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Where are the churches that honestly equip people for ministry?
Actually there aren’t many, mostly due to being program focused. Often I tease pastors that ministry isn’t simply going to the “church program” store and buying the latest notebook that contains what some other successful church is doing. What works for one church doesn’t always work for another. Churches need their own “process” of equipping and developing people for ministry.
Dr. Bill Donahue helps us to determine the difference. Tell me your thoughts Andy
Is Your Church Developmental?
by Bill Donahue
There is clearly a difference in a group, church or other organization between those that equip and develop, and those who simply gather people and move them around.
Here is a comparison.
Non-equipping vs. Equipping
Event-driven vs. Community-Driven
Fills Slots vs. Forms Servants
Throws Tasks at People vs. Tasks Emerge from People
People Serve Organization vs. Organization Serves People
Begins w/ a Program vs. Begins w/a Relationship
So, an event-driven, slot filling approach uses the platform to drive people toward accomplishing the program. A community-driven, servant-mobilizing group starts with a relationship and re-strucutres the organization to support people on a mission.
What is the litmus test?
Does your staff spend more energy competing for announcement slots on Sundays to mobilize volunteers for service than on training them for ministry? (“Our infants will grow up to be little Hitlers if you don’t serve in the nursery!”)
How much money in the budget is spent on training people for specific ministry based on their gifts and ministry opportunities, and how much is spent on “gathering” people to fulfill organizational roles and tasks? What is the ratio in dollars, hours, staffing? Sounds a bit idealistic, but is entirely biblical.
Did Jesus say, “Go you therefore and organize events?” Did Paul write in Ephesians 4 that each part of the body does church work or that churches should work to help each part of the body do its own work?
In reality these are never either-or propositions – but what is the primary focus of your community? That is a fair question. Equipping is harder to do and measure, at least initially. Reggie McNeal gets this in his book Missional Renaissance, about changing the scorecard of the church.
What if we measured how many apprentice leaders we had, how many couples in restorative therapy, how many people trained for serving the poor, how many people are equipped to actually study the bible and engage life’s challenges with the truth? What if we measured not only how much money we collected each week (most church bulletins do this) but posted how much we gave away each week?
What would it take to get there?
Dr. Bill Donahue
Dr. Bill Donahue is a widely sought after speaker, author and strategic voice for building community, shaping strategic mission and vision, and developing leaders at all levels of an organization. Bill has worked in the marketplace and in non-profit environments, most recently serving 18 years building groups and developing leaders at Willow Creek Community Church
http://drbilldonahue.com/
I love the comparisons that Bill offers in this post. Can you think of any others. Andy
Lessons on mentoring
I’m sure you know that discipleship is more then just a few hours a week going through some Bible lessons and the praying. Making disciples is a lesson in life. It’s one person mentoring another, not only in biblical truth but also on how Christians react and deal with life’s issues. Thom Rainer is one of my favorite persons. I don’t know him personally (wish I did) but I feel as if I know him from his insightful books about church health and growth. I found this article by Thom about mentoring (discipling) and wanted to share his wisdom with you.
Andy
Lessons on mentoring
by Thom Rainer 6/11/2010
Jimmy Scroggins is one of my favorite people in the world. He serves as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, but I have known him many years before he became pastor of this great church. Indeed, I had a small role in mentoring Jimmy in his younger adult years. To be honest, my role in mentoring him was small compared to others. Kevin Ezell, Jimmy’s former pastor and boss, invested a lot more time in Jimmy than I did.
But I take great joy that I had a small role in Jimmy’s life. As a man in my mid-50s, I have some of my greatest joys watching how God is using men in whom I have invested some of my own life.
But I could have done better.
Mistakes made in mentoring
The length of this blog is not sufficient to highlight all the mistakes I have made in mentoring, but a few will suffice for now. I guess my most frequent mistake was just plain busyness. I let good activities replace great activities. I failed to see the long-term impact of investing in a life, and too often I succumbed to the tyranny of the urgent. Simply put, I did not mentor as often as I should.
On other occasions I failed to take advantage of opportunities ripe for mentoring. I remember Jimmy Scroggins asking to travel with me on one occasion. And I remember thinking that I should have taken more young men on my travels. I missed great opportunities for a lot of one-on-one time.
