How a Healthy Church is the Goal for Discipleship Order Instructions: For this assignment, you will explain how a healthy church is the goal for discipleship.
Next, you will examine your personal church or ministry context and identify the top 3 areas that your organization needs to focus on to create a healthier body of Christ. Finally, discuss some initial steps your organization could take to improve its spiritual health.
How a Healthy Church is the Goal for Discipleship Sample Answer
Introduction
If the goal of discipleship does not orient towards the creation of a healthy church, then it becomes questionable. The ultimate goal of discipleship is a healthy church. Discipleship denotes the willingness to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ and His ways despite the many challenges that one may encounter in the process. A healthy church denotes a congregation whose focus is not in the numbers of the members thereof, but rather the orientation towards doing the will of God. This paper analyses the healthy church as the goal of discipleship and gives the focus points of the church that need to be addressed in order to create a healthy church and to improve on the spiritual health.
Goal of discipleship
There has been an observed trend in the church today which points to the goals of discipleship as shifting from the focus to a healthy church. The goal of discipleship should be to raise a healthy church that denotes the glory of God. Much of the focus of many disciples has shifted to the growth of the church rather than the health of the church. The goal of discipleship is on the growing of healthy church such that the glory of God can be manifested in it. If the health of the church is not made the ultimate goal of discipleship; then there are bound to be problems. It becomes difficult to keep the focus of discipleship and it becomes extremely difficult to withstand the temptations and difficulties encountered in the discipleship. When one attaches the goal of discipleship to the healthy church, they are capable to withstand the difficulties that are bound to be experienced especially in the process f the growth of the church. The focus of the goal of discipleship to a healthy church is based on the realization of the difference between a big church or a growing church and a healthy church. The focus is not on the growth of the church but on the health.
Areas to be focused
In order to achieve the health of the church, it is crucial to focus on certain top areas and give the necessary alignment. First, it is crucial that the church focus on the spiritual growth of the church rather than the physical growth in terms of numbers. There has been much focus on the increment of the congregation numbers such that the health of the church has been neglected. Most of the preaching has been aligned to encouraging people to attend the church and to even encourage their neighbors at home and at work places to attend the church. There has not been much focus on the health of the church in terms of how well they follow the teachings of the Bible. There is therefore need to align the teaching to the congregation to focus more on the health in terms of following the teachings of the Bible rather than in the mare attendance of the church sermons. This would go a long way in ensuring that the church is healthy n terms of doing the will of God in accordance with the Biblical teachings.
The other top area of focus is on the orientation of the gifts of the disciples. There has been much effort to encourage the congregation to make their offerings in the church without much focus on how the growing disciples should learn to give especially the poor in the community. Giving out offerings in the church is oriented to discipleship because; the ministry of leading the disciples cannot be accomplished without the offerings made by the congregation. However, this is not enough by itself because; some people could just give out of having plenty and not out of their hearts. There should also be the encouragement of the congregation to help the poor in society. This orients to the teachings of Jesus that we should help the poor and if we do not love our neighbors; then we do not love God. It is therefore, crucial that the focus should not just be on the giving in the church. There should be a shift such that the giving is also extended to the poor and the needy in the society. This kind of giving should be encouraged to take the first priority because; God likes a clean heart more than the offerings. The helping of the needy could even result to the growth of the church in the sense that; many people would be touched by the helping spirit of the church goers and they would therefore want to be associated with the church. They would therefore seek to become part of the church ministry and start attending the church. It is crucial that the leading disciples focus on making the congregation healthy even in their giving out of what they have rather than in increasing their numbers so that the offerings can increase.
In order to have a healthy church, it is crucial to also focus on the issue of the fruits of the developed disciples. The goal of the disciples who have already developed their grounds in the discipleship in Christ is oriented to making others healthy disciples. The disciples made are also encouraged to make others disciples too. When the new disciples are brought to the church, they are helped to grow spiritually such that they are able to bear fruits. If the disciples do not bear spiritual fruits, then they are not healthy. Therefore, the goal of discipleship as of being to develop a healthy church is not achieved. In order to ensure that the goal of discipleship is pegged to a healthy church; it is crucial to ensure that the disciples made are bearing fruits.
If the disciples are bearing fruits, then the church can be said to be healthy. The fruits to be borne by the disciples in a healthy church, whose disciples are oriented to making a healthy church, are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The area of ascertaining the fruits of the disciples should be given focus so as to ensure that the church is healthy. The new disciples should be encouraged to understand the fruits that are borne by those that are led by the spirit of God. Those are the fruits of the Holy Spirit such as love. When they have understood the expected fruits, they are encouraged to bear them not just in the church but also in their lives outside the church. When the congregation is bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit as the fruits of discipleship, then the church can be said to be healthy, and the goal of discipleship has been accomplished.
Steps to improve spiritual health and How a Healthy Church is the Goal for Discipleship
There is a need for improvement of the spiritual health of the church ministry. In order to do this; there is a need to take some steps. There should be more focus on the Bible so as to ensure that the congregation understands the true meaning of discipleship. The Bible is he Christian doctrine that carries the focal way that Christians, who are in essence the disciples of Jesus; should follow. The focus on the Bible would ensure that there are Bible sessions in the middle of the week whereby; the new disciples are guided to understand the teachings so as to be able to follow them in their daily lives. This view follows the observation made in the ministry. There have been assumptions that the Bible teachings have become familiar to people such that there is no need to give many teachings on the Bible. This is not the way to go because; the Bible can be taken to be new to any new disciple.
The other step to make the church healthy would be to focus on the health of the disciples in terms of spiritual affairs. Sometimes there is focus on the physical growth of the church such that the kind of life that the Christians live is not given much of attention. It is crucial to focus on the life of the disciples or the Christians such that; they are encouraged to live a life denoting following the steps of Jesus such that they can encourage other people to follow their ways by living a healthy life that is guided by the will of God.
How a Healthy Church is the Goal for Discipleship Reference list
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VALIENTE, O. ERNESTO. 2013. “FROM CONFLICT TO RECONCILIATION: DISCIPLESHIP IN THE THEOLOGY OF JON SOBRINO.” Theological Studies 74, no. 3: 672
Hewitt, Roderick R. 2014. “Evangelism as Discipleship.” International Review Of Mission 103, no. 2: 200-214
BARTON, RUTH HALEY, DIANE J. CHANDLER, TAN SIANG-YANG, JUDY TENELSHOF, and JAMES C. WILHOIT. 2014. “SPIRITUAL FORMATION IN THE CHURCH.” Journal Of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 7, no. 2: 301
BARTON, RUTH HALEY, DIANE J. CHANDLER, TAN SIANG-YANG, JUDY TENELSHOF, and JAMES C. WILHOIT. 2014: 297
