By: Dustin M. Walters
Discipleship is a communal work of the Christian church through which disciples are equipped for flourishing and the Great Commission is advanced. I will develop that thesis by considering three pillars. It is noteworthy that there are different aspects of discipleship, which Bobby Harrington and Alex Absalom describe as the five contexts for discipleship. [1] Those contexts are the: public context, social context, personal context, transparent context, and the Divine context.
In this blog post, I will focus on both the social and transparent context through which Jesus works to make disciples who make disciples. These two contexts emphasize the way in which discipleship involves other believers. To ensure clarity on what is meant by these contexts, I will reflect on what Harrington and Absolom mean by these terms before I move on to discuss the three pillars of discipleship in community.
The Social Context of Discipleship
Harrington and Absalom describe the social context as consisting of “twenty to seventy people” and discipleship in this context occurring through “community, mission, and practice” [2]. It is difficult to discern how this context is distinct from or if it is the same thing as the corporate worship gathering since the average attendance of many churches is around the 50–70-person mark. Harrington and Absalom think that the social context is an “aspect of church life” best expressed through “planting, development, and multiplication of missional communities.” [3] One of the key points to understand about the social context of discipleship is that “people who join missional communities from outside the church, if given enough time, naturally transition to the public worship services.” [4] Discipleship is a relational commitment and investment and Harrington and Absalom are right to point that out. Their remarks on the transparent context for discipleship are also formative for the remaining thought in this essay.
The Transparent Context of Discipleship
A transparent context consists of two to four people who form a close bond. Discipleship in this context focuses on “intimacy, openness, and impact”.” [5] Like the social context, there is a communal aspect in the transparent context. Harrington and Absalom make a pointed observation when they state that this context “has the greatest potential for impact and, paradoxically disappointment.” [6] Believers need all five contexts to thrive and fulfill the Great Commission, yet the communal aspects of the social and transparent context are most important for our purposes in this essay. This reflection leads to consider three formative pillars of discipleship in community.
Pillar 1: A Biblical Definition of Discipleship
The foundational pillar for our reflection on discipleship and community is our definition of discipleship. Discipleship is an intentional process of helping others become more like Jesus and fulfill his Great Commission. Mark Dever says that discipling is “helping someone follow Jesus by doing deliberate spiritual good in his or her life.” [7] There is no discipleship without community. One of the most important examples of this type of communal discipleship in Scripture is noticed in 2 Timothy 2:2.
[2Ti 2:2 CSB] 2 What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Ben shared several thoughts about biblical discipleship in his post and we encourage you to read that post if you have not already done so. One of the things he pointed out was that
“The biblical model for discipleship is simple: we follow Christ and encourage others (through our lives lived in faithful community) to do the same.” [8]
Discipleship in community is all about the including others in the process. That leads us to consider the second pillar of discipleship in community.
Pillar 2: Participatory Faith: Not for Spectators
Christianity is a participatory faith. It is not a faith for Sunday only but a faith that impacts all of life and seeks to reorient the disciple on the plan and pathway of Jesus. Biblical Christianity is an all-hands-on-deck faith. Discipleship cannot happen unless everyday believers take the Great Commission seriously. Christian discipleship is a team commitment that is motivated by the reality that everyone will stand before Christ on the Last Day, so the objective is Christian maturity. Payne and Marshall advocate for a team-based approach to ministry. They state that team ministry is theologically “an expression of the character of the church as a body with many parts. Practically and strategically, it provides support, refreshment, a sharing of the burden, and a multiplication of effective gospel work.” [9] Discipleship involves all members of the local church body. One reason discipleship has declined in our time is that we have left all the aspects of ministry and discipleship up to the clergy and pastoral staff. Jesus intends for all of his disciples to be laboring in his harvest field. The Christian faith is not for spectators but active participants.
There is one more pillar of discipleship in community.
Pillar 3: Growth through Community
Pillar three states that growth, both spiritual and numerical, happens only in the context of community. Payne and Marshall ask, “What are you more interested in: the growth of your particular congregation, or the growth of the kingdom of God?.” [10] Without the support of mature believers, new Christians cannot learn how to be disciples who love Jesus and walk in his way. Without the energy and excitement of new believers, more mature believers lose their focus and forget the kingdom priority of making disciples. God made us for relationship with himself, others, and the created order. We thrive in relationships. The disciple making process is far more biblical and efficient in community than it is when believers launch their own individualistic discipleship campaigns.
Conclusion
Obedience to the Great Commission necessarily involves submission to the church, which is the community of Jesus followers. Discipleship is strengthened when it is approached as a communal commitment rather than an individual priority. You and your church can get involved in God’s mission of making disciples who make disciples. As you strive to be a disciple-making believer and church, do not neglect the benefit of meaningful Christian community. We cannot ignore the communal aspect of discipleship as we strive to become more obedient to the Great Commission. Expressed another way, disciples cannot reach their maximum potential outside of meaningful community. Discipleship is a communal work of the Christian church through which disciples are equipped for flourishing and the Great Commission is advanced.
[1] Bobby Harrington and Alex Absalom, Discipleship that Fits: The Five Kinds of Relationships God Uses to Help us Grow (Grand Rapids, MI, 2016), 52-55. The writers want readers to consider the similarities and differences in how God forms disciples in each context.
[2] Ibid., 93.
[3] Ibid., 95.
[4] Ibid., 105.
[5] Ibid., 159.
[6] Ibid., 160.
[7] Mark Dever, Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 47.
[8] https://everydaytheologyco.wordpress.com/2023/08/22/trellis-and-vine-discipleship/. Accessed October 9, 2023.
[9] Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything (Youngstown, OH: Matthias Media, 2009), 115.
[10] Ibid., 149.
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