Date - July/92

Contributor - Grace Eisen

Title - Discipleship and Church Growth

Topic - Church Growth

One of the concerns in the church today is growth in membership. How does the church grow and retain full pews? One answer to this question is to take seriously the concept of discipleship. The academics, in many cases, spend more time on scholarship and theology than on practical instruction for lay people. As a result few people know how to evangelize and disciple, and church membership declines.

Quality discipline emphasizes a balanced combination of two principal methods of instruction: teaching and training.' Teaching deals with ideas and training deals with skills. Billie Hanks uses the example of a pilot. Aerodynamics are taught but pilot training takes place in the plane on a one-to-one basis. This principle is also shown in the Bible, as Paul teaches Timothy.

Timothy travels with Paul in the training sessions. Jesus had the twelve disciples walk daily with Him as He taught them for the three years that they were together. We are all at some time a Timothy (a learner) or a Paul (a teacher). Each growing Christian needs to learn with a Paul and find a Timothy to teach. If each Timothy becomes a Paul, the multiplication factor of evangelism begins to work. If you reach two people a year for five years, you will have nurtured ten people. If each person reaches out to two people per year, and the process continues with each generation of new Christians, the church would fill rapidly! That figure amounts to over two hundred.

The discipline process is never-ending. Each generation presents us with a new spiritual challenge. Spiritual multiplication can only take place when new Christians have personal follow up. Discipleship=Relationship, Relationship=Time, and therefore... Discipleship needs Time.

Where do the new converts go for nurturing and growth?

Where do they learn the "how to" of prayer, daily Scripture reading, Bible study and sharing of the Gospel? The answer is in I Thess. 4:1 "We (the disciples) instruct you HOW to live in order to please God." Hence the need for teachers and trainers. Ask yourself the following questions to see where you are in your growth as a Christian:

1. Do I read my Bible regularly and meaningfully?

2. Do I study my Bible meditatively so that it has I meaning in my personal life.

3. Do I memorize Bible passages and make them part of me?

4. Do I pray and expect answers?

If you have trouble answering any of these questions, you need to find a Paul to help you in the problem areas. If you have answered "Yes" to the questions, you need to find a Timothy. The great commission charges us to take the Gospel throughout the world, by making disciples. Can we claim the promise of God's love and presence if we do not embrace the process? So go for it! Be enthusiastic! Be a discipler!