PDF Discipleship Is Core 2021 UPDATE 3romae

DISCIPLESHIP IS THE
CORE MISSION OF THE

CHURCH
Helping People Trust and Follow Jesus
BOBBY HARRINGTON
Discipleship is the Core Mission of the Church
Copyright © 2012 by Bobby Harrington
Distributed by Discipleship.org, which is a collaborative community of men and women committed

to the discipleship lifestyle—being disciples of Jesus and making disciples of Jesus. They bring
together and promote leading voices, resources, and actionable content on discipleship. For more
information, visit www.discipleship.org.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
prior written permission from the publisher, except where noted in the text and in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is manufactured in the United States.
Revised Edition, 2014. This book was formerly published under the title, To Trust and Follow Jesus:
Relational Discipleship as the Core Mission of the Church.
ISBN: 978-0-9886453-0-1
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version(r), NIV(r). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.(tm) Used by
permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. http://www.zondervan.com.
Cover Design: Josh Shank

Interior Design: Harrington Interactive Media
harringtoninteractive.com
Editor: Lindy Lowry
To those who discipled me at Harding Graduate School of Reli-
gion while I was in ministry in Canada: Richard Oster, Evertt
Huffard, and Carroll Osborn.
ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP.ORG
Discipleship.org is a collaborative community ofmen and women committed

to the discipleship lifestyle - being disciples ofJesus and making disciples of
Jesus. We champion Jesus-style disciple making.
Imagi ne a day when di sci ple maki ng i s the norm for the local church!
Everyday Christians engage in relationships with people (inside and outside
the church) so that they can show the love of Jesus and help people to trust
and follow hi m. Churches are known as di sci ple-maki ng places, where
Jesus-like people are created. And pastors are evaluated by the people they
raise up and the disciple makers they have made in the Spirit's power. Jesus'
message AND Jesus' methods dominate.
If this resonates with you, you can joi n 1500 people who are serious about
making disciples at the National Disciple Making Forum.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: Something Is Not Working

CHAPTER 2: What Is God’s Purpose for Our Lives As Individuals?
CHAPTER 3: What Is a Relationship with God Like on Earth?
CHAPTER 4: What Is the Goal for Leaders and the Local Church?
CHAPTER 5: Why Are Relationships and Love So Important in
Discipleship?
CHAPTER 6: What About Non-Christians, Those Outside the
Church?
CHAPTER 7: How Do Service to the Poor and Discipleship Work
Together?
CHAPTER 8: How Does Discipleship Express Itself in the Local
Church?
Conclusion
Free Discipleship.org Resources
CHAPTER 1
SOMETHING IS NOT
WORKING
F or about a decade I spent a lot of time training church planters

and creating church planting networks.1 I did it joyfully. But one
day, hurriedly flying out of Nashville for a network meeting in an-
other city, a vague thought became a clear realization: I was uneasy
with the churches we were planting.
Would the result of all these church planting efforts really last?
Would the people in the churches planted truly please God, long
term? The church planters were godly, wonderful people. The the-
ology was good. Their level of commitment was inspiring. But the
approach to church planting that we (including my colleagues in
various church planting organizations) were advocating was often
leading to a shallow, cultural Christianity. Too often the people in
the churches that were being planted looked just like the non-Chris-
tians in the world. I thought that the character and ways of Christ
were too often missing in the churches. I didn’t want to come to this
conclusion, but I couldn’t shake it.
Before giving myself to church planting, I had reluctantly con-
cluded the same thing about many established churches. Too of-
7
Discipleship Is The Core Mission of the Church
ten it was legalism or traditionalism or they lacked authenticity or

something else that missed Jesus’ heart for transforming the lost
and hurting in our world. But that day I finally admitted to myself
that I was witnessing much of the same cultural Christianity in the
church-planting world. Something at a fundamental level needed
re-evaluation.
Jim Putman, Robert Coleman and I wrote DiscipleShift because
we believe that when it comes to the local church in North America
today, something is not working. We also believe that Jesus shows us
a better way. We believe that the better way comes with a shift back
to a focus on discipleship in the local church. At the invitation of
my good friend and Exponential Church Planting Conference guru
Todd Wilson, I have written this brief eBook to make the case, from
the Bible and my practical experience in church leadership, that dis-
cipleship – especially relational discipleship - is the core mission of
the church.
I am writing this book as a lead pastor, not as an academic. First
and foremost, I am still the lead pastor of the church that I planted
over fifteen years ago that is seeking to live out these truths. The
church is Harpeth Community Church just south of Nashville Ten-
nessee. Over five years ago, our elders came together and joined in
the decision that we would ask the entire church to make this DNA
shift with us. It has been difficult. We are currently walking out the
last, hard implications of this shift. It would be easy to think that
what I am describing is a subtle shift for a church. I have learned
first hand that it is a profound one. When truly embraced, it is a
fundamentally different way of doing church. But as you will see,
because of what the Bible teaches and what we believe God calls us
to follow, we cannot do otherwise. We believe it to be the path of Je-
sus. This conviction has also led me to help pioneer Discipleship.org
8
Something Is Not Working
and the relational discipleship network. These organizations seek to

help churches (and individuals) make discipleship a core focus.
A short book like this one is important. We want to get at the
heartbeat of what a church is all about. What does God want us to
do? What is our purpose? Where are we going?
The challenge is that the Bible does not come out and state the
one true mission of the church in a verse that everyone agrees is a
mission statement. In truth, there are various aspects to any sense
of purpose or mission for the church in the New Testament. While
grasping these important nuances, I still believe relational disciple-
ship is the best understanding of a church’s core purpose. I have
found that this concept of our mission can provide the best founda-
tion for everything in the church. And when stated properly, disci-
pleship gives room to emphasize the different shades or expressions
of mission that emerge in different parts of the Bible and church
life. I want to present the challenge before us and then make my case
for relational discipleship in your church.
The Challenge
Let me state the challenge in terms of a story that I have wit-
nessed countless times in 25+ years of full time ministry. The spe-
cifics I am about to describe are varied, but the composite is real.2
You see … he was one of my good friends. We had really grown to
like each other.
My wife and his wife spent time together and one of his kids
played soccer with my daughter. In terms of enjoying life together
with a social friend, it could not get any better. But there was always
a spiritual barrier. He was involved in church, even helping lead and
9
strategize in meetings. He was brilliant and he always seemed to

know what insight or words I needed to get through my challenges.
Yet, he never wanted to pray, and I know that he did not spend
much time in the Word. Even though he would speak up front at
church, there was something missing. It was somehow shallow; few
things were deep or authentically real. He would attend events and
show up for church on Sunday, but that was it. When I talked about
spiritual growth, serving the community, and small groups, he resist-
ed.
Then one day it all came out. He was not only hiding a long-term
pornography addiction, he had been secretly involved in affairs. He
had a secret life and never really let anyone get close to him. And
when the shame of his secret life was exposed, he bolted. Literal-
ly. He left his wife and kids and all of us at church. He would not
return phone calls or even respond to the loving letters we sent to
him. Like too many others … he broke my heart.
He became another example of the countless numbers of peo-
ple who have a surface relationship with Jesus and surface relation-
ships with the church. They show up on Sundays, but they are just
like people in the world. They have a form of religion, but it has no
power (2 Tim. 3:5). They do not know what it really means to follow
Jesus, to be in a church, and to grow into a Christ-like person.
The statistics do not lie …just look at the typical person who
“attends church.”3 Compare these people with people who do not
attend church:
• The percentages of men who regularly view pornography are

roughly the same.
• They are more than two times as likely to have racist attitudes
as non-church goers.
10
• Domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and most other

problems are the same as non-Christians.
Consider, too, the statistics about evangelicals.
• About one in four people living together outside of marriage

call themselves evangelicals.
• Fewer than one out of five who claim to be born-again
Christians have a worldview of even a few fundamental biblical
beliefs.
• Only about 6 percent of evangelicals regularly tithe.
• Only about half the people who say they regularly attend
church actually do.
• A significant number of younger adults (millennials) believe
that evangelical churches are not even Christ-like or Christian.
• 60 to 80 percent of young people will leave the church out of
high school.4
Plenty of people call themselves Christians and attend our church-

es, but they are just like the world. One can’t help but conclude
that something is wrong. Where’s the lasting life change? Where are
the transformed lives? Why are we not developing people who are
Christ-like?
A few years back, Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Commu-
nity Church, revealed the results of a months-long study into their
church’s effectiveness. The conclusion was that the church simply
wasn’t producing the results they were hoping for. Willow Creek’s
leaders did research into other churches across the country and came
to the same conclusions.5
11
In the foreword to Reveal, a book outlining their discoveries, Bill

