Disciple Making in the Local Church
For this assignment, you will give a detailed description of how disciples are made in the context
of the local church and a Christian community. Discuss the role and importance of the local church,
pastor, saints, and spiritual gifts in God�s plan for being and making disciples, using Scripture and other
scholarly sources to support your arguments.
NO FORM OF PLAGIARISM WILL BE TOLERATED
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Introduction
The significant component of Jesus Christ and the strategy to make disciples is a role
which has been underscored by the church in the modern day paradigm, by embracing the body
of Christ in the disciple making process. Majority of church followers are not yet aware of the
role of the church in the community as an organ, and tend to think of its profiles as distinctly an
organization like the rest in the society (Blanchard 2005). This is the reason why the mentoring
of Disciples of Christ in Christian churches in the local setting is a goal which is hard to
accomplish. There are however rich resources in the church which underline the role of the
church in providing a rich atmosphere and resources that underscore the development of
discipleship (Romans: 12:4). The role and importance of the local church, pastor, saints, and
spiritual gifts in God’s plan for being and making disciples cannot be underlined enough in
making disciples in the modern day church. In a nutshell though, the biggest duty of this group
of stakeholders is to engage in bringing pagans into the church so that they can enter a
personalized relationship with Jesus Christ, but are not as much involved in harvesting
discipleship from the members already in the church (Blanchard 2005). In this paper, the role of
the church in making Disciples of Jesus Christ in the modern church is underlines, including the
important role played by the local church, pastor, saints, and spiritual gifts in God’s plan for
being and making disciples.
The church and the Great Commission
At a first look, it can be presumed that a Great Commission (Mathew 28:18) was entirely
given to eleven apostles unlike the general church. On this basis, the church hadn’t been
established yet at the time when the apostles were challenged to go forth and make all nations
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Disciples of Jesus Christ. In Acts 1:4, it is outlined how they were instructed not to go forth with
the instruction till the Holy Spirit descends upon them. Although the command was issued to the
11 apostles, the force of activation for Great Commission came upon the whole church on the
Pentecostal Day. As mysterious as nature itself, the church in the New Testament is revealed to
be the primary receiver of the omission delivered by Jesus Christ and has then been undertaking
this responsibility as an organ that makes the Disciples of Jesus Christ in the modern church
context (Clarke & Andrew, 2008). The local church, pastor, saints, and spiritual gifts underline
this role by establishing relationships between the esteemed disciples and the more accomplished
believers who then offer guidance. The functioning of the church as a unit is the biggest
motivator any esteemed Disciple would require to escalate to the discipleship status. The Bible
has numerous accounts of the one-to-one relationships, most preferably mentor relationships
between the more accomplished believers and the younger generation of believers although they
are never directly referenced as “discipling” relationships. In the contemporary concept though,
the role of mentoring plays a crucial role in the process of mentoring and hence the fulfilment of
the Great Commission that was given by Jesus Christ. The participles of baptizing, going and
teaching are necessitated by local church, pastor, saints, and spiritual gifts and they underline the
greatest pillars of the commission to make Disciples (Mathew: 28: 18). As the disciples were
instructed to make their own disciples, not just for John, Peter or Mathew, so are the stakeholders
in the contemporary churches today (Clarke & Andrew, 2008).
The Church is Christ’s Body
The scriptures teach us and those better positioned to become disciples in the modern day
that the church is Christ’s body. As noted in Ephesians, Paul documented the Church nature by
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referencing it as the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22). Following the same manner in which the
disciples were nurtured by Jesus during his times with them on earth, it is clear that the church is
the body of Christ and it was to make his disciples during the Pentecostal day (Castelli, 2011).
The local church, pastor, saints, and spiritual gifts have been underlining the role of the Church
as implied by Christ to make disciples, since Jesus Christ himself gave them the authority.
Through the mentoring and establishing relationships with the believers on a spiritual level, the
churching is honoring a fulfilment of the great commission by assisting the growth of believers
in the direction of maturing spiritually.
