Too often in our churches we compartmentalize evangelism and discipleship as two separate components. Jesus didn't, the great commission placed them together. When we look at Jesus as the master disciplemaker, one followed the other in a tight knit community. Therefore at any time when we are considering evangelism we need to be thinking of discipleship also. The more I specialize in this area, the less I realize I understand. There is no one set formula for making disciples. No one programme, method or curriculum is right for all people. Any set of pre-prescribed hoops for the growing believer to jump through is an over-simplification. Discipleship is not methods, it is principles, it is not curriculum, it is people. However, Discipleship does not just happen, we are commanded to “make” disciples. Not only that, expanding on 2 Tim 2:2, we are to teach, train and envision others who will be able to teach others also. So where do we begin ?

Space does not permit here a full exploration of the steps I believe we need to take towards discipleship. It starts, however, with a clear vision from God to make disciples. We need to get on our heart what God has on his: Disciples ! We need to see this as the heart of our endeavours. To be motivated from within to not only see people come into the kingdom but become themselves growing, fruitful multiplying disciples. To do this we need to define the end product: what does a disciple look like and what is the process of reaching that end? With this definition in mind, we need an understanding of the Biblical principles for making disciples and know how to apply these in today's culture. We want to disciple people as Jesus and Paul did. We need to be aware of the relationships which are critical to making good, reproductive disciplemaking work, and we need an action plan that understands the process and what discipling tools may be useful along the way. I will attempt here an overview of that outline.

Discipleship, simply stated, is the gradual lifelong process of growing closer to Jesus in personal intimacy and becoming more like Him in character. An attempt at a working definition of a disciple may be: a fruitful, fully devoted, lifelong learner and follower of Jesus Christ who reproduces spiritually in others. A disciple is not a convert. It involves conversion, of course, but just being a convert or a Christian does not make a disciple. The disciple will be marked, amongst other things, by intimacy ( Matt 22:37-38), lordship (Luke 9:23-24), fruit (John 15:16) and love (John 13:34-35)

Discipleship is a process. That process starts long before a person comes to Christ. Evangelism is simply the door to the pathway of discipleship. The Bible uses two metaphors to explain the growth continuum. In the farming metaphor. the steps move through the cultivation, sowing, watering and reaping stages. ³ (The “Engles” scale is a helpful tool to understanding this more fully.) The process doesn't stop at new birth, but continues right on through with the parenting metaphor of a babe, child, adolescent and adult or “mature believer”. ⁴ In fact, this is a life-long process. We have never arrived, it is the upward spiral of the Christian journey, a deepening of maturity as we grow with Christ becoming the centre of our every day lives and thereby transforming from the inside out. When we talk about discipleship programmes in our churches, we run the risk of seeing discipleship as just that: a programme, something that happens third door down on the left. The danger is we can fall into the belief that when you have finished the prescribed course you are somehow a disciple and the job is complete. When we see discipleship as a process, we can be more in tune with seeing people as individuals and where they are in this process. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can see people as Jesus sees them, their worth and potential and the impact they can have on others. We can help them see by faith how God may want to use them. God's Word needs to be the cornerstone on which the discipleship process takes place and coupled with prayer helping the disciple discover and encounter Christ for themselves “correctly handling the word of truth”. ⁵

This growth process does not take place in isolation nor simply in group situations. What is also needed is life-on-life interaction. This could be defined as the relational dynamic between two people that enables the transference of the knowledge, heart, vision and skill for becoming a mature, whole-hearted follower of Christ. Put another way: two (or more) persons in an intentional, purposeful learning experience where each is committed to Christian discipleship, transparency and full maturity. Focused attention means meeting the needs of an individual; touching their life in relevant ways; scratching where they itch; healing where they hurt. For this to occur effectively, the relationship must be strong. Ideally, if discipleship is flowing out of relational evangelism, the relationship will already be strong. Those who have cultivated, sown and watered are right on hand to continue the growth process after new birth. In reality, that is not always the case ! It is my experience that where there is no or little relationship in discipling, the process falls down. The obvious remedy needs to be going back to the cultivating stage and building relationship. The skilled discipler will build relationship at the same time as guiding towards the growth process in times together. Offering a discipleship course where one person is leading several may seem to be the answer, but for in-depth results there is no substitute for life-on-life being part of the process. The challenge here, however, is that the discipler needs to be the model. So much of the growth process in these relationships is “caught rather than taught”.

Some who read this article will be waiting for the bottom line – so what materials do we use? I would like to caution here, quoting from Jim Petersen's book Lifestyle Discipleship : “Our tendency is to create programmes for discipleship and offer them to people as a substitute for parental care. We put people through a prescribed curriculum and expect that to take care of their needs. It doesn't work. It doesn't work because their primary need at this stage is not for information; caring relationships are far more important to the early stages. New Christians need a meaningful relationship with spiritual parents. It's a primary spiritual need, along with their need for Scripture. If study guides are used, they need to be carefully chosen. They must guide people into Scripture, and the content of those study guides must truly correspond with needs. If we fail to connect these matters of relationships and appropriate content, the new Christian will just stall out in his or her growth. They might do the studies and show up with the right answers but still flunk the test in true spiritual growth.” ⁶

“So”, some would still say, “what do we use ?” I again hesitate to endorse any particular tool, but rather conclude with two tables of evaluation. The first outlines some of the possible basic needs of a growing disciple. This is not aimed at being comprehensive or definitive, there could be as many versions as there are opinions. The second gives a framework of criteria with which to evaluate the huge range of materials available. Again, this is a preliminary grid of evaluation, not an end in itself.