Key lessons
I have learned through the years some key lessons about mentoring. I’m sure that my insights are neither original nor exhaustive. Perhaps, though, they might be of some value to you.
1. Mentoring can be formal or informal. On occasion, I would intentionally decide to work with a young man. In the case of Jimmy Scroggins, I never declared that I was mentoring him. But, through different events where we were together, a mentoring relationship did exist.
2. I did my best mentoring when I enjoyed the person whom I was mentoring. Okay, there’s no abundance of wisdom with that comment. Still, I found myself a more effective mentor when the relationship was fun and enjoyable.
3. Mentoring is not a one-way effort. I have learned much from Jimmy Scroggins, probably more than he’s ever learned from me.
4. Mentoring works best when it is built on the foundation of prayer. This past week, I called Jimmy because I wanted him to pray for someone. My relationship with those I mentored was strongest when it was built on a common trust and dependence on Christ.
5. When mentoring is effective, the one who is mentored becomes an effective mentor as well.
And the gift goes on…
I do have some regrets. I do wish I had taken more young men under my wing and offered them my time and what little wisdom I had to offer. But I also know that, God willing, I still have years left to mentor others.
And lest I fail to mention the obvious, my three sons have always been my most intense focus in mentoring. God gave me three of the greatest gifts in the world in Sam Rainer, Art Rainer, and Jess Rainer. The times I have invested in them have been some of the most precious times of my life.
One final word in this somewhat rambling blog. Jimmy Scroggins is now mentoring my son, Art, who serves on the staff of the church with Jimmy. And I am watching how he is doing so much better with Art than I ever did with Jimmy.
Of all the investments we can make, nothing is as valuable as investing in a life. I am grateful for the times I have. And I am grateful to see the legacy of mentoring continue.
The gift truly does go on.
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Thom Rainer
Thom Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, and for 15 years prior to that led a church and denominational consulting firm. He is the author of 22 books. His newest, Transformational Church, released June 1.
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Have you had the pleasure of being mentored or mentoring someone else? What affect did that person have on you and what would you say were the benefits of such a relationship? OK…looking forward to your comments.
Andy
Distracted from The Mission
Are churches really distracted from The Mission?
Pastors, church leaders and members alike often wonder what’s happening to their churches. They just can’t seem to get “over their mistakes” that have caused the church to be at a stand still or declining. The problem? Most churches are distracted from The Mission that Jesus gave us over 2,00 years ago and have shifted into Maintenance Mode. Berry Winders from Ministry Indicators helps put things in perspective and refocus on why we are here as a church.
Andy
Distracted churches can reclaim first love
by: Barry Winders
Contemplate a total surrender of meaningless activities and church busyness.
What would the church look like if we stopped counting people, stopped soliciting new donors, and stopped staffing or funding ministry programs that only serve our members?
Distracted churches come in many varieties: Missionary Church, Maintenance (Survivor) Church, Seeker-Sensitive Church (Weekend Church), Consumer Church, Church Growth Church, and Activist Church. Most churches are a combination of these characteristic types. Critical to understanding distracted churches is being able to definitely describe where your church is and to strategize ways to lead the church to practically demonstrate its first love of connecting people to God.
Missionary church
This type of church is noted for sending a lot of missionaries to foreign countries, raising funds for missionaries, holding missions conferences and, when they are in town, featuring missionaries prominently in worship services.
Because of rapidly-changing Western culture, however, many churches are experiencing outreach ministries that are as cross-cultural as traditional missions.
Maintenance church
If a pastor expends the most energy emphasizing the need for more workers to begin and sustain church programs, it can easily be interpreted as an organization primarily concerned about providing benefits. Thus, the pastor is the recruiter and members are clubbers.
Reggie McNeal describes such churches as having a “club” mentality. They are churches who have made themselves their purpose. Their priorities include maintaining established programs and practices, in large part because they are established, and keeping people coming to the church in order to maintain the programs. The church building (enlarging and maintaining it) is often a key goal or priority.
