The following excerpt is taking from the JBU’s manual, DISCIPLESHIP 2000 For INTEGRATED CHURCH GROWTH. It is part of the Introduction (entitled “Disciples Making Disciples”), written by Rev. Dr. Prince F. Clemmings.
“Evidently, Christian discipleship is a process in which Christ and His followers encounter each other in a relationship of faith, through the working of the Holy Spirit. In this relationship, Christ is Leader, Teacher, Lord and Saviour, among other designations. The disciple is follower, student steward and servant, among other descriptions.
“The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is a natural sequel to Jesus’ initial invitation “Follow me.” The promise, “I will be with you always,” which concludes the instruction , is an amazing assurance of the abiding and enabling presence of Christ with contemporary disciples.
“The task of making disciples, thereby multiplying the effect of the gospel and facilitating the growth of the church remains an imperative for Christians for all time. This, of necessity, relates to other functions of the church, such as worship, fellowship and evangelism.
“Making disciples presupposes decision-making which is an important aspect of church growth. As Henrichsen observes, ‘if we work only with Christians in our disciple-making ministry, the net gain to the Kingdom of God is zero’.
“Growth is essential to the effective and continuous ministry of the Church. As Aubrey Malphurs points out, ‘it is the nature of a living organism to grow’ (Planting Growth Churches for The 21st Century, p.11).
Dimensions by which the church may grow have been identified as spiritual , missional/functional and numerical. With the understanding that growth is no mere human process, withing the context of ministry, Christians are obliged to do their utmost and leave the rest to God ….”
Click here to read about the discipleship process …