Three Discipleship Philosophies

I have always loved reading The Great Commission and thinking about how we are going to fulfil it. I love reading stories from Church history of when the Church got serious about this goal and I love learning about what they did and why. For the past 6-7 years I have been quite excited by the "Disciple Making Movement" that has a huge emphasis on multiplication. One of the big reasons for their success is the "Discovery Bible Study" approach. However, there are other expressions of discipleship that don't get me excited. So today I thought I would share on "Three Discipleship Philosophies."

Philosophy 1: Knowledge Based

Walk into a Church on any given Sunday, almost anywhere around the world, and the chances are that it will look something like this... You start with worshipping in song, give some money, then someone speaks. Discipleship generally looks like listening. There is very little practical emphasis on obeying, preserving or expanding kingdom culture. Sure, it gets "talked about" but it doesn't go much further. The solution is Bible Studies where you gain more knowledge, and you might even go to Bible College. The assumption is that people will learn from listening and gaining knowledge from good sermons, or good teaching. Transformation happens because people have the knowledge. A good disciple is someone with good theology.

Philosophy 2: Obedience Based

"Disciple Making Movements" are designed with obedience at the core. The way they make disciples is by teaching them to read the Bible then obey it. They don't get answers spoon fed to them, instead they need to discover it for themselves. How do I raise my kids, how do I have a great marriage, how do I vote, how do I deal with conflict? The answer is always the same, "Read the Bible and obey." What does it mean to follow Jesus? It means to obey Him.

Philosophy 3: Keeping Based

In The Great Commission in Matthew 28, Jesus tells His disciples to teach people to "obey/observe/keep everything I have commanded." Many recent translations prefer "obey" or "observe" but this word is more than doing as you are told. The word Jesus used in greek is most often translated as "keep" but means to attend to carefully, or to take care of. It means to observe, keep, guard, protect, and hold fast. This is far more than "knowing" what Jesus said. It is far more than "obeying" what Jesus said. This is about keeping the Kingdom culture that Jesus displayed and taught thoroughly protected from contamination. It's keeping it close to your heart, living it out and sharing it. A disciple is someone who keeps and radiates the Kingdom culture of Jesus.

The Way Forward: Family

The Knowledge based philosophy does not work because people need love and community to be transformed. Even the demons believe Jesus and shudder. So knowledge on its own will not change a persons heart. Obedience based Discipleship gets a little closer. As you obey Jesus you begin to see His Kingdom come all around you and your heart is changed as you obey. However, it misses out on the practical help that people need that is not mentioned in The Bible. They need community, people to imitate, and a vision larger than people reading The Bible and obeying it. (Even though that is a great vision.)

It is interesting that after the four gospels the word "disciple" is never used as a verb/doing word. The word "disciples" is only used in the first five books of the New Testament. It means "Learner." It often refers to the 12 Disciples or the followers of Jesus.

For the rest of the New Testament, followers of Jesus are called "The holy" (or The Saints - 60 times in the New Testament), or "Brothers" 346 times. This literally means "from the same womb." The language used for discipleship by Jesus and the authors of the New Testament is family/parenting language. You can see this in words like Presbyteros, Poimaino, Episkopos and Oikonomos which means Grandparents, Shepherd, Mother, Guardian, Father, Manager of the household.

I want to suggest that it is only in the context of "The Family of God" that discipleship can actually work. It is in this context that the things Jesus commanded be kept, can be protected, practiced and multiplied.

For example, the Apostle Paul made it clear that Elders were qualified for that role because they were already doing it. This means that they practiced eldership in their own household. It was then the role of the family of God to copy them and pastorally care, to teach, encourage, pray, and build each other up. Yes, it involves knowledge and obedience - but it is far more.

The Family of God is where we curate the culture of the Kingdom of God. It involves a people who carefully keep the culture of the Kingdom and multiply it out into the world.