Hybels wrote, “The local church is the hope of the world. For a
number of years now, I have shared this message whenever I’ve
had the opportunity to serve pastors of local churches across
the nation and around the world. It’s a message I believe with
all my heart. So you can imagine my reaction when three people
whose counsel I value told me that the local church I’ve been the
pastor of for more than three decades was not doing as well as
we thought when it came to spiritual growth. As if that wasn’t
bad enough, they said this wasn’t just their opinion. It was based
on scientific research.”6
The results rocked Willow Creek’s world. Willow Creek’s leaders re-
alized that they had to make significant changes. Hybels put it this
way:
“Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do

church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink
all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights
that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream
is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to
transform this planet.”7
Like Bill Hybels, I went back to the drawing board. I wanted to

rethink the purpose and the methods we use in church planting and
in the established churches today. My desire then and now is to be
the church that God wants. I want to be a part of something that
really helps people to trust and follow Jesus.
12
The Thesis
Discipleship, especially the relational model Jesus utilized, is the
timeless and best methodology for discipleship. We call it the Inten-
tional Relational Discipleship Model.8
This focus doesn’t measure success by how many people come
to a church, how much money is given, or even how many con-
verts are made. These things are worth measuring, but they’re always
secondary. The model we advocate measures success by how many
people are being loved and led into the way of Jesus? How many are
coming to Christ and learning to truly follow him in the real world?
It measures how many people are being transformed into Christ’s
likeness and are pursuing his kingdom reign.
Jesus not only told us to make disciples but also gave us a model
to follow in doing so. My investigation into his life has led me to be-
lieve that his methods are just as divine as his teachings. He showed
us that the fundamental methodology in making disciples is rela-
tionships. Discipleship is the focus. Relationships are the method.
Jesus invited people into relationships with himself; he loved them
and in the process showed them how to follow God and become
like him. His primary method was life-on-life.
We believe churches honor God by moving to a model of church
that champions biblical discipleship in relational environments. Sim-
ply put, a church exists to make disciples. And the primary method-
ology is Christ-like love expressed in relationship. Notice those two
key words again in relation to what we’re espousing, and keep the
ideas in mind so you can begin to chew on them.
13
Focus = discipleship
Methodology = relationships (grounded in agape love)
The following chapters explain my thinking process. They describe

a synthesis of biblical teaching that led me personally as I developed
my understanding of the purpose of the church. Please note, I am
not just saying that discipleship is the core mission of the church.9
I am also saying that relationships grounded in Christ’s love (agape
love) are also the environment God intended as the basis for this
core mission.10
I will restrict myself in this eBook to making the case for rela-
tional discipleship. The book DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your
Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples is an in-depth manual
which describes how to put these concepts into practice in both
church plants and in established churches.
14
CHAPTER 2
WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE

FOR OUR LIVES AS
INDIVIDUALS?
W hen we first started Harpeth Community Church, a man

whose son played hockey with my son became my friend and
joined a Bible discussion group with me. He knew nothing about
the Bible. He was from New York and, at twelve years of age, he
saw his father killed in a mafia hit. He then spent the next 30+ years
of his life keeping himself far from God. Because of our friendship,
we talked about the Bible a lot.
One day he tried to describe what he was learning about the
Bible to another man at work. The man questioned him and chal-
lenged him. He came back to me confused and wanted clarity. He
was starting to learn things and he wanted to be sure that he was
getting it right. “Bottom line,” he said, “what is it all about?”
There are different ways that people ask the same question. Why
am I here? What is God’s purpose for my life? Where is my life go-
ing? This is the light in which I think the best question in regard to
15
the mission of the church begins, not for the church, but for the in-
dividual person. What is God’s purpose for our lives as individuals?
These questions, Gerhard Hasel points out, summarize everything
gleaned in the biblical theology movement of the last century. The
fundamental theme of everything in both the Old and New Testa-
ment is God and his relationship with us.11
Numerous passages point to the answer, but the most significant
are the following:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17)
From one man he (God) made every nation of men, that they
should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set
for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this
so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him,
though he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:24-27)
The most important (commandment) is this: ‘Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength. (Mark 12:29, 30)
God’s central purpose for a human life is the development of a life

changing relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This relationship is
established by God and offered to human beings through faith in
Jesus Christ. This relationship with God is developed when humans
respond to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and with the help
16
What Is God’s Purpose for Our Lives As Individuals?
of other Christians. We then learn how to love God with heart,

mind, soul, and strength.
This relationship will be fulfilled at the end of human history. In
eternity, those who entered into this relationship with God on earth
will enjoy an ultimate union with God in heaven. The book of Rev-
elation describes it this way:
Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They
will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more
death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things
has passed away... he who overcomes will inherit all of this, and
I will be his God and he will be my son. (Rev. 21:3, 4, 7).
God wants this kind eternal relationship with every human being
who comes into this world (1 Timothy 2: 4). This is why Jesus Christ
came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Human beings were
created to be in relationship with God.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism has it right on this point,
in my opinion, when it asks the question “What is the chief end
of man?” To which it answers, “To glorify God and enjoy him for-
ever.”12 Jesus Christ is the basis of that relationship: no one can
come into an eternal saving relationship with God, apart from Him
(John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Without him, we are eternally lost (Revela-
tion 20:11-15). But by relationship with God through Jesus, we will
glorify and enjoy God forever.
This understanding guides us in how we truly help individuals
in this life. Why am I here? To know God. What is God’s purpose
for my life? A life changing relationship with God. Where is my life
17
going? I can receive eternal life, which is a life that begins now and
will never end through Jesus.
Going back to the question at the beginning of the chapter that
my friend asked, it took me a little while to answer him. He said
that he thought he told the man at work, “Every answer but the
right one,” and so I wanted my answer to be clear and memorable.
My first thought was, “How can I sum it up in one line?” Because
we were living in Tennessee and because almost everyone claims
to “have faith,” I knew that expression would not work. Besides, in
today’s Christian world “to have faith” means something different
to everyone.
Then it came to me. God invites us into an eternal relationship
with him where we “trust and follow Jesus.” This is a clear but sub-
stantive expression of what it means to have “faith in Jesus Christ”
(in his life, his cross, his kingdom, and his present reign as Lord of
heaven and earth). Yes, the Bible is clear, faith is the key. But I am
convinced something simple and yet more specific is needed.
Faith in Jesus = to trust and follow Jesus.
I find it helpful to summarize a huge amount of biblical material

by using the expression “to trust and follow” instead of faith. Faith
includes not just mental assent, but affections and the will - the
whole person – as it transforms my head, my heart, and my hands.13
I am not defining a disciple by this definition, I am just describing
what the Christian life is all about.14 “Tell the man at work,” I said,
“that it all comes back to trusting and following Jesus.” He was hap-
py with that answer. I was too.
At root, we live out this life trusting and following Jesus in
relationship with God and we seek to help others follow this same
18
What Is God’s Purpose for Our Lives As Individuals?
path. This is why every human being’s top need is to get help devel-
oping a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Helping people with this pursuit is what discipleship is all about …
19
CHAPTER 3
WHAT IS A
RELATIONSHIP WITH
GOD LIKE ON EARTH?
M any people have different ideas about the kind of life that
God wants us to have in this world. Most people get easily
confused – we often equate what God wants for us with the pursuit
of the American dream. Without biblical teaching, we often just
assume that God is the one who will grant us, “life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.” Honestly, in my flesh, this is the kind of life
I want. I naturally desire success, freedom, fulfilling relationships
and every thing that makes me happy. God promises to give me
many good things – including the best things, which are found in
relationship with him. And there are many worldly good things that
God gives me to enjoy every day too. But God does not promise
“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Instead God promises me himself, his family, and an eternal des-
tiny in his eternal kingdom. The Kingdom of God begins now and
it will be consummated in something much better than anything I
can imagine. Being with the father, Son, and Spirit will be sheer joy.
20
What Is a Relationship with God Like on Earth?
God has promised that to us (Revelation 21:1-22:5).

