By God’s grace, we desire to produce wise followers of Christ who are sound in their knowledge of God’s Word and his world, strong in godly character and compassion, and skillful in ministry and mission. We focus on these three realms: the Head – godly wisdom; Heart – godly character; Hands – followers who skillfully serve Christ and others.
How can we provide a rich fertile soil for whole-life spiritual development? In truth, this work belongs to the Holy Spirit. He trains, shapes, molds and grows his disciples (1 Thess 5:23-24). But he has chosen to do much of this work through the gifted servants listed in Eph 4:11, “apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors, and teachers.” As those charged with bringing the body of Christ to maturity we can provide an intentional pathway to optimize the development of the people in whose lives God is working.
A whole-life approach to growing disciples benefits from three interlocking components – course, community and mentoring. At Christ Fellowship it looks like this: As we read and study God’s word daily and interact with the text through the sermon based study guides (generally preaching through books of the Bible), we are growing in biblical knowledge. Then we come hear the Word in a weekly service gaining insights from the sermon. Then we discuss the Word in a small group to flesh out its meaning and application for our lives. Finally we provide mentoring and accountability. Through these communities we ask each other, “how are you growing?” and “who are you impacting?” Beginning this January we will supplement this approach with scope and sequence courses and seminars. Together, we will grow in wisdom and faith to live out our mission as disciples of Jesus Christ.