The Church's Responsibility

Working to effectively make disciples is not an option for the local church. 

In the context of his book on Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem speaks of the church's responsibility. 

"According to Scripture, the church has an obligation to nurture those who are already believers and build them up to maturity in the faith..."  As Grudem addresses the theological purposes of the church, the second responsibility on his list is ministry to believers; i.e., discipleship.  It is a critical component among the other purposes of the church, including ministry to God (Worship) and ministry to the world.  Teaching and mentoring the church body is critical to accomplishing the other purposes.

It is not sufficient for the church to superficially teach and disciple the current generations of believers.  Discipleship must be deeper in the individuals, to the point that believers grow into a level of maturity where they are capable of discipleship of others, teaching them of Christ, but also how to teach still more people about our Lord. 

The church's responsibility is to be in the business of multiplying disciples.  Only in that manner will the church continue moving forward to accomplish God's purpose of reaching the world – all nations.

Blessings and many thanks,

Larry