How Does the Church Make Disciples? Pt 2

What is a disciple? a follower of Jesus that you have spiritual reproduced yourself in their life. One life-to a life-for life. Teaching them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded us. Disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

How do you make a disciple? Follow One, Win One, Lead One.

How does the church make disciples? Or what is the role of the local church in the great commission? What purpose does the church serve in this most important commission?

Mission Statement: Faith Baptist Church exists to equip and inspire people to know and become like Jesus unto the glory of God.

Paul puts it this way in v. 1

Ephesians 4:1 ESV

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

You have been called- plural, speaking in terms of the corporate body- walk worthy church, of the calling to which you have been called.

Walk in a worthy manner church! How do we do that?

If we are going to walk worthy, if we are going to function the way God intended us to function, especially in terms of the making disciples then

I. We must eagerly and expeditiously maintenance unity in our local church (vv. 2-3)

Ephesians 4:2 ESV

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Ephesians 4:3 ESV

3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:4–6 ESV

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

How does the church make disciples? The church must make disciples in the context of unity.

How does the church make disciples?

II. We must graciously and “giftedly” serve in our local church (vv. 7-10)

Every member or part of the body, that God has uniquely graced and spiritually gifted, must function as God intended for the church to grow and walk worthy.

Ephesians 4:7 ESV

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Ephesians 4:8 (ESV)

8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

Ephesians 4:9–10 ESV

9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

How does the church make disciples?

The church makes disciples in the context of unity.

The church makes disciples by means of the grace and spiritual gifts given to us by Jesus Christ.

How does the church make disciples?

III. We must faithfully and collectively do the work of ministry in our local church (vv. 11-16)

How does the church make disciples? In the context of unity, by means of the grace and spiritual gifts given to us by Jesus, and by full complete faithful obedience to Jesus’ commands, every saint engaging in THE MINISTRY of the local church!

Ephesians 4:11 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

Here are some of the gifts that Jesus gave the church- he gave the church leaders. Apostles and prophets (no longer have those today), evangelists (missionaries), and shepherd/teachers or pastor/teachers. There are many other gifts that Jesus gives, but here he mentions the leadership gifts. And look how he ties these leadership gifts to the gifted service of the rest of the church.

Ephesians 4:12 ESV

12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

12πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων

To equip the saints

εἰς ἔργον διακονίας,

for the work of ministry

εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ,

for building up of the body of Christ,

The spiritual gifts of the leadership in the church (evangelists and pastor/teachers) is for one sole purpose. My job as a pastor, the purpose of the grace and spiritual gifts that Jesus gave me, is to equip you the saints. That is, to make people fully qualified, thus enabling you to serve the Lord by serving one another. I am to equip you the saints for the work of ministry.

God wants all saints in the local church to be equipped so that they can do the WORK of ministry. That means that Jesus gives you grace and spiritual gifts for one purpose- to minister to others!

A. Jesus is not interested in creating an audience; He wants participants

God’s intention for how the church makes disciples is for every part of the local church body to be participants in the primary mandate of the church- the work of ministry.

There is a common cultural norm that has crept into at least American churches that is the exact opposite of what Jesus intends for His Church. That is the trend of dividing the church body into experts and amateurs. Broadly speaking there are two categories of people in our churches- experts and amateurs.

Who would be considered an expert? Pastor/teachers, deacons, music ministry people, others. Often times these are the people who have gone to years of schooling, they have advanced degrees, they have been saved for a while- they are the spiritual experts.

Who would be considered the amateurs? They are the regular sheep of the flock right? Newly saved, not a lot of formal training, they are the normal folks who have trusted Christ and are a part of the church.

In our churches which group of people normally do the work of ministry? The experts right. They are often employed by the church, they are on paid staff and what is their job? Their job is to do ministry FOR the saints. But, what is the problem with this cultural norm according to Ephesians 4:12?

Evangelists, pastor/teachers- what is their job description? To equip the who? The saints (the amateurs). To do what? the work of ministry. So the idea that the experts exist in the church to do ministry FOR the saints is the antithesis of what Jesus really wants in the church. What does Jesus want? He has graced and spiritually gifted the leaders of the church, not to do ministry for the saints, but to do ministry WITH the saints!