This world is where I am being prepared – in relationship with
God through Jesus - for the next world. I have a relationship with
God on the basis of his son’s cross and guided by his son’s life,
teaching, and kingdom promises. God himself, through his Spirit,
works in our hearts to empower us for this relationship and God has
determined that this relationship will lead us to be transformed into the image
of his Son.15
Let’s put it this way: “We were created to glorify God in a trans-
forming relationship with Him through Jesus Christ in the power of the
Holy Spirit.” Numerous New Testament passages stress the trans-
formational aspect of our relationship with God in this life. In Ro-
mans, Paul states God’s goal for our lives this way:
Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the

likeness of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brothers (Rom. 8:29).
In Mark, Jesus himself called for this transformation.
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and
said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save
it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit
his soul?” (Mk. 8:34-36).
The transforming nature of this relationship with God through

Christ is brought out in the lives of many people. Paramount among
these people was the apostle Paul. He described it this way:
21
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in
me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20).
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but

will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be
exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. (Phil. 1:20, 21).
I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing great-

ness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteous-ness of my own
that comes from law, but that which is through faith in Christ --
the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to
know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing
in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Phil. 3:7-10).
In Galatians, Paul refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in develop-

ing Christ-like character. In relationship with God, Paul is saying,
you will become this kind of person.
So I say, live by the Spirit. . . The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Gal. 5:16,
22-24).
Passages like these could be multiplied. The essence of life is God

reaching out to us and offering to transform us into the image of
his Son.
22
What Is a Relationship with God Like on Earth?
By God’s design, we become different people. Jesus taught that

the greatest commandment was to love God with our entire beings
-- hearts, minds, souls, and strength – and to “love our neighbor as
ourselves” (more on this part below). Jesus was not so much giving
us a list of the various dimensions of human psychology as he was
teaching us to embrace our relationship with God and other human
beings holistically as he did.16
When we talk of becoming disciples we are emphasizing holistic
development of our entire beings in relationship with God and peo-
ple. We believe that this is a gradual, life long process (2 Cor. 3:17-
18). God’s purpose for our individual lives, as we await the return of
Jesus, is that we become more and more like Jesus.
Helping people with this pursuit is what discipleship is all about …
23
CHAPTER 4
WHAT IS THE GOAL

FOR LEADERS AND THE
LOCAL CHURCH?
I still remember the period leading up to the day when I started my

first full time ministry role. I had been leading my family’s truck-
ing company and my home church in Calgary, Canada asked me to
become their lead minister. Not only was I really excited about my
new role, I wanted to do it very well, to please God and bless the
people.
The problem was that my role was ill defined. A man in his late
20’s needs a clear job description. Some of the leaders in the church
thought they knew what I should do (personally pastor each mem-
ber). Other people in the church had a different idea (just do what
the elders said). And I had another idea (to lead the church). It was
hard to clearly define my role, so I spent my first seven years in min-
istry dealing with a high level of confusion. What exactly was my
job?
I am glad that I found clarity in the Bible. Once we know that
we were created to glorify God in heaven, and until then we are be-
24
What Is the Goal for Leaders and the Local Church?
ing transformed into the image of his son through relationship with
him, we can understand the role of leaders in God’s community. A
review of the role of leaders in the New Testament church indicates
that their primary job was to help people with what we described
in the first two chapters. In the New Testament, appointed leaders
were to train, coach, and mentor people so that they would become fully
devoted followers of Jesus.17
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evange-

lists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service,
so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach
unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness
of Christ. (Eph. 4:11-13).
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry,
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not
on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Cor. 3:3).
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,

so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor,
struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
(Col. 1:28, 29).
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth

until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now
and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you! (Gal.
4:19, 20).
The apostle Paul taught this same leadership goal to Timothy (1 &
2 Timothy) and other church leaders. It is the same leadership goal
25
that Jesus demonstrated and taught – he led men and women to

trust and follow him – and to become like him.
The primary job of church leaders is to guide people to trust
and follow God through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spir-
it. A faithful church leader will insist that the quest for Christ and
his life undergird all the multiple aspects of church life. In this way,
church leaders have the same over-riding objective that God has for
his people.
Every book in the New Testament was either written to a church
or to the leaders of a church. The New Testament as a whole, un-
derstood this way, tells us a lot about the purpose of the church. It
all keeps coming back to Jesus.
I once set out to understand the underlying point and linguistic
structure of every book in the New Testament at a detailed level.
I know it sounds obsessive, but I really just wanted to know God’s
word at an in-depth level, simply to honor him and be a faithful
teacher (James 3:1-2). I spent years seeking to master the over-riding
Greek structure and message of each book, according to the best
New Testament scholars. I wanted to make sure that I got it right
and I expended lots of energy and time, seeking to research this
question while I completed my Master of Divinity degree. I did this
for a period of about 12 years, looking at one book of the New Tes-
tament after the other. Ok, I admit it … this was an obsessive thing
to do!
Then one day it hit me: every book in the New Testament was
really just written to help people to trust and follow Jesus Christ.
Think about it. What is the purpose for which Luke wrote his gos-
pel (he tells us in Luke 1:1-4)? Why did John write his gospel (he
tells us in John 20:30-31)? What is the purpose of Philippians (see
1:9-11) and even Revelation (see Revelations 1:1-3)? Everything was
26
written to help people to trust and follow Jesus Christ. The word for
that is discipleship.
I found New Testament scholar Richard Longnecker’s book,
Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament, to show that the New Tes-
tament, in all of its diversity, shows that discipleship is the major,
fundamental, and underlying theme of the entire New Testament.18
N.T. Wright’s Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship points us
down a similar path.19
But it is important not to over-state the case. There are so many
aspects of discipleship addressed in the Bible, that it would take
pages to summarize them all. Here are a few samples of the ways in
which discipleship is expressed:
• How do we love God, in the way of Jesus?