This model easily surrenders to legalism and making a “Little Big Horn” stand against the different look and change in the religious landscape. Many Christians who are loyal to this model see their faith and way of “doing” church as the only way. Tolerance of examining one’s faith is seen as compromise of their interpretation of the Bible. Either/or answers are viewed as the right answers. In their view of church behavior, command and control are central issues. Discernment of scriptures always runs consistent with church polity and doctrine. To them it would be reprehensible to question the way the church does things or gets things done. In their eyes, there is no middle ground to those who see their mission in life as preserving the church against the attacks of the world. The huge problem with this mentality is that the church is certainly not a perfect world in itself.
Seeker church
Over the last 10 years especially, the burden of evangelism has shifted church services into a means of promoting the gospel. The seeker model of ministry puts the major focus or emphasis of mission on what happens at a church during its weekend services. The objective for many worship teams is to provide experience via music, ambiance and theatre. In many churches, this model has proven successful in terms of increased attendance and assimilating people in the church service who were previously unchurched. However, one of the dangers of this approach has been a shift of responsibility to the programmatic aspect of the church service and an emphasis on invitational outreach. Less emphasis is placed on each individual follower of Jesus to live a life of discipleship that models the love and care that can attract unchurched people to the gospel. Another danger is the self-imposed pressure to out-perform and out-experience the last worship performance. Sadly, when this occurs, the worship of creating worship happens.
Consumer church
This church becomes a vendor of religious goods and services. People are attracted to the church to be fed and have their needs met. The major emphasis is to “go” or “come” to the church. Programs and ministries are more attractional than incarnational. This explains why the church talks less about spirituality and more about announcements, prayer requests, and the like. It is all about having what people want so they come to the church as a consumer, viewing the church as responsible for their own spiritual and personal growth. They become immature, undiscipled Christians.
Church-growth church
The church-growth movement is a mixture of things good, bad and in-between. In part a by-product of the secularization in America, the movement created obsessions with the exaltation of numbers and of technique. Church leaders have become fascinated with statistics, data and marketing concepts. Like the business world, the church is conscious of its target audience, periods of receptivity, trends, efficiency, quantifiability, productivity and, of course, the greater use of technology. However, sometimes when a church focuses on trying to grow, the larger mission suffers and the church can actually become less attractive.
Activist church
The church can ill afford to shift its message from one of redemption and hope for humanity to a message of political activism alone. Just think how terrible it would be if religious institutions carried labels of “red” and “blue” churches and the membership requirements included a litmus test concerning your political persuasion. Does morality come by changing the laws of the land and prescribed viewpoints? Or is the heart of an individual changed by the presence of Christ one person at a time?
Re-focusing on the first mission
Standing in contrast to these church types, missional churches are focused on the main purpose of the church to connect people to God. They transform the distracted church into a church focused on the vision of God for loving humanity as Christ did. It takes a lot of discipline and creativity to stop doing what distracts you from seeing with God’s missional eyes.
Have you identified the distraction you see in your church?
Berry Winders
Barry Winders, a missional coach for Ministry Indicators. Barry is the author of two books: Leading With Ministry IntelligenceFinding the Missional Path (2007). Both books are available now in bookstores, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. He is passionate about aiding small and mid-size congregations in moving from their current levels of ministry and to higher and more effective ones that produce disciples.
Lots to think about in this article. My question for The Disciple Makers readers is, “have you ever been part of a distracted church? I know…stupid question. Well…tell us without mentioning the church, what was the nature of the distraction and was anything ever done to correct it?
Andy
Kingdom-Driven Discipleship
I extended an invitation to Paul and Peggy Schlieker to contribute an article on disciple making. They are a special couple with a kindred spirit as our ministry here at The Disciple Makers. Their heart and commitment to making disciples is an encouragement to me as they clearly see that you just can’t make disciples in a crowd. In a day when everything seems to be “driven” by something in eh church, it’s refreshing to see what Paul calls, Kingdom-Driven Discipleship. Enjoy the article and be sure to leave a comment for Paul and Peggy.
Andy
Disciple-making: A Relational Ministry
Many overestimate the lasting impact of events and underestimate the power of relationships. As a result, contemporary Christianity is often a mile wide and an inch deep. Jesus’ ministry was relationship-driven, not event-driven. His focus was people, not programs or classes. Jesus knew that drawing a crowd and making disciples was not the same thing. While large group events can attract, instruct and inspire, they cannot fully transform. Transformation requires relationships. