Elijah Ngule

Sphere and Stages of Discipleship Written Assignment 2 Submitted to: in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of Course Code: Course Name: By Student’s Name: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Introduction3 Five Stages of Discipleship3 Four Spheres of Discipleship7 Stage of Discipleship in which I am in8 Spheres to Submit to Christ9 Submission to Christ9 Conclusion10 Bibliography12 Introduction Discipleship is not a stagnant process but rather an ongoing process for all newborn believers. There are various levels which need to be attained before moving to the next stage or level. All Jesus Christ followers need to be committed to Him alone and be submitted fully to His will. The most important critical processes for a believer and disciple of Jesus Christ are becoming a disciple, and disciple-making are important to grow to maturity in Jesus Christ. A disciple of Jesus Christ will never be fullness in Christ unless he is connected to Christ in the discipleship intimacy. This process of growing in Christ is not an easy one, but it requires one to prepare, and expend a great effort and be devoted to Jesus Christ alone. It is paramount to note that there are no shortcuts to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Five Stages of Discipleship Discipleship is an ongoing process, and it primarily includes five stages which cannot be omitted since they all go along with each other to have the result of being a mature, obedient, submissive and loving Jesus Christ disciple able of making other disciples. According to Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman the five stages of discipleship are identified as follows: 1) Spiritually Dead, 2) Infant, 3) Children, 4) Young Adult, and 5) Parent. These are the representative stages in which an individual goes through to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. They are drawn from the Word of God, and they are fairly simple to understand. One a newborn believer has given his or her life to Christ, that's the beginning of the path towards becoming a disciple. This commences the sanctification process through identification of the steps required to become Jesus Christ disciple. Stage one: It is about the persons who are spiritually dead, which means that they have not been born again believers. Every believer was once in this level until the time they submitted and surrendered their lives to Christ (Eph. 2:1-5). It is important this be remembered in evaluating the stages of other people in the process of ministering to them. Someone who is in this stage might be possible not to believe that there is God or there are various ways of getting to God. Anything along these lines it should be an alarm to the disciple of Christ to know that such persons are "spiritually dead." Stage two: It is the infant stage and individuals who are in this stage have been born again in Jesus Christ. It is seemly to say that, they are babies in Christ, having behaviors which can be attributed to ones of a real baby. They need a person who can take care of them and feed them with the word of Jesus Christ for them to start growing. Disciples in this level can be known when they utter words like; I had never heard that before, I did not understand that the word of God said that, or they have inquiries about tithing. “The key concept is that infants don’t know much. They don’t understand yet what it means to follow Jesus. They aren't aware of how they need to change."1 It is important to note that patience is needed in all the levels, but more in this stage since the disciples require a spiritual parent, who will lead them, protect, and make them accountable for all what they do as they learn from the life of being mentored prior becoming spiritual parents as well. Stage three: It comprises of disciples who have been modeled into the child stage. Disciples in this particular stage have been born again. However, they are still focused on themselves. They are still learning to become doers of God's word and starting growing into Christlikeness. A spiritual child can be defined as a Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ a long time ago but has not progressed past this level. They can be known by what they say, such as why do we need to learn new songs, or they have complaints relate to receiving important phone calls in church, and a statement from a child's perspective fits this level. It is difficult to move past being self-centered; they need a lot of time to develop to be Christlikeness. "They need teaching about which they are in Christ, how to have close friendships with other believers, and what to expect (and not expect) from Christians.”2 Disciples who are in this stage will progressively learn to be partakers of the Word of God for the right perspectives as they continue growing in Jesus Christ. Stage Four: As it is described in John 2:13-14 it is the young adult stage. Individuals in this stage are learning and developing to become more focused on Godly things, aiding others, and is committed to the Great Commission. They are as well known by their speech. They say things like; I have a concern about something I was reading through during my time of devotion. Instead of having complaints about not in a position to find a spot for parking when the parking lot is full, they will comment on how it was great that many people attended service today. They are seemingly like a young adult; they require mentors and guidance since there is warfare staged towards their spirituality by Satan in every level of development. “As “young men,” the readers had engaged in spiritual warfare and had overcome the evil one, Satan (cf. “evil one” in v. 14; 3:12; 5:18-19).3 Disciples in this development stage their lifestyles are centered on God. They have the understanding that the warfare against Satan has been won, and the spiritual fight is expected. Biblically, spiritual fight primarily comprises rebellion of Satan against God as well as the manifestations emanating from the rebellion. At the center of the warfare, even though Christ is in control of the creation, he had already had the decision that rebellion by Satan will certainly fail.4 Stage five: Disciples in this stage of development are known as parents since they are mature adults. This is the stage which I am currently in since I have surrendered my life to Christ who guides me in making others disciples (1 cor.3:1-2). Disciple-making is one of the great priorities in my life. Believers in this stage are focused on Godly things, making of disciples, and mentoring others. They are known as well from their speech, such as the importance of discipleship is to be with my children, and they need to be held accountable. They notice a believer in their group who needs prayer and guidance. Disciples in this stage have well known the stages of other believers, and at a given point in need, they offer assistance. The progressively grow in Jesus Christ as they teach others to become disciples (2 Tim. 2:1-2). This has eventually been termed as "the ministry of multiplication," and it is the method which God uses to propagate the good news of about Jesus Christ.5 Four Spheres of Discipleship The four spheres of discipleship comprise of four areas of life of disciples in which they are expected to grow. It means that in each sphere, a disciple recognizes the commands of God and submits to his authority (head), changed by Jesus (heart), and joins Christ on the Great Commission (hands) in all the disciples’ life.6 First sphere: In this sphere, the disciple is expected to grow in the centrality in the relationship with God. The relationship with Christ is crucial in this first sphere. One of the greatest examples is Paul being a disciple and portrays an example of one being born again and the reason why we need to trust and have faith in Christ. