Discipleship is the developmental process that leads a newborn follower of Jesus Christ from spiritual birth and infancy to the freedom of full maturity and completeness:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:11-15

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4

As Jesus was ascending into heaven, he gave us the mission of disciple-making:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20

Clearly, there is no greater call than to engage in disciple-making that leads to the freedom of Christian maturity and completeness.

There are two major challenges we face in the United States when it comes to fully engaging in the mission of disciple-making:

First, most Christians believe that they have not been effectively discipled to full spiritual maturity and completeness. Have you? When I ask Christians that question, the overwhelming response is either “no” or “I’m not sure.” That lack of spiritual confidence leads to the second challenge: the mission of disciple-making is tragically understaffed.

Research reveals that Christianity has been in continual decline in our country for over sixty years. There are societal factors involved in the decline, but the root cause is discipleship that falls short of making mature and complete followers of Jesus Christ. Too often, we reach an acceptable level of maturity and then stop before the job is done. Why? Because we get comfortable. We look around and see people who are worse than we are. In comparison to them, we look and feel pretty good. That’s the problem – we’re comparing ourselves to a broken world when we should be comparing ourselves to a perfect and holy Jesus. Our goal is not holier-than-thou; it is holy like Jesus – to have the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16). If we stop short of that goal, we are settling for a half-baked and lukewarm Christianity. Jesus had some tough words to say about being lukewarm in Revelation 3:14-20.

We are now three generations deep into disciple-making that is stopping short of freedom. That’s not a condemnation; it’s an observation and a challenge. Friends, we can do something about it. By God’s grace we can each pursue full and complete spiritual maturity. As we do, we will gain the freedom required to confidently engage in the disciple-making mission.

To get started, we’ll discuss the five levels of discipleship: Formation, Conformation, Reformation, Transformation and Liberation. Each level is a grace-filled part of the discipleship journey, and each level leads us into the next level. That’s the way it should happen, but as we’ve already acknowledged, we can get comfortable with our spiritual growth before we reach full spiritual maturity and completeness. Freedom is the goal, and our personal discipleship journey must not stop short of freedom. After all, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Galatians 5:1

We’ll pick it up from there in the next article. Until then, evaluate your own discipleship journey. Are you fully mature and complete? If not, be challenged and get ready to pursue the next level. Don’t stop short of freedom!