2 Helpful Thoughts on Discipleship from Capitol Hill Baptist Church

In one of their core seminars on discipleship, Capitol Hill Baptist Church offers the following 2 thoughts:

PROCESS OVER PROGRAM

Why might it be easy to think of discipleship as a program instead of a process? Many programs have been developed to “grow” disciples. But because every person is different and has different struggles and temptations, discipleship cannot be so easily packaged. Hebrews 10:14 says that Christ “has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” What an interesting statement. On the one hand, Christ has made us perfect. On the other, though, we are continually being made holy! With his death on the cross, Christ stood as our substitute before God and we were justified in God’s sight. In regard to His justice, then, we are already perfect. But another process is taking place throughout our lives – the putting to death of our flesh so that our body of sin will be destroyed. Read Philippians 1:3-6. Paul is confident that as Christ has begun this process of sanctification, so He will carry it on to completion. As disciplers, though, we must remember that the process is not complete yet. Our prayer should be that of Paul a few verses later in Philippians 1:9-11.


IT TAKES A CHURCH

In Hebrews 10:24-25, it is the church who is charged with encouraging believers, not just one person. This class will deal mainly with one-on-one discipling, but we must remember that Christ intends for His disciples to be brought to full maturity through the ministry of the church. No one of us has the full arsenal of spiritual gifts that is necessary to bring a person to full maturity in Christ. Even in your own life, there are areas where you will probably need more to be discipled yourself rather than to be a discipler! Each person in the church is able to contribute to the growth and development of a Christian. We are not to make clones of ourselves, but disciples of Christ, so we should not assume that we can personally provide everything a person needs. One person in the church may be gifted in one area, while another person is gifted in another. Both of those people are needed to bring a disciple to full maturity.