A model of spiritual formation and Christlike wisdom developed by Raimer Rojas
Part 1 & Part 2
Holistic Discipleship for a Fragmented World • Integrating Practicing the Way with the Holistic Discipleship • Why We Need the Family of God for Change • From Appearance to Reality - Recovering the Way of Jesus
Many Christians want a clear answer for every situation:
What should I do here?
What is the biblical rule for this?
What would be the right decision?
What is the safest Christian response?
There is nothing wrong with wanting clarity. We need Scripture. We need truth. We need wise counsel. We need obedience. But life often brings situations where there is no simple formula, no exact verse that names the circumstance, and no step-by-step manual telling us precisely what to do.
Jesus Himself constantly faced these kinds of moments:
Should He heal on the Sabbath?
Should He eat with tax collectors and sinners?
Should He touch the leper?
Should He answer His accusers or remain silent?
Should He stone the woman caught in adultery or expose the hypocrisy of her accusers?
Should He avoid suffering or surrender Himself to the Father’s will?
In each situation, Jesus responded with perfect wisdom. He did not merely apply rules mechanically. He perceived what the Father was doing. He saw people rightly. He understood the deeper issue beneath the surface. He knew when to confront, when to show mercy, when to withdraw, when to speak, and when to remain silent. Jesus did not simply know the truth. He saw reality through the Father’s eyes.
This is why holistic discipleship matters. In Part 1, we explored four essential dimensions of whole-person formation: right beliefs, right loves, right motives, and right actions. These dimensions help us examine whether our faith is being formed in every part of who we are. But these four dimensions are not meant to remain separate compartments. As the Holy Spirit integrates them, they produce something deeper than balanced Christian behavior. They form Christlike discernment. Christlike discernment is the Spirit-formed capacity to perceive, interpret, evaluate, and respond to reality in a way that reflects the truth, heart, purposes, and practices of Jesus.
The goal of discipleship is not merely to know what Jesus taught, feel strongly about spiritual things, mean well, or do good works. The goal is to become the kind of person who can increasingly perceive and respond as Jesus would. Jesus did not merely form followers who could repeat His words or copy His actions. He formed people who could carry His wisdom into situations He had never directly addressed. He formed their way of seeing.
The four dimensions of holistic discipleship describe what is being formed within the disciple: Orthodoxy (right beliefs), Orthopathos (right loves), Orthopróthesis (right motives), and Orthopraxis (right actions).
Christlike discernment describes how these dimensions work together in real situations.
Orthodoxy asks: What is true?
Orthopathos asks: What should I love and value?
Orthopróthesis asks: What should move me, and why should I act?
Orthopraxis asks: What faithful response should I make?
Christlike discernment brings them together by asking: How would Jesus perceive and respond to this situation? This is the difference between merely possessing Christian answers and learning to think with the mind of Christ.
The apostle Paul gives us powerful language for this when he writes: “But we have the mind of Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 2:16 NIV. The mind of Christ is not merely a collection of biblical facts. It is a Spirit-formed way of perceiving reality in alignment with Jesus. It is the ability to discern what is true, what matters, what is moving the heart, and what faithful response is required.
This is also why Romans 12 connects the renewing of the mind with discernment: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” —Romans 12:2 NIV. The renewed mind is not simply filled with correct information. It is transformed so that it can test, approve, perceive, and respond according to the will of God.
We also see this in the way Jesus formed His disciples after the resurrection: “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” —Luke 24:45 NIV. Jesus was not merely giving them more information. He was forming their capacity to interpret God’s story rightly in light of Himself. Their minds had to be opened so they could understand Scripture, see the meaning of His death and resurrection, and carry His message faithfully into the world. Christlike discernment is the mature fruit of the whole person being formed by the Spirit.
When the four dimensions remain disconnected, discipleship becomes distorted. A person may...
know the truth but lack the love of Jesus
feel deeply but lack biblical clarity
mean well but be driven by hidden fear, pride, or approval-seeking
serve actively but remain inwardly unformed
This is why integration matters. Truth without love can become harsh. Love without truth can become unstable. Motives without truth and love can become unreliable. Action without truth, love, and pure motives can become performance.
Christlike discernment is not formed by strengthening one dimension while neglecting the others. It emerges as truth, love, motives, and action increasingly come under the lordship of Jesus. When these dimensions are integrated, the disciple does not merely ask, “What is allowed?” or “What is expected?” or “What gets the best result?” The deeper question becomes: What response would reveal the heart, wisdom, and way of Jesus here? That question moves discipleship beyond rule-keeping, emotional reaction, good intentions, or religious activity. It calls the whole person to respond in a way that reflects Christ.
Jesus gave His disciples beliefs, practices, commands, and examples. But He was doing something deeper: He was reshaping how they perceived reality.
He taught His disciples how to read Scripture.
He taught them how to recognize the Father’s activity.
He taught them how to understand greatness through servanthood.
He taught them how to evaluate fruit.
He taught them how to respond to opposition.
He reshaped how they saw power, enemies, outsiders, suffering, faithfulness, and success.
The Pharisees and Jesus often looked at the same realities and reached completely different conclusions. They looked at...
sinners and saw contamination. Jesus saw people in need of mercy and restoration.
the Sabbath and saw a boundary to protect their system. Jesus saw a gift meant for life, healing, and restoration.
status and saw honor to be preserved. Jesus saw servanthood as the path to greatness.
enemies and saw people to resist. Jesus taught His disciples to love, bless, and pray.
outward righteousness and saw success. Jesus looked at the heart.
The difference was not merely information. The difference was vision. Jesus saw through the eyes of the Father, and He trained His disciples to see differently.
After Pentecost, the apostles encountered situations Jesus had not directly addressed with a detailed formula.
