Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Introduction

Today, the world is a place of inclusivity and tolerance.

The multiple opinions and “truths” being espoused are simply overwhelming.

It is this environment that the church must be focused and intentional in the tasks it undertakes.

Even inside the church there is sometimes multiple ideas for where, what and how the church should focus on.

In scripture the church is told to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”[1]

This very clear directive is what is referred to as the great commission.

Each believer, and hence each church, is to be about making disciples.

Each church faces the challenge of getting people involved and combatting all the world throws at its participants.

These issues are best fought by discipleship.

Discipleship builds the believe in such a way that they can withstand the darts of the evil one and resist the ideas at war for their minds.

No amount of programming apart from this discipleship will accomplish that.

So, how does a church build a culture of discipleship?

How does the shift from a “come and see” to a “go and tell” attitude occur?

This paper will hope to highlight the stages and spheres of discipleship so as to better enable churches and believers to implement them in their lives.

[1] Matthew 28:19 (ESV)

The Five Stages of Discipleship

We grow by the grace of God and can slip in and out of various stages at different times in our lives.[1]

The spiritual growth continuum’s five stages of discipleship per Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington are

dead

infant

children

young adult

parent.

Each of these stages represents a time of spiritual development within an individual and how they currently relate to God.

Each of these five stages can be found in scripture.

When understood correctly, these stages can help the church to evaluate where people are at, where they need to go and how best to minister to them on the way.

[1] Jim Putman, DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p.

57).

Zondervan.

Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid., p. 60

The first stage is that a person is spiritually dead.

Meaning that the person has no relationship with the Lord yet.

The person spends no time in the Word, no prayer life to speak of and little to no interaction with the church on a spiritual level at least.

This is prior to them accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and they are still living a secular lifestyle.

In this stage, sinning against the Lord, is still characteristic of their lives.

Jim Putman provides a chart that set up in the form of a clock, he tells us that at this stage “ Ephesians 2:1–5 describes those who are “dead in [their] transgressions and sins.”

People in this stage have not yet accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.”[1]

At this stage, all fruit is absent from their lives.

Even if they claim to be Christian, which many do, the fruit reveals the falsehood of this statement.

As Putnam states though, “ They are acting according to their dead human nature, and they cannot change until they have been made alive in Christ.”[2]

The change occurs in stage two.

[1] Jim Putman, DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p.

61).

Zondervan.

Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid., p. 61

The second stage is the stage of infancy.

Here the believer has made a real decision to follow Christ.

However, they are still very immature in their thinking.

They may not even understand what they need at this point.

Hence the person is compared to that of a newborn baby.

People in this stage are often referred to as babes in Christ since they are still new to Christ, or young in their knowledge of what Christ actually has done.

The person in this stage, is likely still doing much that they did before in their secular, pre-Christ, life.

Those who have attended church for a long time but have not truly surrendered to Christ are just as prone to that same type of behavior.

They will be spending more time doing secular things and living secular lives than what they spend doing spiritual things or focusing on spiritual growth for the Lord.

Putman says that “ First Peter 2:2–3 describes people who are like newborn babies, craving spiritual milk so they can grow in their salvation.19

People at this stage are spiritually alive; they have made a decision to follow Jesus, but that’s about as far as they’ve gotten!

They can be brand-new believers, but this may also include longtime “Christians” who have remained stagnant in their faith.”[1]

Those who are in this infant stage, still lack knowledge of Christ, and often times can act out in frustration because of a lack of attention from those who are more knowledgeable.

[1] Jim Putman.

DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p.

63).

Zondervan.

Kindle Edition.

The third stage is the Child stage.

During this stage there is real growth occurring.

The person will be beginning to develop relationships with other believers and with God.

This stage can be made up of both, those that are new to the church and those who have been in church all their lives.

If it is someone who has been in the church, they may suffer from the (CME) church mentality; that’s when someone comes to church only on Christmas, Mother’s Day and Easter.

The description that Putman and Harrington use is that “ A spiritual child can be a relatively new Christian, or it can be a person who has been a Christian for many years.

There are spiritually immature people who have attended church services for sixty years.”[1]

Time associated with a church may not be a good indicator of how mature someone has become in Christ.

Too often, the maturity level does not match the length of time someone has been a church member.

It is because of this that a person who is in the child stage of their walk with Christ, should have a seasoned mentor who can be there to assist and guide them in their understanding of scripture and the building of their relationship with the Lord.

Here the words of the disciple will reveal a general self-centeredness.

[1] Ibid., p. 65

Stage four is where the disciple has progressed into a young adult in their relationship with the Lord.

The disciple is now becoming more and more God centered in their way of thinking.

This will begin to make a real impact on how they live out their lifestyle.

It is at this time they are understanding that they have been called to serve and start to give more of themselves for the services of God.

At this stage, the self-centered “me” phase begins to become a much more complete “us” statement.

Young adults in Christ may even began to be leaders within the church, leading church groups, and placed into administrative positions within the church.

Putman and Harrington give us this definition of a person who is in the young adult stage “ Spiritual young adults are making a shift from being self-centered to being God- and other-centered.

They are beginning to reorient their lives around God’s Word and his people and mission.”[1]

Young adults have a great passion to serve the Lord and put their gifts to use.

They have begun to truly desire to be in service of God for the advancement of the church.

[1] Jim Putman.

DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p.

67).

Zondervan.

Kindle Edition.

Stage Five is when a person is considered to be a parent in their discipleship stages.

These persons are spiritual veterans of the church; they are the ones who are spiritually advanced enough to teach and guide others.

Putman and Harrington state their reason for the naming to “ use the term “spiritual parent” rather than “spiritual adult” because we want to reinforce the concept of spiritual reproduction.”[1]

The point is to remember that for discipleship to be complete, the disciple must be making disciples, hence, reproducing as parents.

Those who are fall into this stage, are continually working on their relationship with God, they begin to build relationships for the purpose of discipleship, they stay constantly in God’s Word to remain connected to Christ in a way that allows them to have something to pass on.

[1] Ibid., p. 67

The Four Spheres of Discipleship

The four spheres of discipleship can be characterized as a

person’s relationship with God

relationship with the church or Gods family