Personal Vision Of Evangelism Research Paper
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Personal Vision of Evangelism
Submitted Dr. Douglas White In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the completion of
DSMN 500- D08
Discipleship Ministries
By
Lindsay D. Greene
November 2, 2014
The Centrality of Christ
There are 3 basic concepts for discipleship which are being a believer, being a disciple for your own self and becoming a disciple maker.1 Once one has decided to follow Christ, they are committed to the Great Commission. One must realized that discipleship is a lifetime commitment and lifestyle. In order to gain souls for Christ, one should walk, talk, and act in God’s image. Our bodies must be transformed for God’s will. A disciple has to able to deny …show more content…
the flesh to take up the cross and travel the righteousness’s way. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gave instructions on how to be better followers, the cost to follow Jesus’ teachings, and how to instruct others to be disciples.
Also, you will find in the fifth chapter of Matthew 5, Jesus gave step-by-step instructions for fruitful discipleship. Being a disciple is a costly job. Jesus warned all that there is a price to follow Him. In Luke 14:33, Jesus said “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples”. A fully committed disciple must willingly to give up anything and everything to follow Christ. Of course, Jesus Christ is the center of the discipleship purpose. Because Christ became flesh this is the reason we can find our center in Him. The centrality of Christ can be viewed in the deeds of a disciple. A follower or disciple of Christ must be obedience to the commands of the Lord. There is the reflection of Christ being the center of a disciple’s life and discipleship role. Obedience is the essential component to the centrality of Christ. Once you have heard the Word of God and applied it to your daily life, you are displaying Christ being the center of your life. Also, by adhering to the word of God is showing Him that you are trusting and standing on his promises. Christian discipleship is displayed through the trait of obedience by Jesus being obedient to His Father’s request. Our commission is to distribute our faith through obedience. Obedience is the key to doing the assignment that God has given us to complete for the Kingdom. Through obedience, disciples are able to confidently take on the Great Commission. Disciples should be able to trust God and not second guess what God has ordered to be done. There is no reserves when it comes to obeying God. Along with obedience, trust is very vital for a disciples to perform in accordance with a given assignment. Without obedience and trust, one cannot be a true disciple.
Obedience
Progression through discipleship is dependence upon obedience.
Obedience will take disciples to the next level. It is always been a clear understanding that the commission has been to spread the good news of the Gospel. When Jesus was sent on His assignment, God has empowered and equipped Him with the necessary tools therefore when we are sent He will do the same for us. When a disciple decides to follow Christ, he or she is displaying the love of Christ. Throughout the world and all mankind, disciples should be described as examples of Christ. Every level calls for greater faith, obedience, and commitment.2 The essence and centrality of discipleship is the type of obedience that Jesus taught and displayed throughout the Gospel. We must ensure that we are listening and obeying Jesus Christ if we are not doing so, we are not obeying God or submitting to His perfect Will or the Great …show more content…
Commission.
3 Stages of Discipleship
The first stage of discipleship is declaration.
There is a series of levels to Jesus when leaving the world and entering in the world of discipleship. In most churches that I have attended always pause to perform an invitation to discipleship. When beginning our Christian journey, we all are labeled as infants or babes in Christ. Declaration is deciding to take up your cross and follow Jesus. The beginning steps to declaration is asking Jesus Christ to come into our lives and denying the ways of sin. Once this step is completed, the believer is not a disciple just yet, he or she is a newly convert in Christ. Earley states, “The whole issue in stage one is Jesus. The first stage of discipleship is a call to investigate the person and work of Jesus.”3 The stage us the starting point in faith and the beginning of learning how to be a better Christian. In this stage, the new covert has graduated from having questions to accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior. To summarize the first stage of discipleship, I would say that it is simply a time for one to accept Christ and the teaching of the Gospel. This is the time to declare your identity in Christ. “Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men '” (Mark 1:17). Being associated with Christ allows Christians to have the privilege of knowing Christ on an intimate level. Declaration of discipleship allows one to gain the approval of God and to be highly favored by God through the
works of the Lord.
After the declaration stage, the second discipleship stage is the developmental stage. This stage is where a Christian begins to exercise the evangelism task. The disciple will share their testimony and faith with the intents to gain other disciples. In this stage, effects should be made to beyond the walls or familiar areas and share the Good News. Disciples at this level should be able to go in-depth of the Word and answer questions the unreached may have. In the developmental stage, Christians are weaned off of the milk and soon will consumed the meat of the Holy Word. In some instances, disciples will begin to perform in large groups or arenas to share the love of God. Earley and Dempsey explains what a disciple should look like in this stage, “The decision to follow Jesus Christ mean total submittal. They will memorize His Words and duplicate His teachings. When you follow Him, you are choosing to be with Him, to learn Him, and to become more like Him.”4 Disciples are able to leave everything and take up a cross and follow Him.
