Missional Discipleship

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit

and so prove to be my disciples.
John 15:8 (ESV)
Discipleship

What is a disciple?

How do we make a
disciple?
Missional Perspective
• Every believer is SENT by
Jesus
• with the message of the
CROSS
• together in COMMUNITY
• to those in the surrounding
CULTURE
• for the KING and His
KINGDOM.
 Defining disciples/discipleship
Disciples
“We are all learners of Jesus our rabbi who has given us his Spirit to teach us all that
is true about Jesus and enable us to live it out his commands. Jesus commanded us
to make disciples who believe the gospel, are established in a new identity and are
able to obey all of his commands (Matt. 28:19-20). The missional community is the
best context in which this can happen.

Disciples are made and developed:

1) Through life on life, where there is visibility and accessibility
2) in community, where they can practice the one anothers, and
3) on mission where they learn how to proclaim the gospel and make disciples.
What did Jesus do with His Disciples?
What did it look like?
What did they do?
How did they live?
Where did it occur?
Why did He do it?
 How do we make a disciple?
What does it look like?
What do we do?
How do we live?
Where does it occur?
Why do we do it?
 Theological Framework
And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of
men.
Matthew 4:19
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:18–20
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I
have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these,
because I am going to the Father.
(John 14:12)
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has
sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:21
• Follow me- submission to Lordship
• I will make- Process of transformation
• Fishers of men- new identity and purpose
• Command- Go (active) make disciples (Objective)
• All nations- scope of mission
• Baptizing- death to self
• Teaching to obey all- Reordering of life
• Whoever believes- everyone is called
• will do the works- everyone is a kingdom bearer, everyone is a
missional disciple
• As – in the same manner and message
• I send you- your purpose and identity
 Missional Discipleship

Process not just Information needed…

Obedience not just knowledge…

Where and how does this process best occur?

* Our new identity, posture and approach flow out of a true

Gospel Understanding, Gospel Identity and Gospel Motivation.

* Discipleship and mission occur best together as a missional

community
 Church growth (Marketing) vs Discipleship

THE IDOLS THAT ARE PREVALENT IN AMERICA AND AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY

MUST BE CHALLENGED IN DISCIPLESHIP
 Idol # 1 Materialism
Materialism is the pervasive idolatry of allowing possessions to
define identity. Materialism predominantly addresses the ends
towards which Americans’ lives are aiming.

Much of our pursuit of life is driven by having things – a home,

financial security, possessions. The lives of most in the
predominant American culture, churches included, are driven
towards material provision or enjoyment.
 Idol #2 Individualism
Individualism is the predominant viewpoint of how most people
in the American church see themselves.

Fundamentally, most individuals in American culture view

themselves as an autonomous unit, making decisions as an
isolated authority only secondarily responsible to other parties.
(Own authority, Life centered on self)
 Idol #3 Consumerism
Consumerism is the third predominant component of an American
worldview. Primarily, individuals seek to understand what benefit a
person or thing can provide for them.

Americans approach situations and circumstances attempting to

answer the question “What can I get out of this?” rather than “How
can I contribute to this?”

Consumerism is an appetite that drives behaviors and a viewpoint

that informs expectations in any given interaction with another
person or entity.
Lordship, Obedience, Multiplication

3 CHARACTERISTICS OF DISCIPLESHIP
MOVEMENTS
Centered on the Lordship of Jesus – Jesus is the
sovereign ruler of our lives as Christians, that
whatever he says goes, certainly runs contrary
to the predominant consumeristic and
individualistic bent in most Western churches.
Obedience-based Discipleship- not simply the
process of knowing about God through his Word
but about actually obeying his commandments
on a daily basis.
Expecting Multiplication- actually expecting
Christ-followers to make and multiply disciples.
If the Great Commission is for all God’s people,
then very practically the church should be
looking to everyday people to be making and
maturing disciples of Jesus. Multiplication is
expected when everyone is playing a part.
What is a small group all about? What are it’s strengths and weaknesses in terms
of Missional Discipleship

1. What’s at the center of small group life?

2. How is one discipled in a small group?

3. Where does discipleship and community life predominantly happen?

 In a typical small group….
①Community: community is wonderful and a place for you to belong and grow
②Christology: Our desire is for you to encounter Christ as you participate in our
community and that you will make a lordship decision for Christ during your XA
discipleship
③Missiology: Our desire is that you will share your faith and invite people into
our community
 Missional Discipleship occurs in a Missional Community/Missional Small
Group (Look at the Order)

①Christology: Gospel Centric understanding of Lordship

Gives us our missiology
②Missiology: The mission of God has been given to His people… we are a “Sent”
people on His mission together
Lordship and missiology form us into community
③Ecclesiology: The Lordship of Christ and our Mission together as His Family forms our
community identity.