The ultimate goal of Christian growth is Christ-like character in the light of eternity. That process of growth is different for every individual; we all start at different points along the way. The need as I see it is to have churches and groups of people who focus on discipleship in such a way that the natural out flow of their lives results in each spiritual generation relating effectively in their everyday worlds as salt and light. Then out of the daily traffic pattern of their lives, as they cultivate new relationships multiplication occurs. Evangelism and discipleship are therefore correctly linked, with one flowing from the other.

Paul Mulholland
Intentional Disciplemaking Ministries

For further reading

Lifestyle Discipleship – Jim Petersen (Navpress)
Growing True Disciples – George Barna (Waterbrook)
Tally Ho the Fox – Herb Hodges (Manhattan Source)
Down to Earth Discipling – Scott Morton (Navpress)
Jesus Christ Disciplemaker – Bill Hull (Revell)
The Disciplemaking Making Pastor – Bill Hull (Revell)
The Disciplemaking Church – Bill Hull (Revell)
The Insider – Jim Petersen and Mike Shamy (Navpress)
Living Proof – Jim Petersen (Navpress)

Footnotes:

1. Brian Hathaway – Reality magazine #41 October / November 2000
2. Bill Hull – The Disciplemaking Church – Revell – Baker Book House
3. Matthew 13
4. 1 Thes 2:7-12
5. 2 Tim 2:15 NIV
6. Jim Petersen - Lifestyle Discipleship – Navpress - page 43

Discipleship and Evangelism – A postscript

By Glyn Carpenter

The previous chapter by Paul Mulholland, bears reading again and again. Repeating some of his key insights: discipleship is a process, based on relationship; new Christians need a meaningful relationship with spiritual parents; if we fail to connect matters of relationships and appropriate content, if we focus on programs instead of relationship, the new Christian will just stall in his or her growth. “They might do the studies and show up with the right answers but still flunk the test in true spiritual growth”.

On the basis that the principles Paul has outlined form the indispensible foundation for effective discipling, there are certain topical themes which have been identified by discussion groups that have been meeting recently, and which those involved believe the discipler should specifically address at the appropriate Stage of Development as outlined in the previous chapter.

Where the discipler does not have the relevant knowledge, he/she can always bring in someone with the particular expertise, or with the caveats that Paul has mentioned, draw on courses or programs, providing that these are properly biblically based, and the discipler maintains responsibility throughout for the development of the disciple.

New believers reading this, and even people who have been believers for a long time but who have never themselves been properly discipled, should be pro-active in locating a mature believer who they respect, and ask whether that person would be prepared to disciple them. There are many mature believers in our churches whose knowledge and experience are not being fully utilised.

Topical Themes and possible courses/materials identified by the Discussion Groups.

(For a regularly updated list of courses/materials and topical themes, refer to www.vision.org.nz )

1. Fundamentals of the faith and basic doctrines (Newborn Stage)
   These programs are already widely used to introduce people to basic doctrines and concepts of the faith.
   - Alpha
   - LifeQuest
   - Journeys
   - Christianity Explored
   - Knowing God (J I Packer)
2. Christian Living (Newborn/Child/Adolescent Stage)
   What does the Christian life consist of? What are the different aspects of Christian living?
   - Purpose Driven Life (R Warren)
3. Biblical Worldview (Adult Stage)
   What does the Bible say about government? Whose responsibility is education and welfare? Does God care about art? Is God a capitalist or socialist?
   - How Now Shall We Live (Colson/Pearcey)
   - How Shall We Then Live (Schaeffer)
   - PEERS (Nehemiah and Masters Insititutes)
4. Marriage, Family, Parenting (Adult Stage)
   A vision for Christian marriage needs to be communicated to new believers at the earliest stage possible, but the following organisations are well known for courses and materials in this area.
   - Parenting With Confidence
   - Focus on the Family
   - Family Life, Home Builders
5. Faith in the Marketplace (Adult Stage)
   How does what I do at church connect with what I do Monday to Friday? How can “secular” work be as important as “sacred” work? How do we determine right and wrong in the workpalce?
   - books “Faith at Work”, “Where's God on Monday”
   - courses BCNZ, SoCCS, Carey Baptist College
6. Outreach / Missional (Adolescent / Adult Stage)
   Communicating an understanding of mission, both local and international, as a way of life. Understanding mission as ministering to needs and proclaiming the Gospel.
   - Short-term missions trip / assignment
   - Evangelism training tools
   - Contagious Christianity
   - Sharing Your Faith Without Fear
7. Conflict Resolution (Adult Stage)
   - Particularly mention Resolve (Christian disputes resolution)
8. The Treaty of Waitangi and Racial Harmony (Adolescent / Adult Stage)
   Racial disharmony could become a serious issue in New Zealand. What does the Treaty of Waitangi say? What is our role in terms of justice and peace-makers?
   How should we view current contentious issues? What about new immigrants?

This is not an exhaustive list, and the participants in the Discussion Groups are aware that topical themes change over time. Furthermore, it is worth repeating that this is not a blueprint for discipling. That was provided in the previous chapter.

Rather, this list and the website it refers to, are a list of topics which are considered significant enough for today's Church to identify separately, with the hope that those involved in discipling will ensure that these topics are covered.

© Copyright Visionnetwork of New Zealand
This article originally appeared as a chapter and postscript in the Visionnetwork publication Evangelising NZ”.These documents are © copyright Vision Network of New Zealand.  They may be used freely provided the use is not for sale and Vision Network and the authors are credited.

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