The Cost of Discipleship:
Cultivating and Modeling Christ-Like
Christianity
Carol T. Mitchell, Ph.D.
Christian Education Director – Morning Star Baptist Church
Omaha, Nebraska
cstillwaters@aol.com
Urgency in this Present Age
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.
Cultivating and Modeling Christ-like
Christianity
Cultivating Christ-like
Christianity
Mark 4:8
“And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang
up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some
sixty, and some an hundred.”
The Cost of Discipleship
Presentation Format
My Hypothesis
Operational Definitions
Our Work as Christian Educators (Data on Us)
(Why We Should Care?) Is there a HOLE?
Evidence of the Urgency
Crises in an age of Modernity
Suggestions for Christian Educators
Is it TRANSFORMING? How do you know?
HYPOTHESIS
Hypothesis: If we are strategic and
intentional in our Christian Education
efforts with high expectations stated,
then there won’t be a Discipleship
Problem.
Operational Definitions
 Disciplemaking: the process of bring people into
right relationship with God; and developing
them to full maturity in Christ through
intentional growth strategies, that they might
multiply the entire process in others also.
 Discipleship Problems: recruiting, training,
teaching, nurturing, multiplying, transferring
content to application
ARE THERE HOLES?
What are they?
What the Research Says
Pew Data and Barna Data
 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world
 Number of Christians quadrupled in the past 100
years - 600 million (1910) to more than 2 billion in
2010
 Christianity – largest religious group in the
world….Muslims second largest
 Faith of African-Americans Has Changed
 Bible illiteracy on the increase
 More church goers move from church to church
People and Seeds
SEEDS
……soak
……nick, chip, or scarify
……refrigerate, pre-chill, or stratify
……freeze
**We are all different.
Understand the Landscape
“ The reality is that learners are not empty
vessels to be filled by the knowledge of the
teacher. Rather, learners are more like bulbs
of a flower. The potential for their learning is
already present in their brains. What they
need is the nurturing of caring teachers who
sprinkle them with all the nutrients they need
to grow into the beautiful creatures God
created them to become.” - Donald Griggs
The Goal of Discipleship
The Journey to Spiritual Maturity
Lifelong Discipleship
Maturity in Christ
Growth in Christ
BORN AGAIN
Evangelism
Pre-Evangelism
Born
Cultivating and Modeling Christlike Christianity
ULTIMATE PURPOSE IN LIFE
Knowing, Loving, Serving God
Educational Goals
Educational Methods
Developing into the image of
Christ. Evangelism and
Character development.
Dynamic interaction between
the Bible, the Spirit, other
People, and life.
Educational Programs
Specific activities which promote
CHRISTLIKENESS in interactions
with the Bible, other learners and
life situations.
THE EVIDENCE OF
SPIRITUAL MATURITY
God gives the increase.
The Holy Spirit transforms!
st
21
Century Strategies
1. Move from spiritual exhortations to spiritual
direction.
2. Move from single level discipling to multi level
discipling.
3. Move from program oriented to person
oriented discipling.
4. Move from classroom discipling to real world
discipling.
5. Move from superficial conformity to valuechange.
21st Century Strategies
 6. Move from theological content to
theological contemplation.
 7. Move from ministry management to life
management.

~ E. Chan
Bibliography

David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, UnChristian – What a New Generation
Really Thinks About Christianity…and Why It Matters, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Baker Books) 2008.

“A Change in the Kingdom,” in Minister Donns. Jobe, Sr., The Christian
Education Informer, Vol. 60, No. 3 , Summer 2008, (Nashville, TN:
Sunday School Publishing Board) p 44-47.

H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture, (New York: Harper Collins
Publishers) 2001.

Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman, When Generations Collide, (New
York, New York: Harper Collins Publishers) 2005.

Dinesh D’Souza, What’s So Great About Christianity, (Carol Stream, Illinois,
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 2007.
Bibliography
 Lois Lebar, Education That Is Christian, 1995.
 John Barna, Seven Tribes of Faith, 2009.
 Finley Edge, Teaching for Results, (Nashville, Tennessee) 1999.
 Jillian Straus, Unhooked Generation , (New York, New York:
Hyperion) 2006.
 Reggie McNeal, The Present Future- Six Tough Questions for the
Church, (San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass), 2008
 John Stott, Issues Facing Christians Today, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan) 2006
The Cost of Discipleship
Copy of Presentation will be available on the Connectional
Christian Education’s Website – www.ameced.com