The Five Vs of Discipleship - Report Example

THE FIVE V’S OF DISCIPLESHIP Introduction Disciple making is an intentional process, which mainly entails, establishing believers in the faith, equipping leaders and evangelizing non-believers. It is also a community project and not just a personal pursuit. Discipleship at its core is a process of growing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Making disciples is a process that begins with believers taking the initiative in presenting the gospel to the world.1 In Matthew 28;19-20, Jesus clearly tells us to go then to all people everywhere and make them His disciples, He further states, “baptize them in the name of the Father The Son and The Holy Spirit. And teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Thus, in real essence Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. Vision Malphurs explains that visions are exciting and energizing, they energize people, the fuel that lights the fire under a congregation, and they enable leaders to stop putting out fires and start igniting fires.2 My vision for the ministry is well comprehended and broad as I aim to collaborate with church leaders to develop generations of disciples in the everyday life, purposefully, where they work, live and play. Thus, I am passionate and I have a great zeal to make individuals from all occupations fully dependent on Jesus Christ. This is because, Jesus is the river of life and anyone who is thirsty should go and have a taste of his water, and they will never thirst again. My major focus for this great ministry is men. This will mainly include men of the age bracket 18-55. This is because from the United States census bureau; The Barna group, out of the 109 million men living in the United States, only 43 million, this is equivalent to 40% profess to have faith in Christ. In addition to this, only 6 million, about 6% of these men have been involved in different discipleship classes in various churches. This, to me is a huge blow considering the fact that men have the greatest impact in the society. Moreover, 34% of all the children under the age of 18 will retire to bed without the knowledge of having a biological father. In addition to this, 40% of all the first marriages will end in divorce and this will have a huge impact in children every year affecting close to one million of them. Men have a great significance in the society. This is owing to the fact that, they influence marriages and this will affect families, therefore, churches will have no one to run and this in the end causes a major breakdown in the society. Men of this age group have found great value in the things of this world and thus they do not even have the face of being role models to the younger generations. This is because, many are found in hotspots such as bars or parties and a huge percentage rarely spend time even with their partners or children. This has even led to the pre mature deaths of many men across the United States and many of them are behind bars because of the mistakes they did. However, the good news is that bringing the gospel of Christ to such a lost lot will transform their lives and thus bring a positive impact to their lives and those of their loved ones. Callister puts it that, growing towards Christ is not about attaining perfection on earth.3 My greatest passion is thus to bring men to the church so that they become fully dependent on Jesus. I desire to see men taking up their crosses and following Jesus. Thus, discipline men to become followers of Jesus Christ will thus enable them to; also live a life that is meaningful and significant. This kind of significant life can only be got by abiding in Christ and this will enable them to enjoy the fullness of His grace. Jesus tells us that if we remain in Him and His words remain in us, then we shall ask for anything we wish and we shall have it, John 15; 7.Thus, through abiding in Christ men will bear much fruit for Christ and in the end enjoy an abundant life. Values Values mainly refer to the things that are most important to us and those that we find in deep contrition to our lives. Jesus, in Matthew 6: 21 tells us ‘’for your heart will always be where your riches are’’. Thus, the things that we hold so close to our hearts are the most meaningful things in our lives. The core values are the highest values that will guide every decision and action in the ministry. The first foundational value is the pursuit of love. Love is also the greatest command and without love then there is no chances of the ministry standing. When making disciples, it is paramount that we avoid the mass production mindset. For a healthy discipleship, genuine love must be acknowledged and not just building projects. This is because this is what Jesus did with the disciples, he never at any moment-stopped offering training to them; He cherished them and was always driven with the zeal to, continuously teach them the riches of the kingdom of God. Therefore, we must also love because it is He who first loved us and because God is love. Love requires vulnerability and thus we must really love those that we disciple. Recognizing our brokenness, opening our hearts and letting others in it is the essence of love. The greatest commission is being Christ like. This entails following the examples that were set by Jesus. Jesus showed compassion and to Him we were all equal in the eyes of God. Thus being a follower of Christ will require that we be fashioned like Christ. Just as Jesus invested all His time and energy in building the community of disciples, we have the mandate to do the same to lead souls to Christ. Being devoted is also a core value and this devotion is part of a Christian to have the zeal to learn the teaching of Jesus and dedicated to worship. Hence, a