Discipleship Ministry 500: Course Reflection Paper

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

Course Reflection Assignment:

How the Course Shaped One’s Thinking in the Critical Areas Related to Personal Discipleship and Local Church Development of Disciples

Joo Won Lee

LU ID#: L########

DSMN 500: Discipleship Ministries

March 13, 2026

Table of Contents

Bonhoeffer’s Views on Discipleship------------------------------------------------3

Personal Discipleship Reflections----------------------------------------------------5

Key Biblical Passages & Principles--------------------------------------------------6

Best Practices / Plan for Developing Disciples------------------------------------7

Conclusion-------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Bonhoeffer’s Views on Discipleship

     Just like the diehard martyrs in the Early Church highlighted by the Lord’s own majority of hand-picked disciples who suffered atrocious deaths at the hands of heathen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one pastor who paid the price of “costly grace” with his own life when the notorious mass murderer and one of history’s most evil war criminals named Adolf Hitler came to power and started to persecute the church—the body of Christ. He dared stood against the tyranny of evil persecutor of church and decided to do something about it—to the point of losing his own death. That is why the words of martyred pastor Bonhoeffer ring authentic and echo through from the book he left behind with so much conviction, direction, light, and weight. As we flip through the pages over, we can all empathize, relate to, be inspired by, and become resolute by his actions. And dream and vision of our own martyrdom one day.

     Broadly, Bonhoeffer talks about the following things: 1) the difficulty and ultra importance of costly grace, 2) single purpose of discipleship (heeding the calling of Jesus), 3) the premium value of simple obedience over everything else, 4) how discipleship entails sufferings of the cross, 5) the single individualized discipleship separated from everyone else. God’s grace is freely, cheaply given to all of us, to whosever desires it; however, to be a lawful citizen of the kingdom of God, the discipleship requires costly grace, which Bonhoeffer knew about all too well, particularly when the time became perilous for the Christians. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” is what Bonhoeffer did exactly, and that is what the disciples ought to do: one prime example could be the Corona Pandemic which we all went through. Everyone all over the world experienced it firsthand: how did the (lay) Christians and particularly the leadership act and make critical decisions? Vast majority of leadership in particular are avoiding responding to the major answers, and they are awfully quiet these days.

     The case of rich young man mentioned by Bonhoeffer serves as a cautionary tale for those who ultimately fail to answer the call to discipleship, but compare that against the cases of Levi the tax collector, and Peter the fisherman (cf. Matt. 19:27, “…behold we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”). Legalism is also mentioned by Bonhoeffer as an easy trap one may simply fall into even after seemingly having taken up the initial stage of  discipleship of Christ . Oh, the convenience of priesthood and virtue signaling (cf. Luke 20:46) in this day and age of worldwide web and SNS followers to deceive the masses but more tragically oneself. Bonhoeffer goes on to clarify that lifestyle and daily living of those commensurate with the scriptures is the true disciples of Christ, not cheapening the precious name of “Jesus” our Master and Lord. Now really brace yourself: according to Bonhoeffer, the path of discipleship is laced with “sufferings” and the very cross of Calvary which the Son had to endure and go through first for all of us to follow, cf. Matt. 16:24-25, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Per Bonhoeffer, suffering is the identifying marker of a follower of Christ. Absolutely. Wait, there is more: even though Jesus is the mediator, intercessor, who stands before the Father to plead our cases, unless one has a personal relationship with Jesus, all goes for naught. Indeed, He is the World’s Only Hope and Salvation, but one would have to make that personal and have Him live inside as the Master of one’s own life in full control to be valid and effective. All these things said by Bonhoeffer are easier said than done for sure, as the blood is thicker and speaks louder than water or the left watermarks, whose vast contents have already evaporated than the RBC stains.

Personal Discipleship Reflections

     As this author looks back on his own discipleship endeavors, all its ups and downs, the travelled paths, the accomplishments, the failures, and what is up ahead, he is filled with much gratitude, conviction, vindication, hope and enthusiasm: it is all a credit to God alone that he has come this far with so much more to plan and accomplish in the future. Having grown up in multiple generation Christian household with a pastor/preacher dad, where the bible and all the related biblical/theological resources were plentiful and readily available, it would take until a teenage year in 8^th grade as a fresh off the boat immigrant child when this author would experience the “calling” to discipleship by Jesus. The struggling toiling early years living and trying to adapt to the new language, culture, food, and all the rest of adjustments to be made now as a downgraded second-class citizen in this new country and land of opportunity of America for all intents and purposes. However, God had a plan for this author and his loved ones. Hallelujah.