Because if all I ever do is do ministry FOR the saints instead of WITH the saints, what kind of culture do I as a leader create in the local church? You all become merely and audience! But, Jesus doesn’t want the bulk of his church to be an audience! What does Jesus want? Participants. Let’s all do ministry together! Every member of the body ministering and serving every other member- that is the kind of church I want to be part of!

B. Jesus is not interested in creating spiritual infants; He wants spiritual adults

God has graced and spiritually gifted his church to create willing participants in the work of ministry throughout every member of the body! What exactly is the ministry that Jesus is calling everyone in the church to participate in? End of v. 12- for the building up of the body of Christ!

Jesus wants you to build up the body of Christ, both numerically and spiritually! Everything thing you do in the church should be with the purpose in mind. Become equipped for the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ. It is the great commission that Jesus has given His church!

How long should we build up the body of Christ? How do we know if we have built up the body well enough? Is there some kind of marker that we have to reach and then we can stop? Yes there is and Paul tells in v. 13.

Ephesians 4:13 ESV

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Keep on building up the body of Christ for how long?

13μέχρι καταντήσωμεν οἱ πάντες

Until we all attain

1). Here is our first marker- keep on building up the body until we all attain:

εἰς τὴν ἑνότητα

unto the unity

τῆς πίστεως

of the faith

καὶ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ,

and of the knowledge of the Son of God,

Unity of the faith- Jesus wants us all to come to a unified understanding of the faith-

Unity of the knowledge of the Son of God- Jesus wants us all to come to a unified understanding of Himself!

Teach them to observe all things that I have command you! Sound familiar?

2). Here is our second marker? keep on building up the body until we all attain:

εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον,

unto mature manhood (fully mature adulthood)

What does mature adulthood look like?

εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ,

unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (attaining the measure of Christ’s full stature)

Illustration: Did you every have one of those height charts growing up as a child? Did you have an older brother or sister? What did you always want to know after you measured yourself on that height chart? Am I taller than my sibling yet?

Jesus wants all of the saints to be equipped in the church for the work of ministering to each other to build each other up until we all reach the mark that has Jesus’ name next to it on the height chart. Full grown disciples of Jesus! That is how the church makes disciples!

There is another cultural norm that has crept into the church that is the antithesis of Jesus’ command. It is the idea that the church is not equipped to make deep, mature, fully grown disciples of Jesus. The church can teach the basics, but to really grow to maturity you need to go somewhere else to be discipled. You have to go to Bible college or seminary or to some other location to be fully discipled, because you can’t get what you need in your local church.

Let’s be really clear here- Jesus is giving the responsibility to build up the body unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ to the LOCAL CHURCH. Jesus gave the church this mission- and the church must stop delegating the responsibility! Qualification- I love bible colleges and seminaries and bible camps- I believe these other organizations can come alongside the church, but they must never replace the local church.

We have to stop asking the question “Where can discipleship happen?” and instead ask the question “Where should discipleship happen?”

Think about your life- think about the journey you have been on to grow from a spiritual infant to a mature adult. Where did the majority of your spiritual maturity take place?

Testimony- Pastor Stevens

I believe, with every fiber of my being, that the local church is God’s primary means of making full grown mature disciples of Jesus.

Do we have in place right now the kind of culture in our church where we can make full grown mature disciples of Jesus?

Illustration: Do you think our church could take an unsaved person in our community and disciple him to become our next lead pastor?

Think about the kind of culture that would require!

First, he isn’t saved yet. Do we have the kind of culture that can go out into the community, find this person, befriend him, and share the gospel with him?

Second, do we have the kind of culture in place that will easily promote spiritual growth. Do we have the right kind of spiritual nursery in place to take care of a spiritual infant in Christ?

Third, do we have the kind of culture in place that can facilitate spiritual growth to the level necessary for this man to become the a lead pastor?

If we are going to be obedient to Ephesians 4:12-13 we have to be able “to form a pagan into a pastor"! (Deep Discipleship, J.T. English) Can we do it?