• How do we love People, in the way of Jesus?
• How do we worship God, in the way of Jesus?
• How do we glorify God in everything, in the way of Jesus?
• How do husbands treat their wives, in the way of Jesus?
• How do wives treat their husbands, in the way of Jesus?
• How do children treat their parents, in the way of Jesus?
• How do slaves treat their masters, in the way of Jesus?
As you can see, there are an almost limitless number of situations

and circumstances when talking about being disciples of Jesus. Be-
hind everything written that addresses these situations (and others)
in the New Testament is the desire to “put on the mind of Christ.”
In fact, the apostle Paul summed up the whole of ministry in the
church as discipleship with these words:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make
it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
27
These facts are important because they form the background to

the summary statement that Jesus gave to the apostles and to the
Christians of all time. I do not believe the great commission was
given as a purpose or mission statement for the local church. But,
at the same time, it is a good statement to give general guidance for
the church.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in

the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely
I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt. 28:19,
20).
All authority was given to Jesus. He commanded his disciples to go

and make disciples. Disciples are not merely converts but also learn-
ers, students, Christ followers, or better yet, “apprentices of Jesus.”20
They are people who both “trust and follow” Jesus. We make disci-
ples, the text tells us, by baptizing people who respond to Jesus and
his gospel message and by teaching them to obey everything Jesus
commanded.21
DeYoung and Gilbert’s comprehensive study What Is the Mission
of the Church? deals with many of the complicated questions about
the mission or purpose of the church that thoughtful people are
asking. They thoroughly discuss the kingdom of God, service to the
poor, and the place for peace. I could not recommend it more highly,
especially to young leaders. They sum it all up in a simple statement:
“the mission of the church—your church, my church, the church in
Appalachia, the church in Azerbaijan, the church anywhere—is to
make disciples of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit to the glory
of God the Father.”22
28
New Testament scholar Michael Wilkins puts it this way: “Since

all true Christians are disciples, the ministry of the church may be
seen in its broadest sense as ‘discipleship.’ Various ministries within
the church should be seen as specialization, aspects, or stages of
discipleship training.”23 In the end, everything in the local church is
about this underlying mission.
Helping people with this quest is what discipleship is all about …
29
CHAPTER 5
WHY ARE
RELATIONSHIPS AND
LOVE SO IMPORTANT IN
DISCIPLESHIP?
I am a relational person. Ask me what matters in this life and I will

quickly tell you that, next to God, the most important thing to
me is my family and friends. The thought of life without these re-
lationships would be very disturbing to me. But the thought of life
with these relationships is pure joy – especially when I am looking
forward to everyone joining together at my house for something like
Thanksgiving.
I am sure glad that God is relational. God was, and continues to
be, in relationship with the Son and the Spirit. God is love. God’s
commands are grounded and summarized relationally – loving God
and loving people.
Not only is God relational, but Jesus’ ministry was relational.
Jesus shows us the best method of discipleship possible and it was
a method based in relationships. We can describe Jesus’ approach
30
Why are Relationships and Love So Important in Discipleship?
by identifying four basic types of discipling relationships that Jesus

modeled for us. Wise ministry looks carefully at the method of dis-
cipleship that Jesus used and seeks, where possible and applicable,
to replicate it today:
• Transparent relationship level – Jesus and 3 people – Peter, James,

and John. These were the closest and most intense of all Jesus’
discipling relationships. Jesus discipled these men to be the
primary leaders of his church. He had very deep, intimate
relationships with them.
• Personal relationship level – Jesus and 12 people – the disciples.
These were close discipling relationships. These men regularly
meet in relational environments - sometimes Jesus taught them,
sometimes he modeled godly behavior for them, sometimes he
coached them with questions, etc.,
• Social relationship level – Jesus and the 72. Beyond his
relationships with the 3 and the 12, Jesus was in regular social
relationships with people like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. In
fact, there were 72 men that Jesus commissioned and sent out.
These were people that Jesus discipled, but not as personally or
intimately as he did the others.
• Public relationship level – Jesus and the crowds. There were times
where Jesus taught the crowds the Word of God. Jesus was
discipling the crowds in this way – he was showing them how
to trust and follow him – but the relationships were public,
general.
An in-depth study of these levels of discipling relationships can

give us a model for how discipleship works well in a local church.24
Jesus was focused on discipleship, but he did it in different way, in
31
different relationship settings. Those who were to become his lead-

ers had the closest relationship with him. Wise church leaders adopt
a similar model today.
Relationships are the environment by which discipleship func-
tioned in the rest of the New Testament too. Elders were people
shepherding other people in relationship. Evangelists were people
sent to reach people and invite them into relationships. Parents were
people discipling children in relationship (Ephesians 6:4; Deuteron-
omy 6:4-8). The apostles teach us that discipleship is by relationship
and it is actually spiritual parenting (1 Thess. 2:6-8, 11-12; 1 Cor.
4:15; 1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4).
Jesus and the New Testament demonstrate that discipleship needs
BOTH direction and relationship. Direction without relationship is
a program approach to discipleship that says, “Read this book. Take
this class. Memorize these verses. Listen to these sermons. Memo-
rize these answers. Follow these steps.” I call this “educational disci-
pleship.” Both the Bible and research show that this kind of “head
oriented approach” is too limited and ineffective. Christ-centered,
New Testament guided instruction is practical and for all of life,
including, but greatly transcending knowledge and facts.25
Conversely, relationship without direction results in a process
that is lacking in the other direction. It says, “Let’s just hang out to-
gether. Let’s meet over coffee to talk. Let’s enjoy one another.” Re-
lationships by themselves are not discipleship. Discipleship involves
imitation, but that is more than just relationship (1 Cor. 4:16). Being
with people, enjoying life, sharing pain and the like are all essential
to discipleship (see Romans 12), but it is more than just relationship.
Both guidance and relationship are essential. Biblical guidance
and coaching, as defined by Jesus, and modeled by the apostles, is an
intentional process, grounded in relationship.
32
His method of discipleship was grounded in the environment

of “agape love.” This kind of love is a love that acts according to
what is best for the other person. Jesus loved people this way and
he commands us to show this same love for one another. Jesus de-
scribed it for us in John 13:34-35:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved

you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The last statement is a really important one in the Bible – the chief
hallmark of discipleship is agape love. It is the most important trait
by which a true disciple is known.
Later in the Bible, the apostle John describes something similar
when he writes: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid
down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our
brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16). Clarity on this point is important
because there are other things in the Bible that are good things that
might appear to be equally important. Yet, agape love is the most
important.
For example, some people talk a great deal about the Holy Spirit.
There are many people who claim experiences of the Holy Spirit are
most important. But under inspiration, the apostle Paul tell us that
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13: 1).
Some people might reply, “Truth, orthodoxy, correct belief, loy-
alty to the doctrines of Scripture, and the Reformation confessions
are most important.” Yes, Biblical doctrine is vital. We must fight the
good fight of the faith. But Paul goes on and says, “If I have the gift
33
of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, but I
have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).
Others can reply that faith is the key. But Paul says, “if I have a
faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing”
(1 Corinthians 13:2). Agape love is the most important reflection of
Christ-likeness and discipleship within the church.
Still others focus on service. Those with the gift of mercy or
those drawn to social justice and serving the poor will say, “Well, the
authentic mark of a true believer is in the realm of service, especial-
ly in service to the poor and the needy.” But service does not nec-
essarily spring from loving others! Service can spring from various
kinds of motives. Love is more important: “If I give all I possess to
the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do
not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).
The most important sign of authentic discipleship, the most im-
portant attribute of the Christian life, is agape love.
• It is not a Worship Experience

• It is not experiences of the Holy Spirit
• It is not correct doctrine
• It is not Faith
• It is not Service to the poor and needy
Agape love is the environment and foundation that God wants for
the church. It is the first and most important aspect of the Holy
Spirit’s fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:22).
The apostle Paul describes it for us succinctly:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not
proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily an-
gered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but re-
34
joices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13:4-8)
Let me make this personal. As I trust and follow Jesus and seek to
help others to trust and following Jesus, I am to have a way about
me.
I am seeking to become a person epitomized by love. It is the
1 Cor. 13 way and it is on my mind, daily. I want to become love; I
want my biography to become clear to all.
Bobby is patient, Bobby is kind. Bobby does not envy, Bobby

does not boast, Bobby is not proud. Bobby does not dishonor
others. Bobby is not self-seeking, Bobby is not easily angered
and keeps not record of wrongs. Bobby does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth. Bobby always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres. Bobby never fails.
The apostle Paul describes the priority in Galatians 6:10, “There-

fore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially
to those who belong to the family of believers.” This passage helps
us to understand why the Bible emphasizes our love to those who
are within the church and the family of believers. There is no more
heart piercing passage in this regard than Matthew 25: 31-46. In this
passage Jesus tells us that the final judgment will be based on how
well our faith led us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who
are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hun-
gry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
35
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Jesus describes those who are saved as those who “fed the hun-
gry, showed hospitality to the stranger, clothed the naked, took care
of the sick, and visited those in prison.” The key point, often over-
looked, is that Jesus is talking about how Christians took care of oth-
er Christians. Jesus says it this way, “whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (verse
40). Brothers and sisters in this passage (and throughout Matthew)
refers to other Christians. This passage was written to describe how
true disciples will love and take care of each other and that it should
be an important priority for us.
This is why we say that Agape love is to be the foundation for
everything that happens in the church. Because love is given to us
as the ultimate sign and priority, it is to be a priority for us, everyday
in the local church. We develop a mindset. We pursue a life of love
(Eph. 5:1-2).
• Love is our mindset, before relationships and it upholds them.

