The Goals and Vision of Adult Discipleship in the Local Church

I''ve been considering what the goals and vision of an adult discipleship program should be. Here are some of my thoughts.

Ephesians 4:11-16:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Here the Apostle Paul speaks of the mutually edifying ministry that is to take place in the church. God gives various gifts to the members of the church body in order that we might contribute in different ways to the growth of the church. This includes growth in our reliance upon Christ, growth in Christlike character, and growth in spiritual understanding.

If I had to try to summarize this in a one-sentence purpose statement, I might say something like this: To cultivate a Christian community in which believers love one another, exercising their spiritual gifts in mutual edification so that the whole community might be built up in Christlike faith, character, and understanding.