What is the exact opposite of that kind of stature?

Ephesians 4:14 ESV

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

14ἵνα μηκέτι ὦμεν νήπιοι,

So that we might no longer be children (infantile like)

What does he mean? What does being a spiritual child look like? It means:

κλυδωνιζόμενοι καὶ περιφερόμενοι παντὶ

tossed back and forth by waves and carried about

ἀνέμῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας

by every wind of teaching

ἐν τῇ κυβείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων,

by the trickery of people,

ἐν πανουργίᾳ

by craftiness / cunning

πρὸς τὴν μεθοδείαν τῆς πλάνης,

in deceitful schemes,

What does that look like?

Illustration: Up Video Clip

Ephesians 4:14 ESV

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Do you know people like that? One day they seem to be energized and joyful in their obedience to Christ- they next day? Squirrel!

Jesus wants the church to be equipped to minister to others to build up the body of Christ unto full grown adulthood. We need to create a culture in our church were every member takes responsibility to do exactly that!

Do not be infantile like, but instead:

Ephesians 4:15 ESV

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Ephesians 4:16 ESV

16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

This takes every member working together. Every member graced by Jesus and gifted by Jesus. Every member, collectively and faithfully, obeying the command of Jesus, doing the work of ministry, building each other up, making the body grow in love!

C. Jesus is not interested in creating social gatherings; He wants spiritual families

Again there is a cultural norm that has developed in our churches that is the antitheses of what Jesus wants. Today, most church have become nothing more that the social hang out or hub. I go to church to socialize and meet people and feel connected. We dress up in nice clothes, we drink coffee, we talk about surface level things- and that’s about it. But Jesus never intended his church to be merely a social gathering, he wants his church to become a loving family.

Paul is already using family like terms in these last few verses. He wants us to grow into fully mature adults, he does not want us to be children. Then in vv. 15-16 he brings a very important idea to the mix of discipleship. We are to speak the truth in what? Love.

The whole body is to work together, joined and held together by every joint (every person) unifying the body and ministering to the body, so that when every part is working properly, it makes the body grow! So that it builds itself up in what? LOVE.

Jesus wants the growth of people into mature disciples to happen inside the local church, because it is in the local church where we can uniquely experience the love of a spiritual family.

That is the danger of delegating the responsibility of making disciples outside of the local church. If discipleship only happens in a classroom setting what is the danger of that? Do you feel like you are a part of a loving family in a seminary class?

But what would it look like if we created a culture where everyone, in family like love pursued the growth of everyone else?

In a classroom setting I can tend to get annoyed when a basic question is asked in class because that is time taken away from my own progression and growth, or I hear a really intelligent question and I get jealous because that other person may be ahead of me in my spiritual growth.

Now imagine how a family should work. Illustration of Joseph putting on Timothy’s shoes- not annoyed that he has to stoop down and put on the shoes of his three year old brother, but enjoying the loving bond that is being developed as he ministers and servers his brother.

Moms- what is the feeling you get when you watched your baby crawl for the first time? Dads- how did you feel when you saw your son make his first basket, or score his first goal? Love makes all the difference right?

Jesus wants discipleship to happen in the local church where we are surrounded by spiritual moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas, brothers and sisters- and we are all building each other up in love. Is that the kind of culture we have in our church?

How does the church make disciples? In the context of unity, by means of the grace and spiritual gifts given to us by Jesus, and by full, complete, faithful obedience to Jesus’ commands, every saint engaging in THE MINISTRY of the local church!

Application: Practical- disciple-making takes a lifetime to accomplish. Foundations is just the beginning. We have something we call our pathway and it provides resources for you to disciple each other all the way to full grown mature adulthood.

Where are you in that process? Do you have someone in your life ministering to you and encouraging you to grow unto the full height of Christ? Maybe you need a spiritual mom or dad, or sibling to walk life with you. How can you get involved? Follow one, win one, lead one!

It also tells me that we still have a lot of work left in changing the culture of our church to come in line with Jesus’ commands. Let’s keep growing together towards Christ!