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Eph. 2:8-9). This scripture describes to us that we can only be saved through Jesus Christ. There is no amount of good deeds we can do to purchase salvation. The relationship between God and us is expected to be always fresh as well as effervescent. It is required to be personal and intentional for one to grow in the manner desired by Jesus Christ. Second Sphere: It is the relationship with God’s family (church). As we continue to develop our relationship with Christ, we are expected we expend great effort to develop a relationship with other believers. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have the love for one another " (John 13:34-35). This scripture describes the manner in which we are required to relate and interact with other believers. The world should be in a position to know that we Jesus Christ disciples by how we treat each other. The love we share, show, and develop to the world should be in a manner that can be concluded that we are Christ's disciples and followers. How we respond to anger and conflict needs to be determined by our love to Jesus Christ. When this image is portrayed to the world, then we have grasped the importance of this sphere. Third sphere: It is the relationship at home. The relationship we have with our families is important in our development as Christ’s disciples. It works well if all in our families are believers but most times is not the case. It is possible for a person to understand the gospel concepts and fail in applying them in his or her family.7 Paul describes to us that the Holy Spirit wants to influence each sphere of the life of a believer and primarily includes their homes.8 Learning how to be family centered in Christ can be a very difficult task. One can build this foundation from perseverance and devoted in Jesus Christ. Fourth Sphere: The fourth and final sphere is discipleship. You have to begin building bridges to the people that Christ has put them in your life. To bring others to Christ, we have to develop relationships with those believers. It is a challenging task if it is impossible from the life of sin to be saved prior establishment of a relationship with them. Stage of Discipleship in which I am in The stage in which I am in now is the stage of discipleship. I have been saved and released to the Great Commission of disciple-making, and I am passionate and committed to it. I have been able to start various ministries in several churches to women. I understand that by helping women to get into their position of being ordained to God with their homes and church, it can be a great impact in my community. Spheres to Submit to Christ The spheres which I need to submit to the centrality of Christ are all spheres. Every sphere of my life needs to be submitted to the centrality of Christ’s suffering and His death on the cross. If I lack a relationship with the suffering of Jesus Christ, I will not succeed since the servant cannot be greater than His master. A person's suffering for the sake of righteousness it is a blessing and needs to be prepared to propagate the gospel and embark of the Great Commission of disciple-making (1 Pet. 3:14-15). Therefore, I believe every sphere of a believer needs to be submitted to the centrality of Jesus Christ.9 Submission to Christ To be in submission to Christ means to be obedient to Christ since submission and obedience are inseparable. "The supreme test of faith in God is obedience (1 Sam. 28:18); the obedience of Jesus Christ to the father (Phil. 2:8) is a great example for believers who are to be "obedient children" (1 Pet.1:14)."10 Jesus Christ learned obedience through His sufferings and being perfected He become the sole author of salvation to anyone believes and obeys Him (Heb. 5:8-9). Once an individual is a new believer in Jesus Christ, they become a new creature in Jesus Christ, and the past should not rule their lives, as everything is new (2 Cor. 5:17). The first suffering in Christ, each person, need to experience is calling which summons us to detach from the worldly things. The death of old self leads to the encounter with Jesus Christ love, as those who accept discipleship accepts the death of Jesus Christ. To be a true Christ’s disciple, a Christian needs to submit Him and expect to suffer for the sake of His righteousness, as He suffered on the cross for our salvation. As Christ is the only Christ was suffered and was rejected, so disciple who is called by is name through suffering and rejection is expected to go through thus taking part in the crucifixion.11 Being submissive to Jesus Christ one is expected to be obedient to His laws and commandments, and be humbled, as a servant of God (James 4:7).12 It is expected that for everyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ they need to be part and parcel of the community of the Jesus Christ cross. They need to submit everything to the lifestyle of obedience, be mature and be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.13 Conclusion Conclusively, the starting point for every believer to be a disciple is salvation. A person needs to be born again, then persevere throughout the training process to go to the next stage in the relationship with Jesus Christ by being devoted and taking their cross and follow Him. Also, they will need to abandon their old lifestyle and embrace everything which pertains to God through remembrance of work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The stages of discipleship are attained progressively through being obedient and submissive to Jesus Christ, be willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ.14 Bibliography Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Geffrey B. Kelly, and John D. Godsey. Discipleship. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001. Print. Douglas, J.D. and Merrill C. Tenney. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Mi. Zondervan. 2011. Moreau, A. S. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Second Edition. Grand Rapids, Mi. Baker Academic. 2001. Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. Discipleshift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. N.p., 2013. Print. Walvoord, John F. and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament. Colorado Springs, Co. David C. Cook. 1983.