Introduction
There is a great controversy on what constitutes essential activities of Christians. The rationale might be to educate issues raised in the bible, wheel spiritual developments, or promote discipleship of Jesus Christ.
The evident conflicts reinforce the need to distinguish the disparities or similarities that prevail between these domains. A disciple is an individual who has conviction in Christ for salvation and has consequently surrendered wholly to Him.1
Such a person is dedicated to execute virtues within the community while enhancing the work of God. What must be unpinned is if the Great Commission forms the essential duty or purpose of Christian ministry. Indeed, if discipleship forms the essential activity of any Christian ministry, then it shall bear dramatic impacts.
Although it is relatively hard to contain God in an empirical evaluation, we may evaluate answers for the search for the answers depending on the teachings of the Scripture. This discussion seeks to critique a statement that the essential activity of Christian ministry is to make a disciple who worships Jesus.
Education, Discipleship, and Spiritual Formation
Education has been defined as the innovative procedure of using exterior and internal powers to enhance the roles of teaching as well as training in enhancing and achieving growth and advancement.2 It enables personalities to understand, contemplate and give back to their society and culture. Discipleship is likened to the master-apprenticeship association taken in a religious context.
Discipleship has also been regarded as the gradual process of growing into a completely committed Christ follower, empowered by the quest to impart passion as well as commitment for Christ and others.3 On the other hand, spiritual formation refers to the Christian development through a distinct procedure of living a Christian way of life by the Holy Spirit. Alternatively, it may refer to the manners through which the life must be lived.
Apart from some obvious similarities, there are distinct and notable differences that can be observed between education, discipleship, as well as spiritual transformation. Biblical discipleship entails getting to and following after Christ, restraining oneself from certain privileges and counting the incurrence within corporate as well as personal associations. Above all, it also involves taking up Christ’s Cross.
Conversely, education may be assumed to be the combination of two axes of continuums. These include personal/corporate as well as transmission or reflection. The aspects of Christianity, discipleship, worship, and Christian lifestyle must relate to one another in a coherent and decisive manner.
Ideally, the mission of Christian education comprises of four essential components. Foremost, there is the Godly as well as biblical individual, this is followed by the purposes, then the products and finally the fourth are the processes. Christian spiritual formation entails the development and advancement of any believer in gradually becoming just as Jesus in the entire life.
It entails spiritual activities including prayer, scripture analysis, fasting, plainness, confession and worship. Additionally, this involves evangelism, helping out, stewardship, silence as well as solitude. Journaling as well as learning also form critical practices within Christian spiritual formation.
In this outline, a clear cut difference can be drawn from discipleship and education components of Christian life. However, it is critical to note that spiritual formation as well as discipleship remains similar since both of them assist a believer to emulate Jesus’ life and teaching.
Spiritual formation helps disciples to devote to Christ. Contrarily, discipleship entails the methods through which a disciple manifests the image of Christ in his character and behavior. It is critical to note that the objective of Christian education remains to educate the mind and affects the heart with Gospel-based teachings that encourages the disciple to develop within the familiarity of spiritual formation together with discipleship.4
It is credible to note however that Christian education remains unique from both spiritual formation together with discipleship since it transmits biblical information to the disciple through a formal or informal circumstance.
It remains the sustained effort of those with conviction to comprehend, execute and spread the reality of Jesus Christ entrenched within God’s message. Since it is continual, Christian education moves or prevails throughout the believer’s entire life.
Christian education again stands to practice and consequently execute the teachings personally in the context of a community. Lastly, education remains evangelistic within its capacity to share the noble messages of Jesus Christ globally. While Christian education offers the initial means of discipleship, the latter exists within the larger community. Spiritual formation usually remains evaluated in spirituality context.
It has been biblical defined as the systematic transformation as well as renewal that emanates from developing into deeper and more individualized association with Christ. Analytically, it is observable that education is the spring board of spiritual formation while the heart remains discipleship.
Thus, this maturation procedure transpires in the whole life of any believer and is basically the end product of education as well as discipleship process.
