Page 58 - In His Image

Chapter 10

The Disciple's Litmus Test - You'll Know Them by Their Fruit

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him,
'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."'
John 8:31-32

Discipleship matters.
 It matters because Jesus Christ commanded it and modeled it.
 It matters because discipleship is necessary for the church to become
healthy and productive.

 It matters because we will never reach our potential without spiritual
growth.
 It matters because we cannot influence the world unless we can
demonstrate faith-based transformation.
Let me now share some interesting and sobering facts and statistics about the
church and disciples. (what follows were taken from a Barna Study)
 When born again believers were asked to prioritize goals in their lives,
personal spiritual growth was one of their top priorities.
 However, when asked to identify the single most important thing they hope
to accomplish in life, only one in five mention anything related to spiritual

outcomes!
 Most believe they have "mastered" the principles of the Christian faith!
 Many (60%) say they want to have a deep relationship with Christ, but are
NOT involved in any intentional effort to arrive at that goal.
 85% of all Christians are not being spiritually mentored by anyone.
 89% of all believers do not attend any sort of special class for the purpose
of becoming more spiritually mature.
 70% of all born again believers have no specific plan at all on how to mature
spiritually.
 Most believers are limited in their ability to grow spiritually because they
have failed to set any goals for their development.
Most believers have also failed to establish standards against which to
measure their spiritual growth.

Procedures of accountability have never been established.

In His Image 49