A Biblical Theology and Strategy of Discipleship

Seminary Paper Series 002

Introduction

This paper sets out to paint a theological and strategic picture of approaching the work of Jesus Christ in leading people toward maturity. Maturity here is being defined as sharing the same values and heart as the triune God, which result in us bearing his image more and more in every sphere of our lives. The question is how do we partner with God in helping facilitate his redemptive-restorative work in people’s lives? In this paper His redemptive and restorative work will be referred to as divine formation. So, how do we partner with God is divinely forming his people?

This paper is sectioned into three main parts. In part one we will focus on a Biblically sound and Gospel-centered theology of Discipleship, in part two, we will focus in on how we would go about the process of spiritual transformation that comes from God’s divine formation. We will discuss an important framework and some important rhythms. Lastly, part three includes a profile of a divinely formed people, people who are undergoing redemption and restoration by God.

Part One:  A Gospel-centered Biblically Sound theology of discipleship

One of my favorite paintings hangs on the wall of my guest room. The painting is of medieval common life. The entire frame includes a whole village, a castle held up on a high mountain in the background, and a family that is gathering grain and watering plants in the foreground. My eyes quickly go to the top right of the painting captivated by the castle which is surrounded with clouds and shrouded with misty mystery. That castle has a way of dominating the entire photo-frame.

 This painting is like the Bible. Sometimes we are looking too closely at what captivates us and we miss the whole picture. Something dominates the frame. Sometimes the small details dominate even more than the artist intended. The way we frame the story of the Bible can be driven by the small details we are fond of, while simultaneously neglecting the whole story, and the authors focus. Maybe we give more weight to said details over the bigger themes because of our Christian tradition. Our tendency to focus where we are drawn, contributes to the importance of the hermeneutical circle, because we must remember to study the details considering the whole story, and the whole story considering the details. Not one without the other, leaving room for each of our focuses to have a place, and come together to make a better understanding.

Let’s entertain the idea of stepping back. Would we perhaps notice other parts of the story we’d otherwise miss, due to being so close? These other parts could reveal patterns, and then allow us to notice major themes. Major themes, then, could become useful for discovering the parameters that have been placed in the Bible by the Holy Spirit. If we could discover these parameters, they could allow us, within our given context, to live within the boundaries that God has laid out. In this first part of the paper, I am asserting that major themes do exist, and we are going to explore them surrounding the words disciple, discipling, and discipleship.

‘Disciple’ in the Hebrew Bible

Naturally, asking what a disciple is has its importance. There are many differing ideas and ways of understanding this word. Reading Wilkins was helpful because he reached back into the cultures to extract their definitions and brought them forward in his book. My convictions of what it meant to be a disciple were both broadened and strengthened by him. Some people say a disciple is a learner, some say a follower, some say a ‘super-Christian’, what do you say? My Christian tradition would say a learner. The Greek definition of disciple was overemphasized to me in my faith. I learned of the Hebrew definition of ‘taught one’ later in life. Yet, Wilkins adds some helpful insight into the definition of a disciple

To say that a disciple is a learner is true, but this overemphasizes one aspect of the term’s meaning and misses what the term primarily signified in the New Testament era…A disciple was one who made a life commitment to a particular master and his way of life. The type of “disciple” and the corresponding life of “discipleship” was determined by the type of master, but commitment to the master and his ways was central. Emphasis added. (Following the Master, 38-39, Kindle Edition)

A disciple therefore is a person who makes a life commitment to a particular master and his way of living. Wilkins continues, “Therefore, it is not enough to ask what a disciple is. Rather, we must ask of whom the person is a disciple and at what period of time” (Following the Master, 39, Kindle Edition). Running with this definition, anyone who made a commitment to God as master was his disciple. Anyone who followed his way of life was his disciple. Anyone who set out to play a part in moving his redemptive story forward, would be considered his disciple. With that in mind, we notice the Biblical theme of ‘disciple’ as early as the book of Genesis, beginning with people like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and eventually the people of Israel.