Making Disciples in Community – The Goal
Since God expects every disciple to grow to maturity, we need to know what a mature disciple looks like! With a little bit of work, we can glean from God’s word some essential characteristics of mature disciples.
First it’s important to grasp that God considers personal character and truth, or doctrine, as inseparable. [1]Matt. 15:18-19; Rom. 12:1-2; Titus 2:1 and following In fact, the Scripture never conceives of teaching that does not motivate behavior. [2]2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:20-24; Titus 2:1 The early church leader James, made the issue black and white for us by proclaiming that belief in God which does not result in appropriate behavior won’t even save us. In fact, according to him, hearing God’s word without responding with action is a waste of time. [3]James 1:23-25; 2:14-26 This implies that the ultimate outcome of disciple-making is wise and worthy living that corresponds to the teaching of God’s word rather than the accumulation of information and insight alone, a perspective that is echoed by the other New Testament writers. So, knowledge and insight are intended to transform character such that a person exercises godly wisdom along with patient, thankful and worshipful dependence upon God as they face the challenges and circumstances of life. [4]1 Tim. 1:5
Since, as I have mentioned, the Apostle Paul had the unique role of bringing to light the administration of God’s family, the church, [5]Eph. 3:8-10; 1 Tim. 3:14-15 his letters were given to us as tools to help bring churches to the full maturity of household order and behavior that God intended. Then let’s use the teaching and the problems Paul addresses in his letters to create a composite picture of a mature disciple. (I’m indebted to Jeff Reed of BILD for developing and promoting these concepts.) While this list isn’t complete, it gives us an idea to work from. A mature disciple:
- Is established in a full understanding of the whole gospel. (Romans)
- Is sound enough in their understanding of the gospel that they are not drifting in any way toward a distorted or different gospel. They are not in danger of, after “having begun by the Spirit,” now being “perfected by the flesh.” (Galatians)
- Stands firm in the gospel, unshaken by those who might draw attention away from the basic focus on the furtherance of the gospel with alarming teaching on future events accompanied by irresponsible living. (1 and 2 Thessalonians)
- Does not create divisions or conflicts that would be characteristic of an immature believer who is not fully established in the gospel. (1 Corinthians)
- Does not use conflicts and problems to undermine the trustworthiness of leaders trying to establish them in the gospel.(2 Corinthians)
- Exhibits proper conduct in the local household of God, living a godly life in harmony with God’s house order in the church. (1 Timothy)
- Understands the relational implications required within the community of faith and how they affect the unity of the church as it pursues one-minded commitment to the furtherance of the gospel. (Philippians, Philemon)
- Grasps the significance of their role in the unfolding plan of God and its accompanying riches and is walking worthily under this one purpose. (Ephesians, Colossians)
- Has a working knowledge of the Scripture’s structure, history and main themes, a correct method for its study, and habits of study and prayer that effectively sustain their continued faith, spiritual growth, ministry, and development of a biblical world view as they process the moral and spiritual issues they face in life. (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews)
You can probably see that while many churches verbally advocate this level of discipleship, few have provided meaningful goals, expectations, effective plans or means of assessing progress. They try but are not very effective at it.
