Discipleship Process (Stages of Maturity)
We define a disciple as someone who follows, trusts, obeys and shares Jesus. Discipleship is an ongoing PROCESS of transformation from spiritual immaturity ("self-focused" spiritual infants) to maturity ("other-focused" spiritual parents—that is, disciples who reproduce disciples).
Here are the discipleship stages that Oakdale uses to track spiritual growth:
EXPERIENTIAL: I am deepening my connections with God and His family (the Church) by practicing discipleship habits such as: Worship, Daily Bible reading, Prayer, Small group, Giving sacrificially, Serving, Sharing my story
COMMITTED: I have accepted Jesus as my Savior, told other people about my decision, and am surrendering my life and my will daily to Him as Lord. RELATIONAL I am committed to an ongoing small group and/or one or more personal relationships where I am practicing the habits of discipleship, authenticity and mutual accountability, and my life is being transformed.
INTENTIONAL: I know the stages of spiritual growth (as outlined on this card) and use them appropriately with people I interact with daily so that “discipleship moments” can occur.
INVESTED: I realize that making disciples is my responsibility and can identify my “mission field”: at least one person who doesn’t yet know Jesus or is curious about growing in Christ. I am building a relationship focused on helping them to grow as a disciple.
PARENTAL: I am a disciple-maker—regularly and repeatedly reproducing disciples who have reached at least the “Intentional” stage to reproduce another generation of disciples for Jesus Christ.
Click the button below to assess where you currently are in your discipleship journey and help Oakdale track progress toward our Wildly Important Goal of sending out 1,200 disciple-makers by Dec. 31, 2022.