If we try to create a church (community) we rarely end up with mission or discipleship; if we

start with Lordship and mission, we always end up with community. (Don’t make community
the center)
 Missional Community as the Vehicle
Recalibrate focal point of Small Group Life… allow the Lordship of Christ
and His mission to seek and to save the lost and to make disciples of all
nations be your governing mandate:

(ie. Community should be the by product of a healthy Christology and

missiology not the focal point.)
 Missional Discipleship
We learn best as we:
• mutually submit to the Lordship of Christ
• take seriously his commands
• live out our Gospel Identity as a family of missionary servants empowered by the
Holy Spirit to engage the lost and culture with the Gospel message of the Kingdom.
 Characteristics of Missional Discipleship
Living on Mission together
– Specific people groups are our focus
– Life on Life in the mission
Life is centered on Christ and His Mission
– Rhythms (together on mission)
– Discipleship is practiced not just talked about
• 3rd places- weekly/Bi-Weekly
• Family Meals- Bi-weekly/Monthly
• Triads/DNA Groups for Going Deeper in the Word and Accountability – Weekly
• Lots of time together on mission and doing life
• Missional (Posture)
• Incarnational (Methodology)
• Discipleship (Lordship lived out)
Missio Dei
“… every man, woman, and child in every place having a daily encounter with
Jesus through words spoken and deeds done through his people. This isn’t
really my vision. It is God’s vision. He says, “For the earth will be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Hab.
2: 14). And God will accomplish this vision through his Son, Jesus Christ,
working through his body, the church. Ephesians 1: 22– 23 says, “He put all
things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Jesus is the head of
his body, the church, through which he intends to fill every place with his
presence. This is saturation— Jesus saturation.

SATURATE -- Jeff Vanderstelt

 Can you imagine every city, every neighborhood, every street, and every
house saturated with Jesus’s presence through his people? What if, in every
school, every classroom, and every extracurricular activity, students daily
experienced the person and work of Jesus?
Can you dream with me of a day when no business office, retail center, or
industrial hub can get away from the good news of Jesus proclaimed in
words and expressed in gracious deeds?
A day when every café, pub, restaurant, or bakery smells of the aroma of
Christ? This is God’s intention for his world. And his plan is to do it through
his people. He wants you to be a part of it!

SATURATE -- Jeff Vanderstelt

 “WE ARE PERFECTLY DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE
WHAT WE ARE CURRENTLY ACHIEVING. IF
CHRISTIANITY IS IN DECLINE, AT LEAST PART OF
THE ISSUE GOES TO THE CONTEMPORARY WAY
WE LIVE OUT FAITH IN A WATCHING WORLD.”

― ALAN HIRSCH, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW: EVERYDAY MISSION FOR

EVERYDAY PEOPLE
Each new generation of Americans is increasingly
post-Christian compared to the previous one
Whose job is it to bridge the cultural gap?
 E Scale

The E-scale represents the cultural distance that Christians go, or need to go, when
sharing the Gospel.

E-0 is the type of evangelism is reaching those who already attend or participate in
local church activities.
E-1 is evangelism that does take place outside the church, but to the same culture.
E-2 is reaching out to those who may or may not have the same language, but do have
a different backgrounds.
E-3 evangelism is reaching out to those who have never heard of Jesus or who have a
culturally instigated resistance to Christianity
 Spiritual Continuum on Campus
+2 Actively looking, open people (churched, professing Christian, or on the verge).

+1 Have spiritual questions in the back of their mind; but open-minded, not closed.
Willing to give it a shot. Nominal Christians, friendly non-Christians.

0 Apathetic. Couldn’t care less, either way. Find both extremes to be shrill,
obnoxious, and irrelevant. If you bring up Jesus, they shrug their shoulders
and say “Meh.”

-1 Suspicious, somewhat hostile, but might be willing to give you an audience.

-2 Active, angry, antagonistic. For example, militant atheist.

 Spiritual Interest Continuum Among College Students
+2 Actively looking, open people (churched, professing Christian, or on the verge). Do we have a
3-5% strategy for each
+1 Have spiritual questions in the back of their mind; but open-minded, not closed. Willing to people group?
give it a shot. Nominal Christians, friendly non-Christians
10%
Or are we only
collecting
0 Apathetic. Couldn’t care less, either way. Find both extremes to be shrill, obnoxious, and Christians?
irrelevant. If you bring up Jesus, they shrug their shoulders and say “Meh.”
62%

-1 Suspicious, somewhat hostile, but might be willing to give you an audience.

20%

-2 Active, angry, antagonistic. For example, militant atheist.

