Discipleship and the Local Church: 8 Commitments Necessary to Accomplish the Gospel Mission (with Additional Comments)

In the Great Commission, Christ points out two separate categories of people: disciples and non-believers. By examining this passage in Greek, we learn that making disciples involves going, baptizing, and teaching God’s Word. God’s people must, therefore, engage in mission by carrying God’s Word to unbelievers, testifying to them concerning its gospel message, and baptizing those who make the good confession. This commission was given by our Lord to all believers, so all believers should be engaged in it. So, how do we as a local church accomplish our gospel mission?

First, we must maintain the centrality of Scripture in all that we do. Unfortunately, many churches today are abandoning sound doctrine and proclaiming false gospels, such as the prosperity gospel, the word of faith movement, the postmodern gospel (Emergent movement), the felt-needs gospel, etc. Other churches, who rely on marketing techniques, risk shifting the focus from God to the individual. Instead of appealing to the perceived needs of potential converts, churches must carry forth the biblical message which focuses on humanity’s greatest need, i.e. the gospel of Christ. By having the Bible as the starting point of preaching and teaching, the practice of the church both in ministry and in mission will be based on sound biblical doctrine. Also, the centrality of Scripture in the church will place the focus back on God and off the individual, and the truth back on a solid foundation and off the shifting sands of worldly philosophy.

Second, the church must always maintain the primacy of the gospel and its verbal delivery in all missionary endeavors (whether these activities involve corporate efforts or ongoing daily personal witnessing activities). In the contemporary postmodern culture where truth is spurned and experience is primal, many are trapped in a secular humanistic worldview that focuses on people and their experiences. Many in their zeal to be ‘relevant’ to this culture have chosen to emphasize experience in their services and even in their mission activities. These churches that fail to teach authentic biblical based messages in their sermons, Bible classes, and their witness (corporate and personal) end up pointing unbelievers away from God.     

Third, the church must maintain their focus on the individual’s response to the gospel while also emphasizing that individual’s responsibilities as a disciple of Christ and a member of the church. When churches allow gospel invitations to be delivered en masse with no alter call (or some other form of direct, personal decision-making opportunity), they allow the person to remain anonymous and unaccountable for his choices following the proclamation of the word of God.  In the Bible, commitment to God and His church is an expected part of one’s making a decision for Christ.

Fourth, the church must maintain a steadfast commitment to evangelism while never neglecting its ongoing discipleship mission. During the ministry of Christ, relatively few people became his disciples. Though he spent a large portion of his time proclaiming the kingdom of God to the people, he spent the largest amount of his time with the select few who made a costly commitment to follow him. Jesus’ focus on the Twelve demonstrated his concern for quality over quantity, while his focus on the masses demonstrated his concern for reaching the lost.

In this modern era, people churches are trying to reach often have little awareness of biblical teaching, much less any basic matters pertaining to the Christian faith. When evangelicals focus too heavily on conversion growth in large numbers, they face a daunting task of discipling these new members. This task becomes even more difficult should the church decide to provide mentoring and supervised volunteer ministry and mission activities. Though churches should never neglect their individual and collective responsibility for evangelism, they must remember to keep their focus on discipleship just as Jesus modeled. Through discipleship, churches not only become more stable and therefore more capable for mission, they also become more able to evangelize their local community through the collective effort of every disciple.

Therefore, must never overlook its nurturing role in missions even as it engages in doing mission. While doing mission is certainly a priority, preparing for mission and preparing others for mission is no less of a priority. The church’s role in mission, therefore, must include the development of fruit-bearing Christians who learn to apply the Bible in their everyday lives, who learn to live mission, and who make mission their foremost priority.

Fifth, churches must offer quality discipleship. In many churches today, converts are placed in large services and oversized small groups, given little or no mentoring from a more mature disciple, and left to become like Christ on their own. The converts are reduced to becoming listeners who often evaluate their success as a Christian based on their church attendance and their knowledge of the Bible. The church must learn how to develop people into doers who listen (i.e., disciples), not just listeners, if the church is ever to answer the call of Christ to mission.

Sixth, the church must get involved in God’s mission at the local level and beyond. In many churches, one’s role of praying and giving to mission is emphasized along with a general call to consider going by associating oneself with NAMB, IMB, or some other mission agency. Since the average church member does not go on mission overseas, he is left to participate, so he thinks, only by giving and praying (Since most churches never get visited by returning missionaries, many members have little connection to the mission field and little motivation to pray fervently). Even churches themselves sometimes become no more than fundraisers and donors for mission. Many within the SBC community realize the need to reconsider the relationship between churches and mission agencies, but I will avoid this subject for now. In addition, I will also exclude discussion on the roles and responsibilities of the church in relation to short and long-term missionaries. Of course, the committee can ask me for my ideas on these topics at a later point.