The role of Holy Spirit in the Church
The Holy Spirit played the core factor of success in making the Great Commission
practical in the early church. Before his deliverance of the Great Commission, Jesus engaged in
the teachings of the great role played by the Holy Spirit by underling the significant role that the
Holy Spirit plays in the Believer’s lives and those of his followers following his departure.
Spiritual Gifts play the role of uplifting the upcoming Disciples to initiate a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit in this case serves to empower them, guide them and
adequately equip them for the underlying tasks of promoting Discipleship in the contemporary
church (Castelli, 2011). Disciples might have all the scriptures and the instructions that Jesus
Christ gave but they would still be very incomplete without the guidance by the Holy Spirit. As
such, The Holy Spirit therefore serves a fundamental function of providing the resources
necessary to fulfill the promise as underscored by the Great Commission.
The church through powers from the Holy Spirit empowers its members, collectively and
individually and with such a calling they serve to Witness the Power of Discipleship (Campbell,
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2004). In the modern church local church, pastor, saints, and spiritual gifts have a restored
emphasis on the role played by the Holy Spirit on lives of church members, and the focus has
increased on the work the Holy Spirit does within the communal setting of the church. In Luke
it is written that on the day of the descending of the Holy Spirit, they were all assembled at one
place (Acts: 2:1-2). The Holy Spirt therefore descendent on the community of the church and the
fact that the church encourages community sense is the reason why it has been enabled to
underline Discipleship in the present day (Acts: 2:3-4). In churches, it is not rare for leaders to
emerge immediately within the church public, blessed with supernatural gifts like preaching,
miracles and teaching. The church in the best realm serve to organize into a community, a
community filled with spirit, and this plays a very central role in encouraging discipleship in
accordance to Christ’s body. The Holy Spirit presence and the Holy Spirit Gifts play a central
role in the discipleship today (Calhoun, 2009).
Unity amidst diversity which fosters maturity
The church fosters growth amongst believers by encouraging growth in the advent of the
great diversity amongst its congregation. Discipleship is about embracing diversity, and growth
in discipleship is embracing the diversity of the people around. Jesus during his time chooses the
church to be a composition of all cultures, tribes, geographical location, and age groups
(Calhoun, 2009). It is this heterogonous factor in the church that makes it encompass a rich
environment for creating Jesus discipleship. The local church, pastors, saints, and spiritual gifts
all serve to accomplish the common goal to make disciples out of every nation, by creating a
better environment where learning is encouraged and relationships are nurtured through
fellowship. In the setting of the local church prospective disciples have a chance for interaction
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and opportunities to learn from the congregation members of diverse backgrounds, different
ages, diverse income levels, and diverse cultures. It is in this local church laboratory that
prospective and potential disciples learn to embrace love just like Jesus Christ did (Bregman,
2008).
Conclusion
In the general analysis, the role of the church in contemporary and local church
discipleship cannot be underlined enough. The contribution of local church, pastors, saints, and
spiritual gifts in encompassing a community rich in principles that promote discipleship is also a
matter that cannot be stressed enough. The church contributes to the doctrine of discipleship
within the local church through the development of a network of relationships which extends
beyond the borderlines instigated by the paradigms of age, culture, income, and tribe (Bregman,
2008). It is in church were followers of Christ can edify with each other, confess their faults,
forbear amongst one another, empathize with each other, submit to each other, accept each other,
forgive, and admonish each other (Colossians: 3: 12-16).
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Reference
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Manager: Increasing Effectiveness through Situational Leadership. 1st ed. New York:
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Bregman, Lucy. Rev. of The Logic of the Spirit, by James E. Loder. Journal of Religion 87
(2000): 689-91. Burns, James MacGregor. Leadership. New York: Harper and Row,
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Calhoun, M. David. “Count Me in for Service.” Sermon. Lexington, KY. 1 Feb. 2009.
Campbell, R. Alastair. The Elders: Seniority within Earliest Christianity. London: T & T Clark
International, 2004.
Castelli, Elizabeth A. Imitating Paul: A Discourse of Power. Louisville: WestminsterJohn Knox,
- Holsinger 119.
Clarke, Andrew D. A Pauline. Theology of Church Leadership. Library of New Testament
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