Complete Dissertaton - Final for Print with new editing - Dallas ...

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soul work…by giving to others the treasure of His encouragement, thus becoming God’s
promise keepers.” 22
Discipleship
Discipleship should be interwoven into any Christian relationship. “The Greek
word for disciple – mathetes – means learner, pupil, someone who learns by following.
The word implies an intellectual process that directly affects the lifestyle of a person. It is
used in the New Testament primarily of the Twelve. Whatever making a disciple means,
Jesus himself did it. Whatever a disciple is, that’s what the Twelve were.” 23 Discipleship
can be a specific relationship or it can be a program or ministry devoted to the single
purpose of discipling or teaching another the principles and concepts of the Christian
faith. Win Arn and Charles Arn, authors of The Master’s Plan for Making Disciples,
answer the question, “What is a Disciple?” by saying, “A disciple is a believer. A disciple
is a follower. A disciple is a learner. A disciple is a witness. A disciple is baptized. A
disciple is a reproducer.” 24 Arn and Arn go on to define discipleship as, “…disciplemaking:
an intentional strategy and priority of the church that initiates disciple-making,
trains members in disciple-making, uses resources of the body, creates support resources,
and incorporates new believers into the church.” 25 Stanley and Clinton in their book
Connecting, add this insight to a distinction of discipleship saying, “Discipling is training
intensive.” 26
22 Sharon W. Betters, Treasures of Encouragement (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing
Company, 1996), 9-11.
23 Bill Hull, Jesus Christ, Disciplemaker, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004), 24.
24 Win Arn and Charles Arn, The Master’s Plan for Making Disciples, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Books, 1998), 27.
25 Ibid., 122.
26 Stanley and Clinton, Connecting, 66.