Christian should be in position to know what The Bible teaches and thus you will be able to know how you ought to live the new life in Christ. Thus, the willingness to follow Christ is deeply centered in our hearts and we have a choice to take our burdens to Jesus. In this ministry, my other values will revolve around God. This will be, knowing who God truly is; making God known in all the arenas, and this includes the whole society through evangelism. Another value is enabling all the men in the community to hear God’s voice; this is by encouraging them to pray without ceasing to listen to God and to obey His commands. This will also include encouraging intercessory prayers between the different individuals and with other church members. The integral aspects of our lives revolve around worshipping God in truth and in Spirit. Views The Bible being the authoritative word of God and with the Holy Spirit’s guidance and inspiration, this holds to be our reference point when it comes to the aspect of ministry and life. Basing on God’s word as the major compass and having God as the initiative for salvation. Church The community is the church and the church has the solid rock, which is Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone for the foundation. In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, we witness the relationship between Paul and the Thessalonians church. “Being so affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. Disciple making happens in the context of a local church and this is mainly the community. Since the church is no longer a personal pursuit but a community project, Jesus has given the church unique authority to baptize believers into obtaining faith, preach the gospel, and teach obedience and for membership purposes. Pastor The pastor is the leader, the teacher and the pleaders from behind the pulpit of the church and it attracts new believers into discipleship, the pastor should be in position to preach disciple making sermons and not just scholar making sermons. These craft sermons should be able to establish, equip and evangelize. Haggard, states that the ministry style for the church is impacted by the pastor’s personality. Thus, the pastor needs to understand, support and propel the system.4 The pastor should also; shape the disciple making worship services and read disciple-making books. The pastor also has the mandate to make small group Bible studies central to the disciple making strategy. The pastor should confront sin completely and practice church discipleship by enlightening the congregation on the essence and importance of being followers of Christ and following the examples that were set by Christ Himself. They should also raise the bar of the church members by telling them that joining church is a vital step in discipleship. They ought to teach multiple sessions on the true gospel, the central doctrines, and the importance of the church operating convictions such as baptism. Saints Traditional accounts of women saints written almost exclusively by men often stresses feminine virtues such as purity, humble service, obedience and patience.5 The saints are mainly the born again followers who have decided to take up the cross of Christ by denying themselves of the pleasures of this world. These are the believers who have opted to be the Disciples of Christ and who are winning the lost souls back to The Kingdom of God. In addition, these those have kept the word of God in their hearts and have purposed to, fully submit to God’s Holy laws by obeying the commands and teaching others to obey. Gospel Discipleship entails preaching the gospels of Jesus Christ as it was ordained by Jesus Himself. Thus, discipleship is gospel centered. Johnston (2008,p.300-301),explains that peace building ought to be thoroughly gospel centered. For the Christian peace, building is an outworking of discipleship.6 Evangelism The process takes place over a period and it mainly involves bringing new believers to spiritual maturation. Thus, the balance sheet of making disciples involves evangelism and teaching. Sider, (2002,p.74), suggests that a ministry of Christian community development without evangelism is like a body without a soul.7 Thus, effective and warfare prayer is what brings about effective evangelism and the key to this effectiveness is hearing and obeying God. Disciple/Discipleship A disciple is a follower of Christ and can be referred to as one who has decided rightfully and willingly to follow the teachings of Jesus by obeying them and doing as commanded. All disciples are actually disciple makers. Thus, the disciples of Jesus Christ have a mandate to help others create a new identity in Christ and be in position to renew their minds to think just as Jesus did and in addition to this, to empower a lifelong relationship full of trust, love and obedience. Discipleship on the other hand is the process of winning souls to Christ and bringing the lost back to the light of Jesus. The ministry is recommended to administer and coordinate intentional discipleship actions. The team of the ministry will represent different age levels who carry out the important roles of mainly equipping the disciples to grow deeply in their relationship with Jesus Christ. Discipleship thus mainly takes place in the minds and the hearts of the believers and will happen every day from the beginning of life through eternity. Leader/Leadership A leader is somebody who is followed by other people and who is to guide and direct the others to the right paths that have been set. Malphurs, explains that the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.8 It is the work of the Godly leader to persuade others to pray for the vision of the church until it becomes a reality. Leadership refers to organizing a group to achieve common goal of winning converts to Christ. Vehicles Church The culture of the church is a combination of the visions that run the church, the language and the values that uphold the church. To succeed in the discipleship process and to drive the process to a higher level requires great commitment from everyone involved. Thus, to the main emphasis to win the converts is by assuring them that God loves them and God called them to the ministry. One major way of driving the discipleship process is by conducting an organized prayer retreat with the people who will be in position to drive and develop the strategies that are put in place. Thus, the team, which includes the church and the organizational structure, can organize a praying time for The Lord’s guidance in the steps of the development. Another major step is designing the strategies. This is because in real sense, discipleship is a partnership that is between God and families, individuals and the congregation. Small group philosophy Having the small group is also another means of accomplishing the mission, as this is the primary way to be connected in the churches. This is because in the small groups the individuals will begin to live out the Biblical commands in a structured environment. Wilson explains that the importance attached to the small face-to-face groups within the congregation is what allows many church members to personalize their contribution.9 Small groups are a model of the Christian community which was represented by Jesus in Mark 3: 14, where he chose the apostles and sent them to preach the gospel. Calendar and events They are essential in ensuring that proper time is allocated for the work of Christ and that every disciple is in a position to attend the meetings in the most faithful manner. Budget personnel This is also essential especially when it comes to retreats and the congregation contribution is needed, the personnel in charge with the budgeting of various resources will be necessary to ensure proper allocation of everything needed, this will also include setting aside enough resources for the orphanage and the hospitals. Curriculum The discipleship curriculum entails making wise decisions because this curriculum will be used even in the generations to come. The curriculum should enable the effective use of the Bible and a global perspective to know how God is also influencing other people around the world. It should also be teacher friendly with easy to follow lesson plans that will motivate the teachers to teach. Slogans The slogan should be based on the vision of the church and should thus the vision is to be reduced to a memorable slogan which should be attractive and a visual representation. A well thought out slogan will capture many people and will be a driving force to attract people to the ministry by way of bringing the lost sheep back to the kingdom. Communication plans Communication is vital in the successes of any mission. Communicating the vision of the church in an appealing way is the main way to win souls to the ministry. Verifiers In the book of Ephesians 4: 14-15, says that we are no longer children, but now grown in Christ. Christian maturity refers to learning, growing, and sharing faith and discipline to others. Achieved through, participating in the effective models of the church plans and discipleship at home. Thus, when the people have grown to spiritual maturity and have been able to carry on the work of spreading the word of GOD. This will be considered a great measure of my success as I will have been able to win many men to Christ and thus sending them for missions will be the next big step. This is because just as Yount, suggests that every member is a minister, gifted by God to carry out supernatural ministry in the power of The Holy Spirit.10 When the believers have already demonstrated their ability to produce reproducing followers of Christ and also the provision of peer coaching and also mentoring which is aimed at helping others to learn how to succeed in fundamental tasks, and thus equipping the believers to make new disciples, this will be verifier that they have got on board. This will serve as an evidence to show that all has been of great success. Thus, spiritual growth is not a haphazard process; rather it is focused and deliberate on spiritual reproduction and maturity. The great news is that all people have all the potential to be great reproduce. Having won the souls to Christ and helped them grow and mature in their faith, sending them out to preach and restore the other non-believers will enrich God’s kingdom. References Callister, w. “Discipleship Ministries Project; A high School leadership/Discipleship elective course.” Seminary, Liberty Baptist 2012, pp. 40 Ellsberg, Robert. Blessed among all women: Women Saints, Prophets and Witnesses for our time. Crossroad publishers., 2005, Haggard, Ted “Dog training, fly fishing and sharing Christ in the 21st century.” Rethinking Discipleship 2002, pp 20 Johnston, Stephen.” Gospel-centered peace building.” New York publishers, 2008 Luter, A. Boyd. “Discipleship and the Church.” 2010 Malphurs, Aubrey. Values driven leadership: Discovering and developing your core values for ministry. Grand Rapids: Baker books, 2004 Malphurs, Aubrey. Developing a vision for ministry in the 21st century. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000 Sider, Ronanld, Philip, Olson and Heidi Unruh. Churches that make a difference. Grand rapids: Baker 2002 Wilson, Gerald, L. Keyton, Joann, Johnson, David, & G. Clark, Church growth thorough member identification and commitment: A congregational case study. Review of Religious Research. 34(3), 2003: 30 Yont William. The teaching ministry of the church. New York: B&H Publishing group, 2008 Read More