Chair 4: The Disciple-Maker

Chair 4 describes the fully trained disciple-maker. tells us that, “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” The word translated “fully trained” is the Greek word katartizo, the same word that can be translated “equipped.”

Because we want to imitate this focus, Southeast Christian Church (where I currently attend) has defined our training mission as “making disciples who can make disciples.” Even though tells us to make disciples, we felt it critical to use the phrase “making disciples who can make disciples,” because to most people, disciple-making is just another deeper Bible study. We feel it is important to define success in terms of reproduction.

“discipleship” was first used extensively in 1850 by a man named Charles Adams, who broke the phrase “making disciples” into two parts—bringing people to Christ, which he labeled “evangelism,” and then growing people up in Christ, which he labeled “discipleship.”1 He wrote articles about the two different wings of the airplane: evangelism and discipleship. People began to debate which was the most important. Some denominations even built buildings devoted just to evangelism and others devoted just to discipleship and then fought over which should get the most funding.

when I’m 35,000 feet up in the air, I don’t look out the window and wonder which wing is most important. I want them both! Without both wings you will never get off the ground, climb to great heights, and soar.

By defining our mission as “making disciples who can make disciples,” Southeast Christian Church is seeking to define the end product of our efforts as reproduction, which includes both “evangelism” and “discipleship.” We measure success by multiplication.

Moving into Chair 4 means a person has become a spiritual parent. A disciple-maker understands the journey of discipleship and has experienced success along that journey. He no longer is just learning how to be a “fisher of men” but now has seen people come to Christ, has learned how to grow them into reproducing disciples, and is beginning to see a family of seekers, new believers, and growing workers formed under his mentorship.

Soon, as the journey progresses, she will experience the joy of being a grandparent and even a great-grandparent. Each step on this path requires new skills and priorities.

Another interesting phrase used in the Bible to describe the Chair 4 person is found in

John 15:15 ESV

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

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They begin as seekers (), then become followers (), then coworkers or servants (). Finally Jesus makes an amazing statement. “I no longer call you servants,” He tells his disciples, “because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” ().

Friendship goes beyond servanthood. We long to meet with friends. We are free at any time to call our friends and pour out our heart to them. Friendship involves a deepened relationship, a freedom to enter into one another’s presence, a security of position. As God’s friends, we no longer strive to please Him because we realize we are accepted and beloved. We enter into a rest and joy in the Lord’s presence. We know the relationship is not about us but about what He has done for us.

No longer striving or trying hard to win God’s favor, I’ve learned that I have His favor due to the Cross. I can be myself. I love to meet with the Lord. I long to be in His presence. I am assured of His love, because I know that He knows more about me than I know about me—and He loves me anyway! We are friends, and I marvel at that privilege. Jesus says that those disciples who reach Chair 4 are His friends. What an honor!

Almost three and a half years into the ministry of Christ, Jesus is making His final approach into Jerusalem for His last Passover, where He will be betrayed and offered up on the Cross.

But in , Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples. These are the Chair 3 people, the next generation of workers. He sent them to go before Him into every town and place where He was about to go because, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (). After a short time of sharing the Good News, being engaged in fishing for men, they returned “with joy” (), just as the Twelve had in . Jesus Himself was also “full of joy through the Holy Spirit” (). Three times in the Bible it is recorded that Jesus wept (; ; ), but only here does it record that Jesus is “full of joy.” What made Him so happy?

At this moment, after three and a half years of pouring Himself into His disciples, He now knows they are at the point that they can invest in others. His efforts to build a movement of multiplying disciples are now bearing fruit. He knows that 2,000 years later, you and I will also be Christ-followers because His ministry calling was being realized. He had made disciples who would make disciples.

Jesus had taken His disciples from seekers () to followers () to coworkers () and then finally to disciple-makers (). Then He told them to do what He had done with them: to go and make disciples of all nations. Jesus modeled the process by which they must do that. The book of Acts shows the disciples following through with this command.