• Love is our mindset, before teaching and it leads us through
them.
• Love is our mindset, before tasks and it undergirds them.
• Love is our mindset, before instruction and it guides it through
and through.
• Love is our mindset, before leading or following and it directs
us.
It is only when love is the priority will a church be distinctive as God

intends. As someone has said: In this life we cannot do great things.
36
We can only do small things with great love. Love is the distinguish-
ing trait of true Christianity.
37
CHAPTER 6
WHAT ABOUT NON-

CHRISTIANS, THOSE
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH?
I have a hard time with the focus of this chapter. This is some-
thing that has bothered me from the earliest days after I received
Christ’s forgiveness and committed myself to him. And it has not
gotten much easier as I have gotten older. I do not understand how
a person can experience a saving relationship with Christ and not
earnestly strive to share that gift with people who are lost without it.
The great commission teaches us “to go” and “to make disci-
ples” of all people (Matthew 28:18-20). Discipleship is for every-
one, especially those who are lost without Jesus. In light of eternity,
nothing is more important than giving a person an opportunity “to
trust and follow” Jesus Christ.
Some people refer to this part as evangelism, but I believe it is
still best to think of it as discipleship. We prefer to talk about “dis-
cipling lost people” rather than evangelism. This terminology better
follows the example of Jesus. The language of the Bible implies
38
What About Non-Christians, Those Outside the Church?
more than just a focus on conversion and more than just a one-time
presentation of information.
Like the early Christians and Jesus himself, we are constantly loving,
inviting, and encouraging those who do not follow Jesus to join us and enter into
this life changing relationship with God. We reach out and invite those
who do not know him. We reach out to those who barely know him.
We will reach out to those who used to know him. We will reach out
to those who are lukewarm. We do this because we are convinced that it is
God’s best for everyone to experience discipleship in the way of Jesus. There are
many things I can do for others, but I believe the best thing I can
ever do - if I really love someone - is to help him or her join this
path.
As a Christian leader I am flabbergasted that saved people in our
churches do not put a priority on reaching those who are eternally
lost. The Bible does not provide numerous commands to tell us to
reach lost people (beyond the great commission and a few others)
because it is unfathomable that we would need commands to reach out to lost
people. If we believe that God saved us from eternal punishment in
hell when we placed our faith in Jesus, why would we have to be told
to share that gift with others? If we really love people, how could
we not want to share it with them? Honesty compels us to ask hard
questions – do we believe in the Way of Jesus, but not love people
who are eternally lost; or do we love the people who are eternally
lost, but not really believe in the Way of Jesus? Something is deeply
wrong when we do not have a strong desire to reach lost people.
The root issue is that a large number of those who claim to be
Christians are not walking closely with God. In the words of John
15, we are not “remaining close to Christ,” walking with him dai-
ly which produces a love for God and for other people. When we
are not walking close to God, his heart for others is not our heart.
39
God was disappointed with Jonah when he did not care about the
120,000 people in Nineveh who were facing judgment (Jonah 4). Jo-
nah did not care whether they repented or received God’s judgment.
God was heartbroken at his response! Like Jonah, why do we not
care about people who are about to experience judgment in hell?
Why would we think that lost people don’t matter to God?
Those of us, who believe that Jesus is the only sure way of sal-
vation, have two questions to ask others and ourselves on a regular
basis.
• Do we really believe people are eternally lost if they do not trust and follow
Christ?
• If so, what are we doing about it?
We can easily lose clarity over time. We become accustomed to the

nuances of the faith and the different beliefs held by different peo-
ple. We have a lot of pressure today to be tolerant. We do not want
to be judgmental. Our convictions get fuzzy. Is Jesus really “the way,
the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)? Is it true that “no one comes to
the father, except through him”? Can we say that there is “no other
name under heaven, by which people can be saved” (Acts 4:12)?
The Bible plainly tells us that hell is real and most people are
going there (Matt. 7:13-14). You might read that last sentence again
and look up that passage. We want to do our part to reach as many
as we can.
We forget that God’s Glory is at stake. The best thing for a hu-
man being is to become a genuine disciple of Jesus. But more impor-
tantly, God is worthy of their devotion. God is good and those who
become disciples embrace the purpose for which they were created:
to love and enjoy God and to glorify him forever (Rev. 21:1ff). God
40
What About Non-Christians, Those Outside the Church?
is worthy of everyone’s devotion. Each of us can make a difference.

You and your decisions are God’s plan. It may be that God has you
reading this eBook for this exact reason.
I love many things that were spoken or written by Charles Spur-
geon. Here is one of the best exhortations he ever made.
If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies.
And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their
knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the
teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.26
It is vitally important that we reach out to lost people and invite

them to join with us and trust and follow Jesus.
41
CHAPTER 7
HOW DO SERVICE
TO THE POOR AND
DISCIPLESHIP WORK
TOGETHER?
T he more like Christ we become, the better we will become at

love. The greatest commands are to love God and love people
(Matthew 22:36-40). We are literally, as Christians, to live a “life of
love” (Ephesians 5:1). Because agape love is such a big deal to God,
it is emphasized many times in the Bible.
Numerous passages in the New Testament tell us that we must
show this love to everyone, especially the poor and marginalized.
The story of the Good Samaritan may be the most important teach-
ing in this regard. Jesus was questioned about loving neighbors and
who really qualified as a neighbor. By telling the story of how even
a pagan (Samaritan) knew it was the right thing to love and care for
a stranded stranger, Jesus shows us that it should be automatic that
we show love to all people; we need no one to teach us this truth
(Luke 10:25ff).
42
How Do Service to the Poor and Discipleship Work Together?
Both the Old and New Testaments repeatedly teach that we must
love and serve the poor. True discipleship will express this truth in
our lives as we take care of the poor. The following are just a sample
of the passages in the Bible that teach us this priority:
• Proverbs 21:13 - If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,
he too will cry out and not be answered.
• Proverbs 28:27 - He who gives to the poor will lack nothing,
but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.
• Proverbs 29: 7 - The righteous care about justice for the poor,
but the wicked have no such concern.
• Proverbs 31:8-9 - “Speak up for those who cannot speak for
themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and
judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
• Isaiah 1: 17 - Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the
cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
• Isaiah 58: 6-10 -”Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the
yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not
to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor
wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe
him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? .
. . And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and
satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in
the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
Jesus also told us that we must reach out to others in love and let the
world see our good deeds (Matthew 5:14-16).
43
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be
hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in
the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in
heaven.”
Jesus loved every person with whom he made contact. He loved

