RELIGION AND THEOLOGY - Essay Example

RELIGION AND THEOLOGY Being a leader has to do more with nurturing the rest of people to grow in the areasrelating to their spiritual growth. Michael, in his book, ‘leading, teaching and making disciples has described’ the various ways in which this can be achieved. He states that accomplishing this mission requires people to be trained and equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge. The motive is to prepare people to lead and make disciples of leadership. This paper will discuss the five essential activities that Michael describes in the book. This will also entail describing how these five essential activities are implemented relative to the questions asked. This will also entail description of the principles that a leader should live by in order to accomplish the mission. The paper will then outline the lessons learnt regarding the leadership for discipleship subject to the author of the paper. The author will also include the impact of these lessons in relation to the leadership practices. Michael (2010, 23) states that a good theory is what promotes and develops good ideas, which can be, later translated into excellent practices in leadership. In his encounter with the youths and missionaries, he developed the five essential activities that should be implemented in order to answer the five questions asked by the youths. In order to answer the questions asked, Michael developed five questions that would help bring into light the questions the rest asked. The first question was relating to the Christian education. The consideration put forth was answering what Christian education entailed. This includes describing the nature of the work he was involved in and the purposes for such a ministry. The question also covers the role he plays, and whether there is any Christianity1. The second question revolved around the content of education. This entailed origin of the guidelines of the curricular. The third question focused on the education process. This includes how formulation of the plans to aid in teaching will be done. The fourth question entails the context of education. This will answer questions regarding the best procedure for grouping students ready to learn and structure to be implemented for the program. The fifth question revolved around people who were involved in the education process. The roles of these people and their background information were the key concern. Michael, within a period of a year, had formulated the essential activities that answered the five questions2. Interview Questions The first activity was meant to answer the question of Christian education. The essential activity was to define what discipleship comprised of in relation to the scriptures. The third activity involved preparing a plan to aid in the teaching and learning process. This answered the third question. The fourth activity involved establishing a condusive environment to streamline the education. This answered the question regarding the context or what was to be included. The fifth activity involved developing a heart to serve people. This answered the question regarding the people3. These activities were implemented in a number of ways. A plan was developed to ensure all the five activities were implemented. The plan was phrased to the young reformers. The group targeted was the youths who were in their final years in high school. This encompassed age between 20 and 30. The reason for choosing this group was due to the thought that they were least reached. The sermons were taken not to function on them, and attending services was not their common doctrine. The introduction of literature evangelism was a major capture of the age group4. The mission skeleton or guideline adopted by Michael was laying consideration on the assignment itself and vision on how it will be implemented. The goals and objectives and strategy for going about it were considered. These were the core values that were to be observed in the course of implementing the plan. The young reformers ministry was considered the movement of youths or young adults ready to spread the gospel. Michael also explained on the curriculum and personnel. The curriculum included the actual messages that were transmitted to the student. These messages ranged from entertainment, enticement and biblical interpretation5. Observation The implementation of the cell ministries to provide insight on the various topics was considered a major achievement in the implementation of the third activity. This included providing the best environment to enable students to learn. The cell ministries were organized into weeks, where people did the study groups, bible studies. It was required that the cells were meant to mold the members to adopt future leadership under the Lords guidance. The corporate meetings were also implemented. A series of various activities were carried out6. A panel was formed to lead the people in training. Part of the training included laying emphasis on team work essentials. Young adults and panel of men and women was selected to counsel. The content question was answered through emphasizing on the biblical worldview as should be applied by the youth. The third activity was implemented through the process in which the young adults were brought to Christian faith maturity. What mattered was the message transmitted7. A balanced environment was also captured. Various modes of learning were adopted. Finally, the heart to serve the young generation was the key principle. Some of the lessons learnt, when it comes to leadership, include understanding that some were born to be leaders and serve the people and others to serve the leaders. The understanding is that serving either the people or the leaders is a form of training to become better leaders tomorrow. Making Disciples of Christ will entail acquiring leadership skills. Leaders are meant to mentor the disciples8. This means that the ways of the leaders must be grounded firmly on the word of God. The bible has characterized what a leader comprises. Leaders are supposed to obey the laws and commands of God. They are a form of God’s representation here on earth9. Service to mankind and God is the calling of all leaders. To ensure total integration into the leadership world, leaders are prone to learning and fully understanding the principles that form the basis of Christian life10. The knowledge of the above presents a whole new of leadership to me. My previous practices have been centered on the thought of getting service from the people I lead. It is now my understanding that as a leader, my position is below the people. I am called to serve them as we all serve God. My mission is to ensure the biblical principles are fully integrated into the hearts of men and women. Leadership for discipleship is a factor in helping people grow spiritually11. SUMMARY CONCLUSION True discipleship entails the development of leadership skills. Michael and George have described what it entails to be a true disciple. One of the consideration include understanding he principles of Christian life. Michael has described a leader as the servant of people. This paper has discussed the five questions that he answered in relation to the work he was doing. With guidance from the scriptures, he described the five essential activities and how they were implemented. The five revolved around the five questions he formulated to aid in answering questions from everybody else. The five questions revolved around Christian education, the content of learning, the context of learning, environment of learning and the heart of people to be leaders and to serve. The paper has discussed the various ways in which these activities have been implemented. The plan to implement them was phrased to the young reformers initiative. This was a movement that was meant to reach the young adults who were considered unreached in church. A series of events and activities were planned. These involved the introduction of learning or literature evangelism. People were taught on the principles of Christian living. They were also taught and trained to be leaders. This was done in various seminars organized throughout the year. The key factor emphasized was the message transmitted. The message cut across discipleship and leadership. The benchmark was the five activities that Michael formulated in relation to making disciples. They paper has outlined the various ways in which the five activities were included in the initiative, hence citing their implementation. The second section of the paper included explaining the lessons learnt regarding the leadership roles and practices. Many lessons have been learnt, among them, understanding leadership as a service to people and not the other way. Leaders are the representation of God in the world. Their ways should reflect the principles of Christian living. One of the major obligations of leaders is to help people grow spiritually. The lessons have transformed the previous practices of leadership. Leaders are now involved in discipleship and mentoring people in order to acquire biblical knowledge and Christian principles of living. The paper has also summarized the relationship existing between discipleship and leadership as fully explored by Michael. A leader is supposed to be a disciple. Bibliography Barna, George, Growing True Disciples, Colorado, WaterBrook Press, 2001. Mitchell, Michael, Leading, Teaching and Making Disciples, USA, Crossbooks, 2010. Read More