Christian Discipline Paper

Part III of the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, titled “The Ministry of All Christians,” explains the responsibility of all Christians to share the love of Christ. The section opens with a statement of the mission of the church. “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” (Discipline ¶120). On the surface, the mission statement seems straightforward, if not self-evident. It is also a mission that drove the church at its inception and for many decades afterward, despite not being stated explicitly before 1976 (Frank 162).

The mission of “making disciples” seems to be a simplistic view of the church’s mission. It also, arguably, is problematic in light of the Church’s

According to the Discipline, we carry out this disciple-making mission by “proclaiming the good news of God’s grace and by exemplifying Jesus’ command to love God and neighbor,” which grounds the mission in scripture using the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28) and the “Greatest Commandments” (Matthew 22) as validation (¶121). This and later paragraphs (specifically ¶124) shift some of the focus from our actions to God’s grace and the activity of the Holy Spirit in the world. “In the midst of a sinful world, through the grace of God, we are brought to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We become aware of the presence and life-giving power of God’s Holy Spirit” (Discipline ¶124). It is by this faith and through this awareness that we “seek to reveal the love of God” for all people (Discipline

The mission statement declares the local church as the “most significant arena” for making disciples (Discipline ¶120). “The people of God, who are the church made visible in the world, must convince the world of the reality of the gospel or leave it unconvinced. There can be no evasion or delegation of this responsibility” (Discipline ¶129). Therefore, the mission of disciple making falls to the church, the entire church. “The Church seeks to fulfill its global mission through the Spirit-given servant ministries of all Christians, both lay and clergy” (Discipline ¶123). In fact, the Discipline proclaims the witness of the laity to be the “primary ministry through which all people will come to know Christ and The United Methodist Church will fulfill its mission”