the poor; he loved those struggling with sin; he loved those with
sickness and disease … and he loved the rich and powerful. He was
love and he showed love – that is why prostitutes, sinners, and those
on the margins gathered to him. By these actions, he demonstrated
the kingdom of God and served as the light of the world. We can
follow a similar path in our community today.
When Jesus loved and served people he did not make it condi-
tional. What I mean is this: he did not serve and love people (meet
their needs) as a ploy to make them follow him. Jesus loved and
served people to express the kingdom reign of God and show the
love of God. People were attracted to him because of this love and
it helped them choose to follow him, but it was not a conditional
relationship. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10); he
had no higher priority for people than helping them to trust and fol-
low him (John 3:14), but Jesus did not force his agenda on people as
he served them. Most chose not to follow him during his ministry,
but a few did. Jesus rejoiced when it happened.
In a like manner, we will have opportunities and situations of
need in our community where we will serve the poor and margin-
alized (however they are defined). We want to love them. We hope
that it will help them to join us in trusting and following Jesus, but
we do not want to force this agenda on them. We are to let our light
44
shine; we raise the flag of the message of Jesus, but we do not ma-
nipulate people or make our acts of service conditional.
At the same time, as people who have received the greatest gift
possible through Jesus, we want people to have what we have. The
best thing we can ever do for another person is to help them be-
come a disciple of Jesus. Yet, to emphasize an important point - it
is not the only thing we are to do for other people, especially the
poor and marginalized. Jesus shows us the way in this regard. Jesus
loved every person with which he came into contact and, whenever
possible, he pointed them to the path of salvation. We should do
the same.
We can sum it up this way – we love and serve and let our light
shine and we seek to invite people, as a top priority, to follow the
path of Jesus to the cross and discipleship with us. But love is not
manipulative – either for other Christians or for those who are lost
without Christ. Love just loves and meets the needs of others to the
best of our ability. Love is giving, sacrificial, and free.
Right now the “missional” movement within evangelical Chris-
tianity and within the church-planting world is very strong. I spent
a year as the director of research and development for Stadia (a
church planting organization), seeking to help churches that were
committed to the poor and those of the margins of society. It was
a great experience, learning from some of the most sensitive and
thoughtful young Christian leaders today. We are all to be missional
in the sense that, as Jesus was sent into the world, so he sends us
(John 20:21). We are sent on mission to a lost and hurting world.
As the missional movement gains steam, and as more and more
churches embrace missional communities, we will see the church
take on more of a heart for the poor. As the passages above show
us, there is a strong biblical basis for this thrust. But there is some-
45
thing very important that must be said: missional movements and

service to the poor will fail, if they are not undergirded, foundation-
ally, by discipleship.
Mike Breen is one of the world’s leading authorities in the mis-
sional movement. In his article, “Why the Missional Movement Will
Fail,” he describes the reason discipleship is more fundamental than
service:
This is the crux of it: The reason the missional movement may
fail is because most people/communities in the Western church
are pretty bad at making disciples. Without a plan for making
disciples (and a plan that works), any missional thing you launch
will be completely unsustainable.
Mike goes on to explain exactly what he means:
Think about it this way: Sending people out to do mission is to

send them out to a war zone. Discipleship is not only the boot
camp to train them for the front lines, but the hospital when
they get wounded and the off-duty time they need to rest and
recuperate. When we don’t disciple people the way Jesus and the
New Testament talked about, we are sending them out without
armor, weapons or training. This is mass carnage waiting to hap-
pen. How can we be surprised that people burn out, quit and
never want to return to the missional life (or the church)? How
can we not expect people will feel used and abused?27
Here is the way of Jesus – we are to be grounded in loving, disci-

pleship based relationships and then serve out of that foundation.
Even Jesus built up a discipling community as a basis for the mis-
sion of his disciples. Surely he wants us to do the same.
46
Love demonstrated in our community in this way will be a light

to the lost and hurting world. And many will follow that light, and
because of it, they will join us in trusting and following Jesus. It will
all point back to Jesus - he is the Way, the Truth, and the LIGHT.
47
CHAPTER 8
HOW DOES
DISCIPLESHIP EXPRESS
ITSELF IN THE LOCAL
CHURCH?
M y wife loves to visit people in the hospital and to bring food to

people in need. My daughter loves to minister to high school
girls. My son loves to teach and write artistic theology (interesting
term? but he is very good at it). My dad loved serving as a leader
in the benevolence ministry at church, to help the poor and needy.
And my mother loves to encourage other women. I am sure glad
that in the local church there are countless expressions of giftedness
in discipleship.
The church is called “the body of Christ” and we do lots of
things, utilizing the gifts of lots of people (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:1-
30). We live out as a group, the life of Jesus. Since discipleship is
trusting and following Jesus, this will be expressed in countless ways
in the church as a community. Here are few samples.
48
How Does Discipleship Express Itself in the Local Church?
• God wants the church to be an extended family, in the Way of

Jesus (1 Timothy 3:14-16; Mark 19:29-30),
• God wants the church to make known Jesus and His wisdom
to spiritual beings in the heavenly realms (Eph.3:10),
• God wants the church to sing and declare his praises through
Jesus (1 Peter 2:9; Col. 3:16),
• God wants the church to uphold Jesus as the foundation of
truth (1 Timothy 3:15; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 20:27-31), and
• God wants the church to be a community where Jesus dwells
through his Spirit (1 Cor. 12:27; 2 Cor. 6:16).
• God wants the church to take care of the poor and the widow
(Acts 6: James 1:27).
While all of these statements and others are true, the predominant un-
derlying theme is that God wants the church to be a community that helps people
to trust Jesus and become like him. I believe that the expression of the
multiplicity of purposes helps balance and give full expression to
the pursuit of discipleship and Christ-likeness without taking away
from it as an over-riding mission.
For example, God wants the church to be a family, but if the
church is a family, it is not just a family that enjoys itself and be-
comes a Christian social club, it is a family where people serve one
another and develop the mind that was first in Jesus Christ (Phil.
2:3-11). If the church declares the wisdom of God so that even
heavenly beings are informed, they are made aware that Christ was
before all things and all things were made for him (Col. 1:15-20).
If God wants the church to sing and declare his praises, in doing
so the church determines to let the “word of Christ dwell” among
the members in all richness, as they sing songs, hymns, and spiritual
songs (Col. 3:16-18).
49
If God’s people use their gifts, these are gifts empowered for ser-
vice in Christ’s name, for his purposes (Eph. 4:11-16). If the church
has leaders who teach and guard the truth, they are servant leaders
who imitate Jesus Christ (Matt.20: 25-28) and teach the truth that
is found in him (Heb. 1:1-8). If the church is the dwelling place of
God’s Spirit, it is not just a community where people have spiritual
experiences, it is a place where spiritual experiences lead people into
Christ-likeness (Gal. 5:22-25).
There are many ways that express the Christ-like path of the
church. In this light, influential church leaders like Rick Warren sug-
gest five purposes for the church28 and Thom Rainer suggested six.29
Each of these sub-purposes are things that are emphasized in the
Bible, as expressions of the purpose of the church. Together they
say that a biblical church will emphasize the following six expres-
sions of God’s purpose:
• Evangelism
• Worship
• Fellowship
• Teaching30
• Ministry
• Prayer
Like every expression of following Jesus, each of these aspects of

the purpose of the church is good. In an attempt to articulate the
various expressions of God’s purpose in discipleship, Harpeth Com-
munity Church initially developed the following mission statement:
Our Mission is to Glorify God by bringing people to Christ and by helping one
another to become more like him through Outreach, Worship, Fellowship, Dis-
cipleship, and Ministry.
50
While the approach of Warren and Ranier is good, I found it