Moving into Chair 4 brings unique needs into a person’s life and ministry. God often calls a Chair 4 person to unique ministry situations. Perhaps it’s turning a youth group into a youth ministry that knows how to make disciples. Or helping a women’s group become focused on making disciple-makers. A Chair 4 person is no longer content with just leading Bible studies or being involved in church activities. They come to understand the mission of Jesus and the mission given to us, and they too want to experience Him fully. They too want to experience disciple-making and building a movement of multiplication.

Leading a disciple-making ministry can bring attacks from many directions, and the Chair 4 person needs to know how to defend himself or herself. Satan doesn’t mind if we just stay busy with church activities. But when we begin to reach the lost, grow new believers, and then equip them to go and repeat the process, we become targets for the enemy.2

Chair 4 disciple-makers become almost the enemy of the traditional church system.

Questions and criticism can come from many directions, and this is only understandable. But it is often most painful when it comes from within. Jesus experienced push back from those who should have been most receptive to His message and we will often face the same. In Jesus reminds His disciples, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (15:18). “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (15:20).

The person who moves into Chair 4 and has learned the lessons of Chairs 1 through 3 now knows God can do something amazingly different through his or her life. This person knows how to work and serve, has a heart for evangelism and discipleship, and knows how to make disciples. For this reason, God often calls them to a unique task that He has on His heart. God uses Chair 4 people to launch totally new ministries, often in totally new ways.

They become powerful tools in the hand of God. They often need help defining the mission God has given them, clarifying the values of the new ministry, and then establishing faith and work goals coupled with an effective ministry/business plan. They often have to learn to navigate the misunderstandings that come from traditional church systems. And while many traditional churches see these people as a threat, they should be championed, commissioned, supported, and sent out. When a church truly gets effective in making disciple-makers, these types of people multiply.

Spader, Dann. 4 Chair Discipling: Growing a Movement of Disciple-Makers (pp. 100-101). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Spader, Dann. 4 Chair Discipling: Growing a Movement of Disciple-Makers (p. 102). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

ministry, and then establishing faith and work goals coupled with an effective ministry/business plan. They often have to learn to navigate the misunderstandings that come from traditional church systems. And while many traditional churches see these people as a threat, they should be championed, commissioned, supported, and sent out. When a church truly gets effective in making disciple-makers, these types of people multiply.

Spader, Dann. 4 Chair Discipling: Growing a Movement of Disciple-Makers (p. 102). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

PRINCIPLES FOR MINISTRY TO PEOPLE IN CHAIR 4

1) Our goal is multiplication.

We want to reach new people (Chair 1), see them grow (Chair 2), equip them as workers (Chair 3), and then send them out to launch new ministries (Chair 4). Multiplication is our goal. We must send them out. We want them to leave. We want them to start their own families. We want them to “go and bear fruit.”

2) Chair 4 people may look like the enemy.

Because these people are passionate about reaching new people groups and are secure in their walk with the Lord, God often calls them to new adventures and new tasks. Instead of hanging around and helping out, they are often out launching new ministries or recruiting others to do the same. To an established church, sadly, this can look like the competition. In reality, this is what bearing “much fruit” looks like.

We need to help these people clarify their calling, define their mission, establish their values, and then commission them to be sent out. We need to prayerfully keep in touch and hear stories of how God is working, sharing in the fruit of multiplication.

3) Chair 4 people may look very different from each other.

Because of how God gifts various people, some Chair 4 people may be called to plant a church, others to serve as youth pastor or men’s ministry pastor in the local church. Some may be called to launch a homeless shelter or work with prostitutes in the red light district. Some may be called to launch a food bank or provide used clothing to the needy. Some may be called to reach the poorest of the poor. Some may have a passion to reach the educational community and others may have a passion for the business community. Each will vary and this is how God expands His Kingdom.

The growth from Chair 1 to Chair 4 is God’s great design for disciples of Jesus. This development can only be accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. There are a few obstacles obstacles to growth at each point in this journey that the disciple-maker should be aware of. Those obstacles are the focus of the next week’s message.

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