Response to Adam Rimmer
I agree with the first article on biblical rooted discipleship. I agree with the author that it would be a lie to them as a group of evangelizing, and when making other disciples. He talks of Jesus as being a Pilate’s instructor and not a trainer, and God is experienced as part of his family. It translates to the hallmark of discipleship as group discipleship and not one on one. Group evangelism was responsible for getting one there; hence it is carried out by God’s family and not individuals. The author of the article tries to explain that it is not a solo effort that is responsible for spiritual formation and does not intend to devalue the one on one relationship. An individual spiritual formation originates from the act of experiencing God the way it happened to the disciples as a family and as a group. Some people try to separate a family from God’s family, but the scripture explains in Mark3:31-35, where it is written that whoever does God’s will is his family. God does not want us to work alone, and we are supposed to partner with others. The disciple-making process should be done by us until Jesus returns and not me alone experiencing God’s daily life 1peter2:4-5. The author is always on the mission of discipline one on one, and he admits that the issue of grouping did not come to his thoughts. But at the same time preaches that everyone can make an impact. He relies on the assumption that he has faith in himself and not in others. He admits that he understood wrongly since someone else could be having a much more significant impact compared to his influence. It means that a pastor is not the only one to disciple someone, and mentoring and discipline on one should not come to an end. The main focus should not be experiencing God in daily life but to make disciple until the return of Jesus.me can never be greater than Us and a group will always disciple many collectively compared to an individual, and the origin was Jesus by appointing disciples “we are greater than me.”
Response to Scott Whitley
I agree with the article where joseph made a claim that biblical discipleship is usually done by the community of believers of a church as a whole. For those are sharing the conviction and the way and manner Paul connects. He relates the spiritual formation with the church’s image as the body of Christ. This is biblical from the book of Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. And the verses stress a crucial and non-negotiable truth about the life of a Christian. It is true that God designed us to grow in the context of the community. The author agrees with the need of the whole body of Christ to grow .when quoting the scriptures in Ephesians 4 and Roman 12, the text does not claim as asserted but talks of the and growth in Christ and not about the church as corporate body disciples. This is the biggest misconception witnessed in the church in matters concerning discipleship. When pastors are asked on issues regarding the greatest need in a church, their response would be discipleship.in an attempt to begin discipleship the response would be “we are going to start discipleship class next week,” and whoever is interested, please see brother so and so or sister so and so.unfortunately this is not biblical discipleship. There is a major role played by the corporate body for someone to grow and learn .on need to be encouraged, edified, and well equipped to worship and to stir one another up in love and good work; unfortunately, this is not discipleship. Discipleship is a term in reference to a mature believer who is grounded in the word of God and living out Christ in us takes a person young in Christ and invest their life in them. They teach them and help them grow up into the fullness of Christ Jesus commanded make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the father, the son and holy spirit and teach them to observe everything I have commanded you.
References
Bonhoeffer, D. (2012). The cost of discipleship. Simon & Schuster.
Hull, B. (2014). The complete book of discipleship: On being and making followers of Christ. Tyndale House.