hard to practically grasp and use in the church. I have found such
statements are too broad, too all encompassing, and too hard for
people to practically grasp or put into practice on a day-to-day ba-
sis.31 Biblically and practically, we came to the realization that we
needed to change our purpose statement. Clarity of thought is vi-
tally important in this regard. We changed our emphasis, our clari-
ty, and our mindset as a church. We settled on a simple new focus.
“Our mission is to make biblical disciples of Jesus.”
Earlier this year, I went to a seminar led by Robert Coleman.
Several months later he stayed in my home and spoke at our Sun-
day services. He is a delightful Christian man, full of life and full of
Jesus Christ at eighty-four years of age. I very much want to be like
him as I get older.
He challenged me with at statement that I have not been able to
refute. He said that Jesus’s method of discipleship was the perfect
method. At first I didn’t want to admit to this statement because
the Bible does not explicitly teach this truth and because it seems
too simplistic. But his statement created a challenge. I thought a lot
about Jesus and his wisdom and his perfection. And I thought a lot
about Jesus’ method. Then I had to admit it, Robert Coleman is
right! Jesus’ method is the perfect method.
Jesus, the apostles, and the writings of the New Testament show
us how to make disciples. As Coleman outlined fifty years ago in
his multi-million copied book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Jesus
utilized a reproducible strategy that we can follow today.32 You can
read Coleman’s book or the practical application of these principles
in DiscipleShift, but for our purposes here, let me focus on one key
aspect – discipleship involves guidance.
51
In Matthew 28:18-20, the great commission tells us “to go”

and “to make disciples.” In the Greek text, “making disciples” is
an imperative command. The passage then tells us how we are to
make disciples: by “baptizing them,” and “teaching them to obey
everything Jesus commanded” (these two statements are participial
phrases – linguistically formed in the Greek to tell us how to make
disciples).
In this sense, then, biblical discipleship always involves teach-
ing, guidance, or instruction. At the same time, Jesus showed us,
by his life, that discipleship must be grounded in love, service, and
friendship. The environment for discipleship in the gospels was
relationship. Yet it was goal oriented; Jesus was asking his disciples
to trust and follow him. Without discipleship, acts of love and ser-
vice are simply acts of love and service. These are good things and
are often the basis upon which discipleship is built, but by them-
selves they simply express the love of Christ without directly point-
ing people to Christ.
Sometimes showing love – with no strings attached - is the best
and only thing that we can do for another person. We just serve
someone. Maybe like the Good Samaritan, all we will ever be able
to do for another person is take care of them in their need, for that
time of difficulty (Luke 10:25ff). This is true love and it honors God
and reflects the fact that we are disciples. But, by itself, it is not disci-
pleship because discipleship involves directing and teaching people
in the way of Jesus.
We believe that discipleship, modeled after Jesus, equals directed
relationship. Discipleship is directed because it has a goal: to enable
people to trust and follow Christ. Discipleship is relational in that
it is always done person to person. Again, the whole process is very
52
“intentional,” which is why it is called, “intentional relational disci-

pleship.”
Here are ten questions that churches use to help them address
how they make disciples:33
1. How does our church define discipleship?

2. What does a disciple look like?
3. Do we have an intentional process of discipleship?
4. Does our church know this process?
5. How does this process relate to the purpose of the church?
6. Has our church prioritized distinct practices that relate to the
discipleship process?
7. Does our church practice the principle of abandonment based on the
idea that activity doesn’t always mean productivity?
8. How does our church measure maturity?
9. How does our community describe our church?
10. Do our church families spend more planned time in a week at church
with each other or in the community with non-believers?
There is nothing new or striking about these questions. But they

show that wise church leaders must be thoughtful about everything
we do it church.
53
Conclusion
A s this eBook explains and each chapter re-iterates, I believe

the core mission of the church is best summed up as Disciple-
ship. To call it intentional relational discipleship would be the fullest
statement. I believe it is the best path to describe God’s purpose for
the local church. I love the clarity of knowing that this approach
emphasizes two things that are really emphasized in scripture, and
they can provide a gateway into all the other things emphasized in
scripture.
In the first part of the book I mentioned that leading our church
to a DNA change along these lines has been a challenging process.
It would have been easier to plant and start with the new DNA. In
our book, DiscipleShift we point to numerous church plants that are
exploding with community impact and numerical growth by follow-
ing this path.
But I wouldn’t go back and do it differently for Harpeth Com-
munity Church. I love the church too much. As a church commu-
nity, more and more, we are engaging one another at a depth of
relationship and real life obedience that honors God. And I keep
learning about following Jesus and how to love better myself.
I used to read the Bible and see what it said about the Grace and
54

the Lordship of Jesus and get frustrated with Christians for not tru-
ly following Jesus (myself included). But now, more and more, we
are structured as a church in such a way that truly following Jesus is
our central issue (we call it upholding both Grace and Truth). By our
focus on discipleship and our relational system, we are getting into
the hearts of people and showing them how to fully follow Jesus in
all his Grace and Truth.
I also used to read the Bible and see what it said about Jesus’
kind of love. I was gripped by love’s ultimate importance and how
Jesus said it is the mark of “true disciples.” But too often it was just
an intellectual acknowledgement that this is what should character-
ize Christians (myself included) without having a real-world plan to
make it central to the way the church worked. We were too busy with
church services, programs, and events. But now the whole church is
structured so that relationships and love have to become a central aspect
of our church community. We are learning how to love each other
as Jesus teaches us.
It has been worth it. We remember and keep coming back to two
key concepts and two key words:
Focus = discipleship
Methodology = relationships (grounded in agape love)
There are two passages that sum up everything that we have learned
and support what we emphasize:
John 13:34-35 - “A new command I give you: Love one anoth-

er. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another.”
55
Matthew 28:18-20 - Then Jesus came to them and said, “All au-
thority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach-
ing them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely
I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
I hope this provides clarity and simplicity for the direction of your
church. It can make all the difference in the world.
56

