Welcome to the Southeastern District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance's Adult Discipleship Resources website.
Our goal is to provide a convenient "hub" of information with articles, downloadable documents, and links to resources which have proven effective in moving adults towards spiritual maturity.
We also desire this page to serve as a clearinghouse of information, including best practices, which can better equip us to serve with excellence.
 |
Defining "Discipleship"
Broadly, discipleship includes everything the Risen Christ does, through His church, to help believers grow to spiritual maturity. More narrowly, discipleship is the intentional, short-term process, within the context of mutually committed and accountable relationships, of bringing others (usually a smaller group) to greater spiritual maturity via the joint practice of select spiritual disciplines. This narrower definition is based on Matthew 28:19 - 20, where Jesus mandates the ongoing task of "discipling," which in this passage consists of winning people to faith, incorporating them into the Christian community, and teaching them to observe or obey all that He commanded. This is behavioral change, not merely cognitive gaining of information. This process of discipling may be accelerated by seasons of intentional, structured, small group discipleship ministry with a few.
|
 |
Benefits of Discipling Others
1. The experience of deepening, intimate friendships with a few others involved in the journey of spiritual growth
2. Personal spiritual renewal on the part of the "discipler" - who is stratched & pushed to keep himself spiritually strong & fresh
3. Personal fulfillment - the satisfaction of making a real Kingdom difference in the lives of others
4. Renewal in the local church - as a growing number of people grow to greater levels of spiritual maturity and influence
|
 |
Root Causes of Today's Discipleship Malaise
1. Many pastors are diverted from their primary calling by other "urgent" things
2. We've tride to disciple via programs rather than intensely relational & sharply focused smaller groups
3. We have reduced the Christian life to its eternal benefits
4. We give the impression discipleship is for "super Christians" vs. for all believers
5. Churches have failed to clarify & communicate a clear pathway to maturity
Adapted from Greg Ogden's Transforming Discipleship (Downers Grove: IVP, 2003)
|
|
|