The hardest concept of the second stage of discipleship is abandonment. Abandonment will cause you to count the cost of following the precious Savior and choose to perform the work of the Kingdom. “The point was to really walk with Jesus. It was made clear to those he called that the only had one possibility of believing in Jesus, that of leaving everything and going with the incarnate Son of God.”5
In the developmental stage there comes a time where the disciples are sent out on assignments. Disciples who make it to this level are viewed as mentors and monitors of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not an easy job to carry the Gospel yet only make a disciple out of them. We are to recruit the disciples for Christ and in return, God will transform and clean them up to be fruitful disciples for the battlefield. “In reality, the responsibility for spiritual growth never rests on the disciple maker alone. We often tell people there are three parts to the discipleship process. There is my part, their part, and the Lord’s part. I am responsible only for my part.6 Through discipleship the numbers of disciples should reproduce a rapid number when it is done according to the Will of God. Our job is to not only make the disciples but make sure they are more than believers. We must prepared to go out among the wolves and serpents to conduct the Great Commission in spirit and in truth.
The deployment is the third stage of discipleship. Disciples are called to commission saints on a global level. Deployment requires disciples to work outside of the comfort zone in order to complete the task at hand. We as disciples should be available to serve the people, pray and love the people and live the sermon or message you are proclaiming. Deployment hands down huge responsibilities for a Christian to perform such as edify and encouraging others, teach, defend the Gospel/faith, lead in the church and develop new churches.
Discipleship is more than lip service, it is a process and a lifestyle for one. One Christ has entered the heart that when deliverance can take place. The process of discipleship is necessary for the newly converted soul in order for the person to gain what is needed to perform the Great Commandment and Commission. The main reason discipleship is essential is because it assist in multiplying the numbers of saints for God Almighty’s Kingdom. Every day of our lives we should follow the example Jesus’ teachings through our thoughts and deeds. Christ, being perfect in all His ways, was the example of discipleship. As we look throughout the history of the Holy Bible, we can see that all of Jesus’ followers went through the stages of discipleship. They first surrender to God’s calling (declaration), they sat under Jesus’s teachings on multiple occasions (developmental), and they travel with Jesus and after Jesus, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ (deployment). We too must go through the process in order to be fitted for the Kingdom’s duties.
Bibliography
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Fortress Press, 2013.
Earley, Dave, and David Wheeler. Evangelism Is. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010.
Earley, David, and Rod Demspsey. Disciple Making Is...How to Live the Great Commission with Passsion and Confedience. B&H Publishing, 2013.
Putman, JIm. Discipleshift. Zondervan , 2013.
Whaley, Vernon, and David Wheeler. The Great Commission to Worship. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011.
Personal Vision of Evangelism
Submitted Dr. Douglas White In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the completion of
DSMN 500- D08
Discipleship Ministries
By
Lindsay D. Greene
November 2, 2014
The Centrality of Christ
There are 3 basic concepts for discipleship which are being a believer, being a disciple for your own self and becoming a disciple maker.1 Once one has decided to follow Christ, they are committed to the Great Commission. One must realized that discipleship is a lifetime commitment and lifestyle. In order to gain souls for Christ, one should walk, talk, and act in God’s image. Our bodies must be transformed for God’s will. A disciple has to able to deny …show more content…
the flesh to take up the cross and travel the righteousness’s way. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gave instructions on how to be better followers, the cost to follow Jesus’ teachings, and how to instruct others to be disciples.
Also, you will find in the fifth chapter of Matthew 5, Jesus gave step-by-step instructions for fruitful discipleship. Being a disciple is a costly job. Jesus warned all that there is a price to follow Him. In Luke 14:33, Jesus said “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples”. A fully committed disciple must willingly to give up anything and everything to follow Christ. Of course, Jesus Christ is the center of the discipleship purpose. Because Christ became flesh this is the reason we can find our center in Him. The centrality of Christ can be viewed in the deeds of a disciple. A follower or disciple of Christ must be obedience to the commands of the Lord. There is the reflection of Christ being the center of a disciple’s life and discipleship role. Obedience is the essential component to the centrality of Christ. Once you have heard the Word of God and applied it to your daily life, you are displaying Christ being the center of your life. Also, by adhering to the word of God is showing Him that you are trusting and standing on his promises. Christian discipleship is displayed through the trait of obedience by Jesus being obedient to His Father’s request. Our commission is to distribute our faith through obedience. Obedience is the key to doing the assignment that God has given us to complete for the Kingdom. Through obedience, disciples are able to confidently take on the Great Commission. Disciples should be able to trust God and not second guess what God has ordered to be done. There is no reserves when it comes to obeying God. Along with obedience, trust is very vital for a disciples to perform in accordance with a given assignment. Without obedience and trust, one cannot be a true disciple.
Obedience
Progression through discipleship is dependence upon obedience.
