Transforming Discipleship

The General Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) in November 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia declared the next ten years to be a decade of holistic disciple-making. Without a doubt this is a very timely decision, especially for Western churches, since discipleship for many Christians and also Evangelical churches seems to have assumed secondary importance. The American expert on church matters Dallas Willard rightly claims, ”So far as the visible Christian institutions of our day are concerned, discipleship is clearly optional.” He laments the great omission in Western churches when it relates to discipleship. No wonder churches lose their attraction in a society in search for spirituality. A spiritually attractive Christian life is an expression of spiritual maturity, a result of discipleship understood as a process, that takes place within accountable relationships over a period of time for the purpose of bringing believers to spiritual maturity in Christ.

This said, we must yet acknowledge the fact that there is a growing awareness of the ongoing importance of discipleship all around the world, including the Evangelicals. Quite a number of Christian conferences on the theme have recently been conducted. The WCC organized a World Mission Conference in Arusha, Tanzania in 2018 under the heading “Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship.” A number of national initiatives have grown out of this conference.

Researching various publications, it becomes obvious that the term discipleship is used in many, at times even contradictory, ways. One author speaks of “spiritual”, another of “messianic”, “organic”, “life-style”, “sacramental”, “community”, “collaborative”, “outreach”, or also “transforming” discipleship. Thus, an urgent call for a clear definition of what discipleship and more specific transforming discipleship really means is needed...

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Disciple-Making Steps Series: Finding a Mentor/Discipler

GENERAL NEWSLETTER - AUGUST 2020

Dear Ed Many pastors and leaders can’t find a mentor. They’ve tried and given up. Others have tried and found someone and not felt the effort was worth it. Yet others have grown with their mentors, reached their level or learned what they could and stopped because life and grace didn’t continue to flow. What can you do when you know you need a mentor and can’t find one? Matthew 7:7-8 assures us that if we ask, seek or knock, we will receive. A key in understanding this is that those three verbs in the Greek are continuous imperatives. We often don’t receive what we ask for because we just throw something out there as a kind of hope or wish. We need to ask and persevere in asking and in following through on our asking. That applies deeply to finding a mentor or discipler.  FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FINDING A MENTOR/DISCIPLER AND KEY QUESTIONS FOR DISCIPLE MAKERS HERE DOWNLOAD THE EDITABLE ARTICLE HERE

DISCIPLE-MAKING STEPS SERIES

Above is the fourth article on practical disciple-making. The first article, First Steps in Disciple-Making, focuses on 1) foundational definitions of a disciple and discipler; 2) the value of multiple models, not falling into the tyranny of thinking there is one right model; and 3) recognizing that selection involves some “chemistry” and divine direction. The second article gives an underlying biblical vision for a disciple-making church and goes on to look at five selection processes that Jesus used and possible selection criteria. The third article features microgroups as a model that integrates many disciple-making principles exceptionally well and the critical role of pruning our lives to make space for being discipled and discipling.  Find out the previous articles below:

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COME AND JOIN OUR UPCOMING WEBINAR

Have you ever wondered what makes disciple-making difficult? Find out why by joining our upcoming webinar on Tuesday, 18 Agustus 2020. Register yourself through this LINK. Click on this LINK to see the local time for you.

We also would like to thank you for those who recently attended the WEA Forum for Disciple-Making webinar "ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN SUPPORTING DISCIPLE-MAKING IN FAMILIES". We hope you found the conversation valuable.  You can now watch this webinar again and share insights with your colleagues.

Please let us know what you think as well as share stories, resources, and opportunities at disciple-making@worldea.org