What is discipleship?

We believe Jesus made It perfectly clear what discipleship Is when He Invited His first disciples, or followers, In Matthew 4:18-20:

"18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him." (NKJV)

Within these scriptures, we see the very basis of Discipleship revealed. By looking at Jesus' own words, we can see that a disciple is someone who:

  1. Follows Jesus - "Follow me..." - This simple invitation from Jesus is the very basis of discipleship. Jesus extends each and every one of us an invitation. And discipleship, our spiritual journey, begins when we say "YES".
  2. Is Transformed by Jesus - "and I will make you..." - Being a disciple of Jesus involves a life of transformation. From the inside out, we should be changed by Jesus day in and day out. Changed into what? Well, more like Him! Becoming more like Jesus is our ultimate goal in transformation.
  3. Is Committed to the Mission of Jesus - "fishers of men." - As disciples of Jesus Christ, we cannot simple follow Him and be changed by Him. We must also commit ourselves to His mission, our mission, the Great Commission: to go into all the world and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20)

Our desire at Liberty Church International is to help you on this discipleship journey! The best place to start? Right where you are! We would love to connect with you to establish the next steps in your discipleship journey. Click here to get started. We would also love to meet you in person. You are welcome to attend our weekend experiences on Sundays at 10 AM at our Legacy Park Campus. You can also check out our LIFEgroups, a small group where deeper discipleship happens. These groups are a great, non-intimidating way to get to know Liberty Church and our mission as disciple makers!

Being a disciple is a journey! We are excited to help you on yours!

We believe definitions are vitally important. Our definitions are in agreement with the following and where possible, we will use these definitions.

  1. Discipleship – is simply the state of being a disciple. This word (like the word evangelism) is not in the Bible. Unfortunately, in the North American church, discipleship is typically seen as an educational process designed to orient new believers to the biblical and everyday practices of our churches – and so we often prefer disciple making.
  2. Disciple – someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus (Matt. 4:19).
  3. Disciple making – is entering into relationships to intentionally help people follow Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and join the mission of Jesus (Matt. 28:18-20).
  4. Disciple maker – a disciple of Jesus who enters into relationships with people to intentionally help them follow Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and join the mission of Jesus.
  5. A Church – A spiritual family growing in surrendered obedience to all the teachings of Jesus Christ who gather together regularly under Biblically recognized leadership for the purpose of fulfilling the great commission (making disciples) with a Great Commandment heart (loving God, loving people). 
  6. A Disciple Making Culture – The beliefs, habits, and narrative of a church constantly repeated with congruence and intentionality, that make it clear to almost everyone, all the time, including newcomers, that disciple making is what everyone does in this church.
  7. A Disciple Making Church – is a church where disciple making is the core DNA and culture of the church, where the average church member makes disciples to the fourth generation and this disciple making activity is regularly produced in significant and diverse streams within the church and these streams multiply consistently into new churches.
  8. Disciple Making Movement – A rapid and exponential increase in disciple making disciples within a local culture who plant multiple churches and these churches are churches which multiply disciples, groups, and churches of obedience-based disciples so that we can see at least four generations of churches produced in six streams of disciple-making activity and these streams multiply consistently into disciple making churches. For more information about Disciple Making Movement, you can visit discipleship.org