Endnotes
1. See my book with Jim Putman, and Robert Coleman (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Zondervan, 2013). With the permission of Zondervan’s
Ryan Pazdur, the material in the first few pages is drawn from the
book and I hope they will serve as a teaser that prompts you to
purchase and read the whole book.
2. The following story is a composite, not drawn from a specific person,
but multiple people whom I love and who have broken God’s heart
(mine too).
3. The most comprehensive summary and discussion of this research is
still Ronald Sider’s book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why
Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World? (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker, 2005). George Barna looks at the broader context of
these things in his many books, including his recent book Futurecast:
What Today’s Trends Mean for Tomorrow’s World (BarnaBooks, 2011).
And David Olson describes the true state of church involvement
in his book The American Church in Crisis (Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Zondervan, 2008). See lots of research and updates in George Barna
and David Kinnaman’s extensive research on these and related
matters at barna.org.
4. David Kinnaman, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving
Church … and Rethinking Faith (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2011) and
David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, UnChristian: What a New Generation
Really Thinks about Christianity … and Why It Matters (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker, 2007).
5. Matt Branaugh, “Willow Creek’s Huge Shift: Influential Megachurch
Moves Away from Seeker-Sensitive Services.” Posted May 15, 2008.
Christianity Today: christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/june/5.13.html
(March 2012).
57
6. Bill Hybels, foreword to Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson, Reveal:
Where Are You? (Barrington, Ill.: Willow Creek Resources, 2007), 3.
7. Url Scaramanga, “Willow Creek Repents? Why the Most Influential
Church in America Now Says ‘We Made a Mistake.’” Posted
October 18, 2007. Out of Ur: https://www.christianitytoday.com/
pastors/2007/october-online-only/willow-creek-repents.html.
8. The “we” I am referring to is those of us working with discipleship.
org and the relational discipleship network.
9. Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert, What Is the Mission of the
Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission
(Wheaton, Ill.: Good News/Crossway, 2011)
10. Dallas Willard, Getting Love Right (Amazon Digital Services, 2012). A
paper presented at the American Association of Christian Counselors
conference, September 15, 2007
11. See related question in Gerhard Hasel, Old Testament Theology:
Basic Issues in the Current Debate (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B.
Eerdmans, 1972; revised, updated, and enlarged, 1991) and New
Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1978).
12. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, in The Creeds of Christendom, edited by
Philip Schaff (Harper and Row, 1931), p.676.
13. In our network we often describe faith as impacting “the head,” “the
heart,” and “the hands,” utilizing Kevin Vanhooser’s language for
understanding truth more holistically, as it impacts us intellectually,
emotionally, and volitionally. See Whatever Happened to Truth? by
Andreas Köstenberger, R. Albert Mohler Jr., J. P. Moreland, and
Keven J. Vanhoozer (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2005), 123. Biblical
scholar and early church history expert Everett Ferguson also
advocates a definition of faith that is holistic in this same way, as “it
involves the intellect, the emotion, and the will.” See The Church of
Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
1997), 165–69.
14. See the forthcoming book, DiscipleShift (described above) for an in-
depth definition and a discussion on the importance of defining a
disciple. We show how critically important this step is for a church.
15. This transformation is a complex process which is brought about by
the renewing work of the Holy Spirit as we continue with submissive
faith through the holistic pursuit of truth, obedience, and faithfulness
in the midst of the highs and lows of life, and especially hardship (I
Peter 1:3-7; 4:19, etc.) .
16. See D.A. Carson, Matthew in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1995) p. 464.
17. Bill Hull has produced a lot of material to help church leaders in this
quest. See The Disciple Making Pastor (Revell, 1999) for an introduction.
18. See Richard Longnecker, Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1996).
19. N.T. Wright, Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1995).
20. For an entire book on this topic, see Dallas Willard, The Great
Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship (New York:
HarperOne, 2006).
21. The participles in vv. 19–20 are subordinate to “make disciples” and
explain how disciples are made: by “baptizing” them and “teaching”
them obedience to all of Jesus’ commandments. The first of these
involves the decisive initiation into discipleship, and the second
proves a perennially incomplete, lifelong task. See Craig Bloomberg,
Matthew: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, The
New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman, 1992), 431.
22. Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert, What Is the Mission of the
Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission
(Wheaton, Ill.: Good News/Crossway, 2011), Kindle location 265.
23. Michael Wilkins, Following the Master: A Biblical Theology of Discipleship
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1992), 42.
24. Mike Breen and Alex Absalom provide more background on these
spaces and church life. See Launching Missional Communities (Pawleys
Island, S.C.: 3DM, 2010), Kindle locations 943–49. See also, M. Scott
Boren’s The Relational Way (Houston: Touch, 2007).
25. A helpful book in this regard – after the DiscipleShift – is
Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H,
2012), by Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation.
26. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/74181-if-sinners-be-damned-at-
least-let-them-leap-to, accessed November 12, 2012.
27. http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/09/14/mike-breen-why-the-
missional-movement-will-fail/ accessed October 10, 2012.
28. See Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan, 1995).
29. Thom Rainer, Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2010).
30. Rick Warren actually says that discipleship is one of the purposes of
the church. The problem is that when Warren defines it, discipleship
is more like “merely teaching” and he does not make it the underlying
purpose of the church, just one of the five. Discipleship is much
more than teaching.
31. I personally know both Warren and Rainer. Rainer was my doctoral
supervisor and I respect him immensely. I am simply pointing to a
disagreement on this point with two godly men.
32. Robert Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism (Baker, 1963).
33. These questions were created by church consultant, Sam Rainer. See
http://samrainer.wordpress. com/2009/01/18/ten-questions-for-
formulating-a-discipleship-process/
10 DISCIPLESHIP AFFIRMATIONS
of Discipleship.org
1. We believe Jesus Christ is central to life and the Bible – He is

supreme and worthy of all devotion, worship, and emulation. We
affirm the Nicene Creed and its statements about Jesus and the
Trinity (Colossians 1:15-20).
2. We define a disciple as someone who is following Jesus, being changed by
Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus (Matthew 4:19). This is
only possible by the Holy Spirit, and it is for God’s glory.
3. We define discipleship and disciple making as helping people to trust
and follow Jesus (Matthew 28:18–20).
4. We believe disciple making is the core mission of the local church
(Colossians1: 28-29).
5. We believe the Bible is the authoritative, reliable and final guide for
discipleship and life (2 Timothy 3:16-4:2).
6. We believe Jesus’ method of disciple making is the wisest and best
method to follow today (Luke 6:40).
7. We believe our love for one another is the most important sign of
true discipleship (John 13:34-35).
8. We believe discipleship includes serving the poor, striving for
holiness and living with accountability in the local church (1
Corinthians 5: 1-13).
9. We believe true discipleship and love compel us to join Jesus’ mission
to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).
10. We believe our obedience to the Great Commission will result in
the expansion of God’s Kingdom, the betterment of humanity, and
God’s exaltation and pleasure (Luke 19:11-27).
Free Discipleship.org Resources
Free eBooks available for download here.
• Revisiting the Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman and

Bobby Harrington with Josh Patrick
• Evangelism or Discipleship: Can They Effectively Work Together? by
Bill Hull and Bobby Harrington
• Stay the Course: Seven Essential Practices for Disciple Making Churches
by Brandon Guindon
• Discipleship that Fits by Bobby Harrington and Alex Absolom
• Discipleship is the Core Mission of the Church by Bobby Harrington
• The Discipleship Gospel Primer by Bill Hull and Ben Sobels
• Invest in a Few by Craig Etheredge
• Beyond Accountability by Nate Larkin
• Becoming a Disciple Maker by Bobby Harrington and Greg Wiens
• More...
Podcast Episodes: The Disciple Maker’s Podcast
National Disciple Making Forums

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first leaders at Discipleship.org’s National Disciple Making Forums.
Register here.
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DISCIPLESHIP IS THE

CORE MISSION OF THE

Helping People Trust and Follow Jesus

Distributed by Discipleship.org, which is a collaborative community of men and women committed

This book is manufactured in the United States.

Cover Design: Josh Shank

Discipleship.org is a collaborative community ofmen and women committed

CHAPTER 1: Something Is Not Working

F or about a decade I spent a lot of time training church planters

ten it was legalism or traditionalism or they lacked authenticity or

and the relational discipleship network. These organizations seek to

strategize in meetings. He was brilliant and he always seemed to

• The percentages of men who regularly view pornography are

• Domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and most other

Consider, too, the statistics about evangelicals.

• About one in four people living together outside of marriage

Plenty of people call themselves Christians and attend our church-

In the foreword to Reveal, a book outlining their discoveries, Bill

“Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do

Like Bill Hybels, I went back to the drawing board. I wanted to

Methodology = relationships (grounded in agape love)

The following chapters explain my thinking process. They describe

WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE

W hen we first started Harpeth Community Church, a man

The most important (commandment) is this: ‘Hear, O Israel,

God’s central purpose for a human life is the development of a life

of other Christians. We then learn how to love God with heart,

Faith in Jesus = to trust and follow Jesus.

I find it helpful to summarize a huge amount of biblical material

Helping people with this pursuit is what discipleship is all about …

God has promised that to us (Revelation 21:1-22:5).

Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the

In Mark, Jesus himself called for this transformation.

The transforming nature of this relationship with God through

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing great-

In Galatians, Paul refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in develop-

Passages like these could be multiplied. The essence of life is God

By God’s design, we become different people. Jesus taught that

Helping people with this pursuit is what discipleship is all about …

WHAT IS THE GOAL

I still remember the period leading up to the day when I started my

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evange-

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth

that Jesus demonstrated and taught – he led men and women to

• How do we love God, in the way of Jesus?

As you can see, there are an almost limitless number of situations

These facts are important because they form the background to

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in

All authority was given to Jesus. He commanded his disciples to go

New Testament scholar Michael Wilkins puts it this way: “Since

Helping people with this quest is what discipleship is all about …

I am a relational person. Ask me what matters in this life and I will

by identifying four basic types of discipling relationships that Jesus

• Transparent relationship level – Jesus and 3 people – Peter, James,

An in-depth study of these levels of discipling relationships can

different relationship settings. Those who were to become his lead-

His method of discipleship was grounded in the environment