Christian Discipleship, the Great Commission, and Servant Leadership
This paper defines Christian discipleship and examines its relationship to leadership within the context of the Great Commission. Drawing on Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8, the paper outlines Jesus Christ's three-fold directive to make disciples, baptize believers, and provide ongoing teaching. It explores how discipleship functions as a learning relationship with Christ that progressively transforms followers into servant-leaders capable of evangelizing others. The paper also contrasts conventional leadership models with the servant-leadership model Jesus modeled — one rooted in humility, service, and love — and considers its implications for the health and mission of the modern Christian Church.
- Introduction: Defining Christian Discipleship: Defines disciple, discipleship, and Jesus' method
- The Great Commission: Scriptural basis and three-fold plan for discipleship
- Follower and Leader, Leader and Servant: Servant leadership contrasted with secular leadership models
- Conclusion: Discipleship, Leadership, and the Church: Synthesis of discipleship as servant-oriented leadership
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds every claim in primary scriptural sources (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 10:43-44), giving its theological arguments a solid textual foundation.
- It integrates secondary scholarly and ministry sources (Slick, Tomlinson) to support and expand on the biblical framework, demonstrating basic academic research practice.
- The paper links an abstract theological concept — discipleship — to a concrete, practical application through the servant-leadership model, making the argument accessible and applied.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates definition-driven argumentation: it begins by carefully defining its central terms (disciple, discipleship, Great Commission) before building toward a larger claim about leadership. This technique ensures that subsequent arguments rest on clearly established foundations, a useful strategy in theological and humanities writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a definitional introduction citing a ministry resource, then moves into a dedicated section on the Great Commission with direct scriptural quotation and commentary. The third section applies those findings to the concept of servant leadership, contrasting secular leadership theory with the biblical model. A brief summary and conclusion synthesizes the paper's core argument: that discipleship is a learning relationship with Christ that ultimately produces servant-leaders equipped to grow the Church.
Introduction: Defining Christian Discipleship
The objective of this study is to define the Christian disciple and discipleship, to identify what constitutes a leader in Christian discipleship, and to examine how the modern church is developing disciples and leaders for the Great Commission — and how that relates to the overall health of the Christian Church.
The website Discipleship Defined accurately describes Christian discipleship in the following terms: "After Jesus' resurrection, 'all authority was entrusted to me' came to fruition. He is not waiting passively in heaven for His glorious arrival as king but already He is exercising His lordship. The literal translation is a command: 'You disciple.' The word disciple translates as 'to become a learner or pupil.' Grammatically, Matthew uses the aorist active imperative tense. This simply means an action that is absolutely required and occurring without end. It is surrounded by three participles: Go, Baptize, and Teach." (Biblical Basis for Discipleship, 2015, p. 1)
It is further stated that discipleship was the method Jesus used to win the world to Himself. In fact, Jesus converted very few people during His earthly ministry in a clear-cut way. He literally staked His whole ministry on twelve men. As popular as He was, Jesus did not focus on the momentary applause of men but quietly poured His life into those who would multiply His message. Jesus was not trying to impress the crowd, but to usher in a kingdom. Christ expects His followers to be fruitful, but often they are not without external motivation and accountability (Biblical Basis for Discipleship, 2015, p. 1).
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