God’s Design wk 4-Discipleship

We have discussed two of the four purposes of the church over the past two weeks. So far we have discussed ministry and worship, and discussed the importance of showing compassion for all people and living a life of genuine worship. This week we are continuing the series of God’s Design through looking at Discipleship. There are misconceptions about discipleship within the church, so we are going to let the Bible tell us what true discipleship looks like.

Prayer

The stages our kids grow up

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

In Acts 18, we read about the church in Corinth was started by Paul. A few years after Paul started the church, he left to continue on his journey. Over the next few years, Apollos and others taught them about the ways of Christ. After that time, you would expect to see a strong and thriving church. However, the church is far from that because they are in fragments. Paul begins to address the issues by calling them infants.

The people were acting like infants on milk. The New Testament references milk for infants because new believers cannot understand more complex lessons. After 5 years, Paul was hoping they could move on to more solid foods.

A part of the struggle to grow is because of allegiances. Instead of following the words of Christ, there were groups that claimed allegiance to speakers like Apollos.

Today, Christians are prone to do the same because of the charismatic speakers.

While it is good to listen to biblical teachings, we need to make sure we are following God over man.

We need to remember God is the grower. There are many parts that lead people to Christ. Each stage is important, and a critical part to understand is God does the growing. God doesn’t need us to accomplish the task, but he chooses to use us.

One Link from FOCUS

Paul’s message to the church in Corinth is this: Spiritual growth is more important than numerical growth. A church can have over 100 people attending and not be growing spiritually. In the Church, we call it discipleship.

Disciple-A follower of Jesus who seeks to become more like Christ and develops new disciples

When we choose to follow Christ, the moment of salvation is not the destination for us. Jesus commissioned the disciples to make more disciples. The Early Church thrived in adversity because making disciples was the focus.

When someone becomes a Christian, they begin a lifelong journey of developing into a disciple. There are six stages of a Christian that mirrors physical development. The stages are: infant, toddler, child, teen, adult, and elder.

Infant

Like a newborn, infant Christians have not developed the ability to feed themselves. They need someone to guide them through Bible study and prayer.

Infant Christians expect others to help meet their needs.

Toddler

Toddlers are beginning to learn to feed themselves. It can be messy and not always effective, so they need guidance as well.

The goal is to teach them to feed themselves to help them grow into the next stage.

Child

Children can feed themselves without supervision. Also, they begin to have confidence in sharing their story.

Some of the most talkative people are children.

Teen

This stage involves a deeper understanding of using the disciplines like Bible study, prayer, and regular church attendance.

Not rebellious teenagers, but sharing their walk begins in this stage.

Adult

Adult Christians have seen victories in their life. 1 John 2:12–14 “I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one.”

They also must begin teaching infants, sharing their faith, and helping toddlers.

Elder

This stage is considered the grandparent stage. Not only are elder Christians continuing to walk and develop their own faith, they are champions for developing infant and toddler Christians.

None of the stages are age-specific. Someone can be an infant Christian at any age. However, a teenager in the Adult stage, might need more time to be an Elder.

Now, how do the different stages impact the purpose of Discipleship in the church? The church should be the nursery for the new believers. This leads us to our main point.

GOD’S CHURCH IS DESIGNED TO MAKE DISCIPLES

A kingdom focused church must make disciples. Churches should seek to help followers grow in faith beyond a Sunday morning service.

One of the biggest struggles in churches today is a lack of developing disciples. Either the church does not do it, or there is no clear process. When creating disciples in the church, we should consider the following.

It should be visible

Rick Warren’s book, A Purpose Driven Church, describes a series of classes that walk someone from Infant to Elder. He calls the classes 101, 201, 301, and 401. Each class bulds on the other.

While this is a great way to see the process, there is a missing element in creating a bunch of classes. When Jesus trained the disciples, he lived life with them. There were no classes to take. The focus was becoming more like Christ. Discipleship should be centered around getting closer to Jesus and not about a destination.

Who mentors new Christians into maturity?

Adult and Elder Christians should mentor the infant and toddler believers because of the victories the mature believers witnessed.

Mature believers must share the gospel with nonbelievers. Our last purpose is Evangelism and we are going to learn another tool for evangelism that can be used anywhere.

What should we teach?

When we are developing disciples, the Bible is the only perfect source for discipleship. There are many great books and studies that can be taught, but remember what the disciples taught to the new believers. They taught the messages of Jesus.

If a book or study is going to be used, the leadership of the church should properly research the material. This could prevent unbiblical teachings.

A few questions to ponder this morning as we wrap up.

What stage of growth am I at?

Am I striving to get closer to God?

If you are in the adult and elder stage, are you investing in an infant or toddler Christian? If not, who can you ask?

Are you sharing your story with nonbelievers? If not, who can you tell this week?