Obedience will take disciples to the next level. It is always been a clear understanding that the commission has been to spread the good news of the Gospel. When Jesus was sent on His assignment, God has empowered and equipped Him with the necessary tools therefore when we are sent He will do the same for us. When a disciple decides to follow Christ, he or she is displaying the love of Christ. Throughout the world and all mankind, disciples should be described as examples of Christ. Every level calls for greater faith, obedience, and commitment.2 The essence and centrality of discipleship is the type of obedience that Jesus taught and displayed throughout the Gospel. We must ensure that we are listening and obeying Jesus Christ if we are not doing so, we are not obeying God or submitting to His perfect Will or the Great …show more content…
Commission.
3 Stages of Discipleship
The first stage of discipleship is declaration.
There is a series of levels to Jesus when leaving the world and entering in the world of discipleship. In most churches that I have attended always pause to perform an invitation to discipleship. When beginning our Christian journey, we all are labeled as infants or babes in Christ. Declaration is deciding to take up your cross and follow Jesus. The beginning steps to declaration is asking Jesus Christ to come into our lives and denying the ways of sin. Once this step is completed, the believer is not a disciple just yet, he or she is a newly convert in Christ. Earley states, “The whole issue in stage one is Jesus. The first stage of discipleship is a call to investigate the person and work of Jesus.”3 The stage us the starting point in faith and the beginning of learning how to be a better Christian. In this stage, the new covert has graduated from having questions to accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior. To summarize the first stage of discipleship, I would say that it is simply a time for one to accept Christ and the teaching of the Gospel. This is the time to declare your identity in Christ. “Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men '” (Mark 1:17). Being associated with Christ allows Christians to have the privilege of knowing Christ on an intimate level. Declaration of discipleship allows one to gain the approval of God and to be highly favored by God through the
works of the Lord.
After the declaration stage, the second discipleship stage is the developmental stage. This stage is where a Christian begins to exercise the evangelism task. The disciple will share their testimony and faith with the intents to gain other disciples. In this stage, effects should be made to beyond the walls or familiar areas and share the Good News. Disciples at this level should be able to go in-depth of the Word and answer questions the unreached may have. In the developmental stage, Christians are weaned off of the milk and soon will consumed the meat of the Holy Word. In some instances, disciples will begin to perform in large groups or arenas to share the love of God. Earley and Dempsey explains what a disciple should look like in this stage, “The decision to follow Jesus Christ mean total submittal. They will memorize His Words and duplicate His teachings. When you follow Him, you are choosing to be with Him, to learn Him, and to become more like Him.”4 Disciples are able to leave everything and take up a cross and follow Him.
The hardest concept of the second stage of discipleship is abandonment. Abandonment will cause you to count the cost of following the precious Savior and choose to perform the work of the Kingdom. “The point was to really walk with Jesus. It was made clear to those he called that the only had one possibility of believing in Jesus, that of leaving everything and going with the incarnate Son of God.”5
In the developmental stage there comes a time where the disciples are sent out on assignments. Disciples who make it to this level are viewed as mentors and monitors of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not an easy job to carry the Gospel yet only make a disciple out of them. We are to recruit the disciples for Christ and in return, God will transform and clean them up to be fruitful disciples for the battlefield. “In reality, the responsibility for spiritual growth never rests on the disciple maker alone. We often tell people there are three parts to the discipleship process. There is my part, their part, and the Lord’s part. I am responsible only for my part.6 Through discipleship the numbers of disciples should reproduce a rapid number when it is done according to the Will of God. Our job is to not only make the disciples but make sure they are more than believers. We must prepared to go out among the wolves and serpents to conduct the Great Commission in spirit and in truth.
The deployment is the third stage of discipleship. Disciples are called to commission saints on a global level. Deployment requires disciples to work outside of the comfort zone in order to complete the task at hand. We as disciples should be available to serve the people, pray and love the people and live the sermon or message you are proclaiming. Deployment hands down huge responsibilities for a Christian to perform such as edify and encouraging others, teach, defend the Gospel/faith, lead in the church and develop new churches.
Discipleship is more than lip service, it is a process and a lifestyle for one. One Christ has entered the heart that when deliverance can take place. The process of discipleship is necessary for the newly converted soul in order for the person to gain what is needed to perform the Great Commandment and Commission. The main reason discipleship is essential is because it assist in multiplying the numbers of saints for God Almighty’s Kingdom. Every day of our lives we should follow the example Jesus’ teachings through our thoughts and deeds. Christ, being perfect in all His ways, was the example of discipleship. As we look throughout the history of the Holy Bible, we can see that all of Jesus’ followers went through the stages of discipleship. They first surrender to God’s calling (declaration), they sat under Jesus’s teachings on multiple occasions (developmental), and they travel with Jesus and after Jesus, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ (deployment). We too must go through the process in order to be fitted for the Kingdom’s duties.
Bibliography
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Fortress Press, 2013.
Earley, Dave, and David Wheeler. Evangelism Is. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010.
Earley, David, and Rod Demspsey. Disciple Making Is...How to Live the Great Commission with Passsion and Confedience. B&H Publishing, 2013.
Putman, JIm. Discipleshift. Zondervan , 2013.
Whaley, Vernon, and David Wheeler. The Great Commission to Worship. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011.