The Goal of Discipleship: To Raise Mature, not Worldly, Followers of Christ

Are we leaning on worldly methods over the sufficiency of Scripture in our discipleship? Scott Aniol suggests many churches—despite knowing their mission to make disciples as commanded by Christ—often doubt the sufficiency of Scripture. This leads them to resort to worldly and pragmatic means and methodologies to disciple their congregations. The effectiveness of worldly methods, used in business or media to attract and engage people, can been enticing. This, however, reveals a lack of trust in the sufficiency of God’s Word. The impact of these worldly ideologies is most apparent in a church’s worship. Despite understanding the importance of teaching people Scripture and applying it to their lives, the worship methodologies can contradict the discipleship taking place. The transformative power of a service should not lie solely in the preacher’s words, but in every aspect of the service—all working towards the common goal of maturing followers of Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV): “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”