How could Jews and Gentiles become one family?
Should Gentile believers be circumcised?
How should neglected widows be cared for?
How should culturally diverse churches resolve conflict?
How should the gospel be embodied across new cities and cultures?
They did not possess a manual containing an explicit answer for every new circumstance. But they had been formed by Jesus. They had learned His Scriptures, His heart, His mission, His way of relating to people, and His way of discerning the Father’s will.
Through Scripture, communal discernment, the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and the formation they had received from Jesus, they learned to respond in ways consistent with His kingdom. This is remarkable. Jesus had formed people who could carry His wisdom into new situations. He had formed their way of thinking, discerning, and seeing.
This has enormous implications for discipleship and leadership. Many leaders successfully pass on their conclusions, methods, programs, and structures. Far fewer form people who can return to Scripture, listen to the Holy Spirit, evaluate fruit, and respond faithfully to new challenges. When a founder of a church or movement passes on only solutions and methods, the next generation learns to repeat those solutions and practices. But when circumstances change, yesterday’s answers may no longer address today’s questions. The movement can become rigid, ineffective, or divided.
This is one reason many ministries plateau. The founder solved problems. The next generation inherited the founder’s solutions. But when new problems arose, people knew how to preserve the old answers more than how to discern faithfully in the new moment.
Christlike discipleship passes on something deeper. It teaches people how to...
think biblically
discern with the Holy Spirit
reason from the life and teachings of Jesus
examine loves and motives
evaluate fruit and respond faithfully when no predetermined formula exists
The goal is not independent thinking for its own sake. The goal is Christ-formed thinking. Jesus formed people who could do more than reproduce His methods. He formed people who could faithfully represent Him in circumstances they had never encountered before.
Christlike discernment is not reserved for pastors, theologians, or ministry leaders. Every disciple needs it. A parent needs discernment to know when to correct and when to comfort. A leader needs discernment to know whether apparent success is producing true fruit. A church needs discernment to know whether its traditions are serving the mission of Jesus or quietly replacing it. A disciple needs discernment to know whether an emotional reaction is revealing righteous concern, personal woundedness, hidden fear, or selfish desire.
This is where the four dimensions become deeply practical.
Orthodoxy helps us ask: What is true according to Scripture and the life of Jesus?
Orthopathos helps us ask: What am I loving, fearing, valuing, or protecting?
Orthopróthesis helps us ask: Why do I want to respond this way?
Orthopraxis helps us ask: What faithful action would embody the way of Jesus?
Christlike discernment asks: Taken together, how would Jesus perceive and respond to this situation?
This is not about becoming overly analytical or spiritually paralyzed. It is about becoming whole. It is about allowing the Spirit to bring our thinking, loves, motives, and actions into increasing agreement with Jesus.
When processing a decision, conflict, temptation, ministry opportunity, or significant emotional response, we can ask:
Truth: What is true according to Scripture and the life of Jesus?
Love: What am I loving, fearing, valuing, or protecting?
Motive: Why do I want to respond this way?
Action: What response would embody faithful obedience?
Discernment: Taken together, how would Jesus perceive and respond to this situation?
Dependence: What help do I need from the Holy Spirit and the family of God?
Fruit: If I continue in this direction, what kind of person will I become, and what fruit will my life produce?
These questions help us move beyond asking, “Is this technically permitted?” toward the deeper question: Will this response form and reveal the life of Jesus in me?
Holistic discipleship is the Spirit-led formation of the whole person into the likeness of Jesus. In Part 1, we saw that this formation includes right beliefs, right loves, right motives, and right actions. But in Part 2, we see that these dimensions are not the final destination. Their mature fruit is Christlike discernment — the ability to navigate life with the mind of Christ.
Disciples formed in this way do more than repeat inherited answers. They know how to return to Jesus as the source of truth, discernment, renewal, and life. They can respond faithfully to new cultures, new challenges, and new questions without abandoning the timeless character and purposes of God.
This is what Jesus formed in His first disciples. He gave them teachings to remember and practices to embody, but He also formed people who could carry His wisdom into places and situations they had never encountered before. This is also what the church needs today. We do not merely need believers who know more information, feel more passion, have good intentions, or stay busy with religious activity. We need disciples whose whole lives are being formed into the likeness of Jesus. We need people who can see through His eyes.
Holistic discipleship does not end with right beliefs, right loves, right motives, or right actions as separate parts. These dimensions are essential, but they are meant to be integrated by the Holy Spirit until they form something deeper within us: the mind of Christ. As the Spirit forms the whole person, disciples become increasingly able to perceive reality through the life and teachings of Jesus. They learn to return to Scripture, listen to the Holy Spirit, examine their loves and motives, evaluate fruit, and respond faithfully where no simple formula exists. This is more than religious maturity. It is Christlike wisdom.
That is the vision of holistic discipleship:
To be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do as He did—until His truth shapes how we think, His heart orders what we love, His purposes purify why we act, and His life directs how we respond.
When this happens, discipleship becomes more than a program, method, or set of practices. It becomes the formation of people who can live faithfully before God, love others with the heart of Christ, and respond to life with the mind of Christ. Jesus did not merely pass on a way of life. He passed on a way of perceiving life. And by His Spirit, He continues to form that same way of seeing in His people today.
Let God’s truth renew your mind, reorder your loves, purify your motives, direct your actions, and train you to perceive and respond with the mind of Christ.
Think truthfully. Love rightly. Desire purely. Act faithfully. Discern with the mind of Christ.
Jesus did not merely pass on a way of life. He passed on a way of perceiving life.
The goal is not merely to know what Jesus taught or copy what Jesus did, but to become the kind of person who can perceive and respond as Jesus would.