The Discipleship Continuum: Christless to Christ-Centered

Dec 9

Have you ever wondered when evangelism transitions into discipleship? Many would say it happens after someone accepts the Lord as Savior, but I—and I believe the Bible—see it differently.

The truth of the matter is, I believe that evangelism is actually the starting place of discipleship. Discipleship takes place both before and after someone accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior. We must understand this so that we do not make the unnecessary division between the two as we minister to the lost. I like to think of the discipleship process as helping someone go from idolizing the things of this world to treasuring Christ above everything else. The chart below is a good visual for displaying the discipleship journey.

The Discipleship Continuum

Everyone on the planet is located somewhere on this discipleship continuum. We all began our journey as enemies of God. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). Each of us was born with a sinful nature that enslaved us to the lusts of the flesh and temptations of this world.

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:17-18).

Transformation at Conversion

At our conversion, a miracle took place! Our old identity was crucified with Christ, and we became an entirely new person. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our depraved spirit was cleansed and joined to the Holy Spirit. “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17). We have now been given Christ’s identity.

He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Spirit, Soul, and Body

At the time of our conversion, we became perfect in our spirit: “For by one offering He [Jesus] has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). Though we are joined to God and faultless in spirit, our soul and body are still undergoing the process of transformation. Discipleship is necessary for everyone, no matter how far along the continuum you are. We are all in the process of fighting conformity to this world as we experience transformation by renewing our mind (Romans 12:2).

Finally, we who love the Lord will experience our final renovation when Christ “will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:21). This is the end of life in our temporary bodies as we are given the precious gift of immortality in the presence of God.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Discipleship in Action

If we are to define discipleship as anything that leads people to become more like Jesus, we see that the first stage of the discipleship process is displaying Christ to those who are lost. This is done in our words as we share the gospel of Christ, but it is also done in our actions as we love people the way Jesus loves them. Occasions for discipleship are endless as we are given the opportunity to disciple those who are saved and those who are lost in life’s everyday interactions.

Preparing for Authentic Discipleship

But keep in mind that what we win someone through is also what we win someone to. Put another way, how we disciple people before they come to Christ will be their expectation for discipleship after they are converted. If we only preach a gospel of wealth and convenience, we create an expectation within new believers for a blissful Christian life void of any trials or difficulties. This is irresponsible and actually quite cruel to do to another person. We must present the entire truth of the gospel-centered life if we want to equip and prepare the lost to become authentic disciples of Jesus.

Moving forward, I urge you to get rid of this idea of a disparity between evangelism and discipleship. Sure, it may be simple wording but our words result in how we think about things. By reframing our understanding of discipleship as every part of the growth process - even before someone comes to the Lord, we bring about an integrated approach to spiritual growth in people's lives. In all of this, we join Jesus in the beautiful process of seeing people separate and distant from God being transformed into a person who is intimately connected with their creator

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