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Box 30183 Portland, Oregon 97294 USA Website: www.tren.com E-mail: [email protected] Phone# 1-800-334-8736 ___________________________ ATTENTION CATALOGING LIBRARIANS TREN ID# Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) MARC Record # Digital Object Identification DOI # Ministry Focus Paper Approval Sheet This ministry focus paper entitled A DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH TO FORM CHRIST-LIKE CHARACTER FOR A LIFESTYLE OF OUTREACH Written by JEFFERY “SKIP” LANFRIED and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry has been accepted by the Faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary upon the recommendation of the undersigned readers: _____________________________________ Arlene Inouye _____________________________________ Kurt Fredrickson Date Received: December 11, 2015 A DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH TO FORM CHRIST-LIKE CHARACTER FOR A LIFESTYLE OF OUTREACH A MINISTRY FOCUS PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY JEFFERY “SKIP” LANFRIED DECEMBER 2015 ABSTRACT A Discipleship Process at Saddleback Church to Form Christ-like Character for a Lifestyle of Outreach Jeffery “Skip” Lanfried Doctor of Ministry 2015 School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary The purpose of this project is to produce a discipleship process with a focus on holistic training and exposure to real-life experiences for people at Saddleback Church to help them embrace a biblical worldview and form Christ-like character that results in a lifestyle of outreach. A lifestyle of outreach is simply embracing the two central teachings of Jesus Christ commonly known as the great commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Many Christ followers at Saddleback Church have sufficient biblical instruction about and awareness of the great commandment and the great commission; however, there appears to be a disconnection when it comes to applying and incorporating these two key teachings into their lifestyle. This ministry focus paper contains three sections and is developed from the experiences, discoveries, and research done at Saddleback Church to learn how to implement a discipleship process to influence the worldview of Christ followers and coordinate specialized training to equip them for a lifestyle of outreach. Part One establishes the ministry context by analyzing the history of Saddleback Church and its recent awakening to deeper missions awareness. Part Two evaluates the biblical and theological foundations of Saddleback Church as an allied member of the Southern Baptist Convention and the resulting theological implications for personal discipleship. This portion of the discussion also offers a theology of God and discipleship. Part Three focuses on the ministry strategy, with emphasis on the discipleship planning and implementation process for people and other churches affiliated with Saddleback Church. Word Count: 249 Content Reader: Arlene Inouye, DMin to Lara my love, my partner, my amazing wife ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the leadership, staff, and most especially the hundreds of volunteers at Saddleback Church for their invaluable contribution to this project. Thanks to Rick Warren and Kay Warren for their leadership and courage. Thanks to the staff and volunteers for their unwavering commitment to engage in a new vision for outreach and for their resulting impact on thousands of lives around the world. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv INTRODUCTION 1 PART ONE: MINISTRY CONTEXT Chapter 1. A HISTORY AND LEADERSHIP OF SADDLEBACK CHURCH IN LAKE FOREST, CALIFORNIA 6 Chapter 2. THE AWAKENING TO MISSIONS AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH 38 PART TWO: BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS Chapter 3. SADDLEBACK CHURCH AS A LOCAL EXPRESSION OF AN ALLIED BODY WITH THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 71 Chapter 4. A THEOLOGY OF DISCIPLESHIP: DEVELOPING COMPASSIONATE RESPONDERS 98 PART THREE: MINISTRY STRATEGY Chapter 5. STRATEGIC TRAINING PROCESS TO BE CHRIST-LIKE AND TO ENGAGE IN MISSIONS OUTREACH ACTIVITIES 137 Chapter 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF PEACE DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS: FIELD-TESTED BY A GROUP OF PARTICIPANTS 158 CONCLUSION 180 APPENDICES 184 BIBLIOGRAPHY 206 v INTRODUCTION The purpose of this project is to produce a discipleship process with a focus on holistic training and exposure to real-life experiences for people at Saddleback Church to help them embrace a biblical worldview and form Christ-like character that results in a lifestyle of outreach. A lifestyle of outreach is simply living the two central teachings of Jesus Christ, commonly known as the great commandment and the great commission. The great commandment places priority on loving God and loving other people. It is found in Matthew 22:36-40 and reads as follows: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”1 The great commission supplements the priority of loving God and loving other people. It is expressed by intentionally exerting effort to take action in following the example given by Jesus: to go and make disciples of all nations. This example is found in Matthew 28:18-20: Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” This message intentionally sets the expectation that every follower of Jesus Christ is to think and to act beyond his or her own needs and desires. 1 All Scripture has been taken from The Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 1996), unless otherwise noted. 1 Embracing these two central teachings of Jesus Christ mandates a unique way of living that becomes visible to other people. It is a way of living where caring for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the oppressed are evidenced through visible activity. When actions on behalf of the suffering and oppressed are undertaken on a regular basis, beginning with those in a person’s immediate surroundings and extended out to suffering people across the globe, a lifestyle of outreach has been embraced. Many congregants at Saddleback Church are aware of the great commandment and the great commission and have received sufficient biblical instruction, but there appears to be a disconnection when it comes to incorporating these two key teachings into their lifestyle. This disconnection is evident in the overall lack of response to the mandate to live with visible concern for the needs of other people. Such a lack of response is most evident, given the extremely large number of people engaging in the many gathering events on the church campus and the correspondingly minimal number of people engaging in the outreach events. I witnessed this firsthand, since I served as the “Global PEACE Pastor”2 overseeing the development and implementation of outreach efforts in the global context from early 2004 through 2009. During this time I was a member of a small team working fervently to understand the perspectives and barriers towards congregational involvement in outreach. I met regularly and traveled extensively with Rick Warren and other key leaders of Saddleback Church. I also oversaw the development of a training process, which served to equip church leaders from around the United States to follow the 2 This term is unique and specific to Saddleback Church. More information and the meaning of the acronym will be detailed in Chapter 2. 2 discipleship strategies and processes that were being tested and implemented at Saddleback Church. A discipleship process was needed whereby Saddleback members could mature spiritually over time, as marked by a growing awareness of the suffering around them and by an increasing willingness to obey Christ’s directives to engage in caring activities on behalf of those in need. This lack of awareness of what it means to be a Christ follower and the lack of willingness to do what Christ instructed seemed to result from a misunderstanding of the essence of a Christ-centered life. A Christ-centered life is rooted in the spiritual reality of the ongoing activity of God in today’s world. For this reason, this ministry focus project offers a training and discipleship process to help Christ followers at Saddleback Church mature spiritually over time by becoming more aware of the suffering around them and engaging in hands-on learning of how to obey Christ’s directives to care for those who suffer. This paper is presented in three parts. Part One explores the history of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California and discusses the church’s awakening to missions. Part Two offers the biblical and theological foundations for the training and discipleship process. While Saddleback Church exists as a local expression of an allied body within the Southern Baptist Convention, this process contains elements of theological training and practical application of a variety of spiritual disciplines reflective of both current and ancient practices. The utilization of spiritual disciplines helps individuals to connect more deeply to the lessons in the discipleship process and also enables them to gain deeper insight into the biblical instructions they are encouraged to embrace. 3 The intention is to lead members of Saddleback Church through a preparation process to help them understand what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to leverage a variety of different spiritual disciplines.