Then, the college years, some major bad decision, the long-winded winding roads to correct the paths and get back on the right track, academically and health wise so to speak, the hard working intense decades: the final realization that “I was meant to be God’s servant after all,” and the succumbing to the calling to be a full-time seminarian at the ripe old age of forty-eight. The journey is still not finished. It just keeps going. It will have to. Two meaningful distinct but outstanding ministry experiences/stints working with (mostly) native English speakers from age five up to age over sixty in the past five years. Another full-circle realization in recent years which prompted the author to thank God as he related to his octogenarian prayerful mother that he is so thankful and glad that he did not end up being a medical professional, which was the coerced plan put unto him going back several decades (his pastor dad trying to live vicariously through the academically gifted youngest son). He is just meant to be a servant of God; always. It was God Himself who thwarted the medical career plan after all.

     Well, God is amazing as He is error-free as we all know: His actions and plans are never wrong. This author had to go through and at times endure what he had to since answering a bell to be in this position back in 2016 when I left the comforts and safety of East TN home and a promising office/executive management career. As much as this author disciple has striven to live a Spirit-led life through much prayer, meditation, and scripture-reading et al, he more often than not, finds himself doing less of those activities compared to the times prior to becoming a full-time seminarian! What a shocking revelation! Nevertheless, many useful insightful books have been read along with hundreds of pages of papers that have been self-typed/self-written—and LU has been a blessing-- and this author is convinced in gratitude and optimism that they would be all wonderful and bring forth much fruits in discipleship ministry moving forward in near future and beyond (cf. Romans 8:28 KJV, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”) So, God help him and us as a family, his classmates, instructors, graders, administrators, staff and faculty et al at LU! Amen.

Key Biblical Passages and Principles Related to Discipleship

          Great Commission command “All powers is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matt. 28:18b-20 KJV) tops the list. The faithful saints have been trying to follow and uphold the stated Great Commission ever since then. What is so encouraging is that the promise made by Jesus that to the very end, He will be with His disciples according to His kingly authoritative Word of Truth. How good is that.

     Additionally, however, this obscure author has always felt that the guiding discipleship (biblical) passages should be derivatives of the very sacrificial life Christ has shown to the world, which was purely and prophetically borne out of His Suffering Servant earthly mission: the relevant verses can be found in Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 1:11; John 3:16: Matt. 27:12-14, etc. Another gem is “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another,” (John 13:34 KJV; cf. John 13:1-17); indeed, we ought to exercise such humble and demonstrative service as in “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:15 KJV)

     Hence, the foundational passages which this student pastor would like to incorporate into his own (discipleship) ministry are 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Romans 12:4-5 as well as “You Shall Know the Truth, and the truth shall set you free” passage (John 8:32). 1 Corinthian passage together with Romans passage above illustrate that we are all individual constituents which together complete and comprise the church of Christ carrying out each specific functions and responsibilities tasked to us with no one part being superior or inferior to others. We all should exhibit and verbalize the profound emotions, senses of true humility, respect/reverence and agape love for one another as Jesus our role model did, cf., 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22.

Best Practices/Plan for Developing Disciples

     The three relational foundational pillars of “loving God, loving one another, and loving your neighbor” should be the guiding protocol for ministry practices as one develops a plan for discipleship development as the leadership is forged among them over time—on love. As the discipleship matures the Two Greatest Commandments should be readily more visible and palpable not only to the members themselves  inside but to the carefully observing  discriminating outside world as well.

     As this author reflects back on sheer past life experiences and direct observations, he believes that prayer builds aforementioned three-pronged loving characteristics in disciples much more effectively and readily than anything else: this author has experienced so much joy, exhilaration, cleansing, love, happiness, peace, forgiveness, etc., when engaged in earnest regular prayers than anything else. With the Word of God to contemplate over, of course. (Regular) Prayers should be practiced all the time with frequent fasting (cf. Daniel 9:3-19; Daniel 10:2-3, 12; Esther 4:16; Matt. 6:16-18; Matt. 17:21 / Mark9:29, etc.) mixed in on need basis as that is how the Lord demonstrated the very essence of discipleship among His disciples and followers (cf. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed”—Mark:135 KJV).