The Interest of a Church’s Ministry
Evidently, the church remains a critical factor in the Christian life. The purpose of the church can never be underscored while discussing the three values already discussed above. The Apostles such as Peter perhaps provide the best of the description of the church versus its significance to the Christian life.
Ideally, the most appropriate deed undertaken in recognition of God ought to be the nurturing of disciples to worship Jesus in the right context. Thus the function of a church is to basically worship Jesus. On the other hand, it can be deduced that the critical activity of all Christian ministries remains to bring up the disciples to worship Jesus.
According to this argument, the rationale of Christian education remains vital in the interest of the Church. Education remains an essential purpose since a person can never sufficiently worship from a condition or state of ignorance. The basic purpose in church remains Christian education so that even in discipleship and Christian formation, the followers become aware of what and why they are attending to their God5.
It is also observable that worshiping distinctly one attribute of the Almighty may lead to worshiping of an idol. As the church observes, the knowledge of God and His glory encourages and molds worship as well as glorification of Jesus Christ.
The Connection of the 3 Areas with Worship
Christian education as stated earlier forms the fundamental spring board towards fruitful and focused worship. To this effect, a Christian has the ability to worship whatever he/she has full familiarity and conviction in. The discipleship should only come after a full knowledge-conviction on what really Christianity or God is.
This is consequently followed by the Christian formation which comes as a process in worship. Discipleship is critical to worship since worship is conducted within the context of a relationship or association. Individual connection with Christ helps to invigorate worship.
Spiritual formation also holds a close connection to worship in the Christian life. This is due to the fact that a person will never worship Christ in self-centeredness.6 In reality, one’s mind ought to be renewed similarly to the servant’s attitude. It is critical to note that with these three factors or components operating collectively as disciples get nurtured while Christ becomes glorified.
Making and nurturing disciples remain essential. Consequently, the connection of discipleship and worship can never be underestimated. However, Christian formation marks the climax of the discipleship as the believers develop the capacity to fully emulate Christ’s life and teachings.
Conclusion
It is critical to observe that the time of salvation transpires when the essence of worship basically transforms from oneself to Christ. During this period, the church’s ministry critically remains most interested since it is the conclusion of the basic activity of a Christian ministry. The modeling of disciples via education as well as discipleship results into an extended spiritual formation as they grow nearer to Christ.
It is thus generally observable that the three Christian domains are fundamental for a successful Christian life. Education thus forms the basic spring board to an effective Christian life.
From the entire argument, it is important to conclude that Christian ministry is not meant to make a disciple who worships Jesus but rather to establish and nurture personalities who embrace virtues, values, and Christian ethics. Additionally, worship is not an evidence of discipleship. It acts as one of the elements that signify discipleship, connection with Christ, and spiritual lifestyle.
Bibliography
Anthony, Michael. Introducing Christian Education: Foundations for the Twenty-First Century. Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001.
Barna, George. Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of Christ. New York: WaterBrook Press, 2001.
Hammett, Edward H. Reframing Spiritual Formation: Discipleship in an Unchurched Culture. New York: Smyth & Helwys, 2002.
Jenkins, Dave, “The Essential Activity of Christian Ministry.” Web.
Mitchell, Michael. Leading, Teaching, and Making Disciples. Indiana: CrossBooks, 2010.
Piper, John. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. California: William Carey Library, 2009.
Footnotes
1 Dave Jenkins, “The Essential Activity of Christian Ministry.”
2 Michael Anthony, Introducing Christian Education: Foundations for the Twenty-First Century (Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001), 9.
3 Michael Mitchell, Leading, Teaching, and Making Disciples (Indiana: CrossBooks, 2010), 16.
4 George, Barna, Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of Christ (Colorado: WaterBrook Press, 2001), 54.
5 John Piper, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (California: William Careyb Library, 2009), 34.
6 Edward Hammett, Reframing Spiritual Formation: Discipleship in an Unchurched Culture (New York: Smyth & Helwys, 2002), 77.