Abstract:
According to the Gospel of Matthew, disciplemaking seems to be the signature mark of faithful
disciples of Jesus the Christ (cf. Mt 28:18–20). Van Aarde refers to this, with reference to Von
Harnack and Lohmeyer as the manifesto of the church, being on the same level of meaning as
Deuteronomy 6 in the Old Testament. It may be fair to say that this ‘natural’ way of being and
doing was in more than one way exchanged for evangelism practices that did nothing to show
forth that following the Christ is a better or best way of living life, here already, to its fullest.
These practices even reflected negatively on disciplemaking as such. A personal conviction is
that ‘discipling’ may even be one of the missing links in the so-called missional conversation.
This article will reflect on current theory on discipling and the natural necessity thereof. It will
also draw upon findings in empirical research conducted by the National Church Life Surveys
during 2014 in South Africa that may give an indication whether discipling is a common praxis
among selected South African denominations and congregations. The focus will be on ‘Faith-
Sharing’ as a core quality among adult attenders and includes several measures of the
involvement of attenders in the outreach of the congregation (e.g. evangelistic activities,
readiness to share their faith with others and whether outreach is a highly valued part of the
ministry of the congregation).
Description:
This article forms part
of the research project,
‘Congregational Studies’ of
Prof. Malan Nel, Department
Practical Theology, Faculty
of Theology and Religion,
University of Pretoria.
HTS 75th Anniversary Maake Masango dedication.