     The small discipleship group of 3-4 is critical: major efforts and resources should be directed toward building and maintaining a close-knit small groups with regular rotations of new members.

     Hybrid Model seems to combine best the strengths of the traditional church settings/parameters with the flexibility, conveniences, and adaptability of the modern contemporary worship, discipleship conducive to the 21^st century living while eliminating some of the weaknesses the former might present.

     Sunday morning prior to worship service and/or Wed evening times should be best utilized to the maximum effects per this author’s past experiences. Budget should be prudently allocated and planned with frugality in mind with the paid pastor(s) on church payroll plus willing  volunteers. Curriculum should be heavily planned with a good amount of biblical passage instruction/bible study class, emphasis on communal/intercessory prayer with a roundtable discussion Q&A session allocated at the end of each session if doable. Self-created internal manuals/textbooks could be useful, the reputable publishers with proven history in discipleship/leadership prints for churchwide usage could work better eliminating some hassles. A weekly eat-out, coffee shop gathering (a people’s favorite) must be encouraged and budgeted in if not self-paid by the prospective participating members.

    An event or a forum at least among the church leadership which focuses on some controversial topics could be helpful to eliminate unwelcomed development later on, but sometimes it is unavoidable no matter what.

    Inspirational, biblical yet “catchy”,  creative, simple slogans could come in handy when promoting the discipleship ministry programs to wider audiences.

   For younger teach-savvy users, all goes personal emails, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, or some kind of popular user-friendly chat app such as WhatsApp et al. However, for older groups, normally personal emails alone should suffice.

Conclusion

     This last week’s reflection assignment is a regurgitation and a “reader’s digest” version of what we have already submitted to the canvas portal multiple times: the repeating redundant hammering point of emphasis from the course instructors seems to be that the discipleship ministry should be taken seriously by us all at all times since it is what sits at the heart of the gospel, and everything else the Christians and the church try to do, which is evangelism—pure and simple. In actuality, that is the essence of the bible, the gospel (“the Good News”): once saved by the readily available (cheap) grace of God, then the believer would not heed whatever the costly grace may be (cf. Luke 14:26 KJV, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”), but will be driven and instructed hard and purposefully by the Spirit to go and tell the story of Jesus the Messiah of the world to everyone else so that whosoever hears it would be saved as well, and not be condemned to suffer eternally in pits of hell. That is the cost of discipleship—everything one owns and values costly--and the road to travel to complete the journey is not so easy (cf. Matt. 7:13-14). Who wants all that? It is not for some fainthearted at all on the surface.

     And there is a set of methodological and structured way of approaching and accomplishing such lofty goal, e.g., small groups of 3-4 as the vital building block, the biblical passages as banner/maxims to fly, principles/philosophies to uphold and be inspired by, daily practices to be repeated as to be second-natured over a long haul, etc., as the course materials and the reading/writing assignments have taught us for the past eight weeks. The intention is purely apostolical, biblical, Pentecostal, and evangelical for sure.

     At the end of having gone through the valuable and detailed coursework for the past two  months, this author now feels galvanized, encouraged, reassured, challenged, vindicated, and anticipatory: there are still a lot of discipleship works and plans left on the shelf which need to be still further implemented and acted upon up ahead; the dire times are coming as we are walking right through the fires of tribulations. However, the camaraderie, the kin sprit, the same orientation centered on Christ alone and the Spirt-driven discipleship ministry vision at LU leaves this author feeling optimistic and imbued with hopes for the future—particularly for the younger generations, who would need the guidance and be bolstered through powerful and truthful enforcement.  As a last cautionary word to be spoken, this author would like to state that people best be aware that there is a pack of wolves (dressed in sheep’s clothing) and roaring ravenous lions out there looking, cf., Ezekiel 22:25-27; Zephaniah 3:3, Matt. 7:15, Acts 20:29, 1 Peter 5:8, etc., for easy preys and victims (cf.): be alert, question & look into everything, pray all the time, and be thankful to God, who would watch over you, give you wisdom and courage, and never abandon His children. Amen.