5%
Chi Alpha is poised to lead the charge on campus
and to model Missional life to the church
Strengths Action Points
❑Reconnect our emphasis on the
▪ Spirit-dependence Holy Spirit with Spirit
▪ Commitment to Discipleship empowerment for Mission
▪ Small Group Structures ❑Reconnect discipleship and small
▪ Community emphasis groups with Missional life together
▪ Holiness ❑Community must serve the
mission and not be the end in itself
❑A more radical holiness
Most of how we have designed and structured life and
ministry within the American church and within campus
ministries is based upon Christendom, a world that is quickly
disappearing.
Are we more extractional or more incarnational in our
posture? (Are we pulling out of the neighborhood or moving
into the neighborhood?)

Are we more attractional or missional in our approach

to our campus community? (How do we hope to reach every
part of the campus?)
 What’s our posture?
And what’s the role of the Church?
Attracting Posture Missional Posture
 Welcoming, we will give you a place of belonging, we do church
well (Community)
 We are living our lives together engaging
 We are moving ourselves closer to you because we care about people in our community consistently
(Proximity) (Missional Community)
 We are trying to get you to come to our meetings  Involved in 3rd places, We are
intentionally building relationships in the
(Targeted/intentionality) mission field
 We are making our meetings with you in mind (Incarnational)
(Relevant, Culturally Sensitive)  We are making our lives (individual and
Corporate) with you in mind (Rhythms)

13-15% could be impacted through Gathering Structures

Engaging the 85% requires us to be

missionaries in order for them to be reached
by the Gospel
 Where are we fishing?
Aquarium Open waters
❑ Welcoming, we will give you a place of belonging, we do ❑ We are living our lives together engaging people in our
church well (Community) community consistently
❑ We are moving ourselves closer to you because we care (Missional Community)
about (Proximity) ❑ Involved in 3rd places, We are intentionally building
❑ We are trying to get you to come to our meetings relationships in the mission field
(Targeted/intentionality) (Incarnational)
❑ We are making our meetings with you in mind ❑ We are making our lives (individual and Corporate) with
(Relevant, Culturally Sensitive) you in mind (Rhythms)

13-15% could be impacted through Gathering Structures Engaging the 85% requires us to be missionaries in order
for them to be reached by the Gospel
 Gathering
Large Group Meetings
Small Group Bible Studies
Christian Fellowship Events

Sending
Life on Life on Mission
Third Places
Incarnational Life
 We have done harm to the Gospel and it’s witness because we have
reduced the Gospel to accommodate and fit within our American
values of individualism, consumerism, and materialism.

Discipleship does not occur in a small group structure that does not live
on mission together in everyday life.

Success is not measured in our gatherings but in our scatterings! Our

sending strength is the measure of our effectiveness and the fruit of
discipleship.
 You cannot follow Jesus and be His disciple and not
be about His Mission.
Jesus: Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Immediately Peter and Andrew left their fishnets and followed Jesus. Matthew 4:19-20

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they
will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew
28:18-20
 John 20:19-23
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the
doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The
disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive
anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
We are SENT by Jesus with the message of
the CROSS together in COMMUNITY to those in the
surrounding CULTURE for the KING and His KINGDOM.
 V 21a As the Father has sent me…. Core Concepts for Jesus and us

How did the Father send Jesus? • Incarnational (came to us)

• Bridged the cultural gap (moved into the
neighborhood)

What did the Father send Jesus to do? • missional life

• Reconciler to the kingdom
• Disciplemaker
• Seek and save
What did it require of Jesus? • Submission to God
• Focus on the Father’s agenda
• Surrender, death

What was the motivation behind Jesus’ actions? • Love for the lost
• Love and obedience to the Father
• Mission of God flows from the character of God

What was the means to be able to do this? Holy Spirit, dependence on the Father (I only do…)
 Jesus’ Missional Way
Missional- posture of intentional life engagement, go to them

Luke 19:10
I came to seek and to save the lost.
 Jesus’ Incarnational Way
Incarnational- flesh, moved into the neighborhood
John 1:14 MSG
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-
a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

Luke 5
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with
them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do
you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance.” (How does this challenge your view of Holiness?)
Chi Alpha/the Church is called to gather to
scatter as missionaries.

We need community structures that both help

us gather but also help us be sent together
incarnationally.
 Are we a missional community?
A missional community is a family of missionary servants sent to
make disciples who make disciples. Our job is to make disciples of
Jesus. That is what we are called to do. No way around it. If you
follow Jesus you are called to do that.

A missional community is centered on the Gospel of Jesus that

lives out the Gospel amongst a group of people serving them and
each other as Christ served us.
 As Sent Ones….
How are you living out the Gospel Incarnationally together to
impact a specific people group on your campus or in your
community?

How are your individual and community structures geared

toward living out your community life among lost people?
The campus does not need a
Christian club on campus… it needs
the kingdom lived out among them.