Evangelism or Discipleship Scale

Evangelism Scale
To give a quick overview of how Evangelism works in the stages of peoples lives it is a great tool to use a scale. The scale of James F. Engel has been used quite regularly to give a good idea what evangelism does to the people reached out to. The first scale started at -10 (No God concept) toward 0 (Conversion).

Discipleship Scale
Now does our work end here? No. To bring someone to Christ is only step one. Step two is to make them grow in their relationship with God. To continue on the scale another line can be added starting at 0 (Conversion) toward +10 (Full growth). On the picture and below are examples given, which both contain and combine an Evangelism and Discipleship Scale.


 * -8 Awareness of supreme being, no knowledge of Gospel
 * -7 Initial awareness of Gospel
 * -6 Awareness of fundamentals of Gospel
 * -5 Grasp implications of Gospel
 * -4 Positive attitude towards Gospel
 * -3 Personal problem recognition
 * -2 Decision to act
 * -1 Repentance and faith in Christ
 * +0 New birth
 * +1 Post-decision evaluation
 * +2 Incorporation into Body
 * +3 Conceptual and behavioural growth
 * +4 Communion with God
 * +5 Stewardship

Typical Stages of Becoming a Christian
Do not forget that these are steriotypal descriptions of how somebody becomes a Christian. They can be a good reminder, though, that it is a long way to go ... not just "accepting Jesus Christ as Lord" (read: pray the words of the conversion prayer).