Seven Things I Think I Know About Discipling

FIRST:

There are no easy answers, no quick fixes, no big box store solutions. There is no effective program or kit or carton of resources. Discipling is a process and a lifestyle. It is a never-ending quest with eternal consequences.

SECOND:

The indispensable resources, according to everything I have read, heard, and experienced, are: 

1.      Passion for Christ

2.      Clarity of purpose

3.      Churchwide commitment to scripture

4.      High quality well trained leaders, based on their spiritual gifts

5.      Ample opportunities for everyone to use their gifts

6.      Opportunities to build meaningful relationships that lead to accountability

THIRD:

All church activities must be streamlined to prioritize and support discipling. If your church is doing something that does not lead to discipleship, stop doing it. Redirect your time, money, and energy toward activity that will disciple believers. For example, I am deeply appreciative and committed to the Sunday school, but I wonder if maybe it has outlived its usefulness? If it is discipling people, great! If not – well,  you know. Under this general heading:

1.      All ministry programs must be intimately tied to discipling outcomes

2.      The number of church programs should be minimized

3.      All teaching in the church should coordinated, aiming toward discipling

FOURTH:

Find and call a leader. No ministry will prosper without a champion, someone who is passionate about discipling and is called by God to take the lead. Make this a matter of prayer. Look for someone who is willing to learn and grow and take leadership. Then issue a call to that person: ask them to pray about it and accept it only if they sense God’s call. Then train and support that leader.

FIFTH:

Measure your results:

1.      Keep track of every member’s spiritual gifts

2.      Keep track of how many volunteers you have ministering in your church

3.      Keep a record of who has a personal growth plan

4.      Keep track of how many visitors come to your church

5.      Keep a record of your members who participate in local and foreign mission projects

6.      Keep track of how many disciples are discipling others who are discipling others

SIXTH:

What this looks like when it works:

1.      There is holistic personal transformation

2.      Your members are determined to bless others

3.      Christians aggressively pursue spiritual growth

4.      People have renewed lifestyles

5.      There is more concern about quality of character than extent of knowledge

6.      Your church is known for its culture of love – commitment – service

7.      Your people are devoted to a lifelong journey to imitate Jesus Christ

SEVENTH:

George Barna[1] lists the following advice from the pastors of the most effective discipling churches in his research:

1.      Discipling is a process not a program

2.      It won’t happen without the senior pastor’s leadership

3.      The church’s focus must be streamlined to prioritize and support discipleship

4.      You need a simple but intelligent plan

5.      There must be a designated leader to facilitate progress

6.      Adapt lessons learned by other effective disciplers – but do not just buy some program from a “successful” church

7.      Burnout and complacency will set in after 2 to 3 years

Blessings!

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[1] Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Press, 2001).

Learning from the Mistakes of Others

You know about Willow Creek, right? The megachurch in South Barrington (Chicago), Illinois that was famous for its “seeker sensitive services?” And after three decades they did what most of us are afraid to do – they measured their results and found out that their model was a mistake. Famously, they said that the seeker sensitive model “produces numbers but not disciples.”

So Willow Creek changed. They moved away from the attractional model and toward the discipling model. And they did some amazing research into the inner workings of discipling. Today I want to share some of their most important findings, which they reported in the 2008 book, Follow Me, by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson. You really should buy this book and read it for yourself – the only thing I can do here is give you some of the things that stand out to me.

A SPIRITUAL CONTINUUM

Willow Creek studied itself and expanded its research to almost 80,000 people in more than 200 congregations, and they discovered a Spiritual Continuum:

1.      Exploring Christ, where people believe in God, but are not sure about Christ. Faith is not yet a significant part of their lives.

2.      Growing in Christ; these folks believe in Jesus and are working on what it means to get to know Him.

3.      Close to Christ, when people really feel close to Jesus and depend on Him for daily guidance.

4.      Christ-Centered; people who say, “My relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship in my life. It guides everything I do.

SPIRITUAL CATALYSTS

So how does a person move along the continuum? What moves someone from one stage of spiritual growth to the next? Willow Creek’s research revealed four categories of Spiritual Catalysts: (1) Spiritual beliefs and attitudes, (2) Organized church activities, (3) Personal spiritual practices, and (4) Spiritual activities with others. Each category includes a list of specifics (that’s why you should buy the book!), and the research discovered that certain catalysts are particularly effective at certain stages of growth:

Movement 1: Moving from Exploring Christ to Growing in Christ.

Movement 2: Moving from Growing in Christ to Close to Christ.

Movement 3: Moving from Close to Christ to Christ-Centered.

The following chart, which I developed from chapter 2 of Follow Me,  summarizes the most important research findings regard the most influential Spiritual Catalysts in the three Movements:

I included only the Spiritual Catalysts that measured the highest in influence; there are other Catalysts that are also influential, but not as influential as these. And note that these are listed in their order of importance. That is to say, in Movement 1, for example, the Spiritual Belief “Salvation by Grace” is more influential than belief in the Trinity, which in turn is more influential than belief in a Personal God. See how this works?

TWO BREAKTHROUGH DISCOVERIES

When Hawkins and Parkinson pushed back and looked at their data as a whole, they found what they labelled two “Breakthrough Discoveries.”

1.      “Christ-Centered people show enormous capacity for increased kingdom impact.”[1] That is to say, even those of us who are Christ-Centered are falling far short of our potential. We still have much room for growth. Hence the need for biblical preaching, challenging teaching, opportunities to serve and grow.

2.      “The Bible is the most powerful catalyst for spiritual growth.”[2] Take another look at the chart above – Reflection on Scripture is the #1 most influential Spiritual Practice in all three Movements! And it is the only Spiritual Catalyst that shows up at the top of all three Movements.

I think that a pastor, armed with this information alone, could put together a pretty effective discipling ministry. Work with each individual; discern where they are on the Spiritual Continuum, and offer them the Spiritual Catalysts that have proven to be the most influential. And leave the results to God. Sort of like Paul who planted, Apollos who watered, and God gave the increase (1 Cor 3:6). Go and do likewise.

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[1] P. 105.

[2] Ibid.