Within the local church, every member should be led to earnestly desire to participate in mission in whatever way they can, yet they believe and, in many cases, have been taught, though often times not intentionally, that the only way to support mission is by giving and going. While every church should support God’s work beyond the local level through prayer, giving, and the sending of missionaries, every member must realize their own call to mission which began at their time of salvation and continues as they live out their daily witness.

With a firm commitment to the Great Commission, the local church can participate in mission by developing mission-minded disciples who value mission and who collectively and individually support mission at the personal, local, and global levels through the cooperative efforts of individuals, churches, and mission societies. Many churches, in their haste to become active themselves in missions, have chosen to neglect mission beyond the local level. Others, in their quest to appeal to the worldly desires of the members for the experience of mission, have favored short-term missions at the expense of the vital work being done by long-term missionaries. Each church needs to prayerfully consider how to balance these two commitments.

Seventh, churches must return to the biblical model of practicing church discipleship (see the additional comments below for an extensive discussion on this issue). To accomplish this, churches must ensure that their leaders are chosen according to the biblical standards. Biblically faithful leadership is vital because obedience will not manifest among the membership without the presence of obedient leadership. Jesus is clear that people are like helpless sheep without effective leadership (cf. Matt 9:36; Mark 6:34).

Regrettably, the lack of accountability within churches continues to have a damaging impact on mission. This lack of accountability is the result of an individualistic society that has little regard for the importance of relationships. Through relationships with friends, neighbors, co-workers, and society as a whole, the authenticity of a person’s faith is tested. Relationships are also vital in the church. Through relationships with fellow Christians within the local church, the believer’s faith can be tested by and directed according to the truths of Scripture.

Eighth, churches must send members out into the community to become personal lights for the gospel. While going door-to-door is no longer as culturally acceptable (typically, but not always is this the case) given the breakdown in relationships between neighbors and the corresponding safety issues due to this breakdown and the increased opposition from many who deny God’s existence (This is just one example of the opposition faced by witnesses in our increasingly post-Christian culture), each believer has been called to be salt and light within their community. To obey this call, members must faithfully engage the people within their current relationship circles and never tire in their efforts to expand that circle so as to have more opportunities to witness. Members must realize that their witness begins with their faithful obedience to Christ. Even as they engage unbelievers with a verbal presentation, they must always seek to make Christ visible in the way they live.

Additional Comments:

Participation in church programs, mission trips, and even Sunday School does not necessarily lead to the preparation of disciples who are engaged in a costly discipleship evidenced by an obedient lifestyle. While participation in various church activities can reinforce costly discipleship, it does not guarantee that this form of discipleship will be produced. With this in mind, what else aids in the formation of obedient disciples who are engaged in costly discipleship?

Jesus set the example for the formation of obedient disciples. He spoke to large crowds and certainly had a place in his mission for large gatherings, but he spoke intimately, frequently, and consistently with a small group of disciples. Perhaps the church today should place the same amount of emphasis on small groups. If they are to take account of the success of their ministry, perhaps they should count the number of small groups that are forming obedient disciples whose works bear witness to their salvation. Jesus’ ministry would have gone nowhere if it was limited to the crowds; on the other hand, it sprang across the world through his intense focus and personal attention given to a relative few.

If the church is to be engaged in mission, it must develop an accountability structure within the local church which aids in the spiritual growth of converts. Simply teaching the endless truths of Scripture to them will no longer suffice especially in the modern Western culture where people are increasingly isolated from one another and left to their own devices. Converts must be held accountable by other Christians.

The believing community plays a vital role in the maturation process of converts. This vital role includes a responsibility to hold each fellow Christian within the local community accountable. By teaching and applying James 2:14–26 to individual Christians and the local church, confessing believers can be held accountable by examining their works. If churches are to apply James’ method, they will first have to place a greater emphasis on the growth of interpersonal relationships within the church. This is no small task, however, because it goes directly against the American culture and modern business management techniques used by church staff to oversee churches. With its emphasis on the individual, American culture sometimes exalts the individual and his or her pursuit of happiness with little thought given to the community within which this individual is to make this pursuit.

The church, if it is to develop accountability as aid to spiritual growth, must teach the importance of community and the need of the individual for the community. While the church may continue to learn from modern business management techniques, it must avoid a top-down structure where the leadership is separated from the laity. Leaders and laity must be able to form meaningful relationships that provide sufficient opportunity for accountability to take place. Leaders must take the time to develop relationships with the laity so that they can be trusted to ask accountability questions and give direct admonition to the individual believer. Church leaders must also avoid the temptation to place the burden of the church on the backs of the staff while the members simply sit in the pew. Church members whose sole responsibility is to sit in the pew will have little opportunity to build interpersonal relationships through which accountability can take place.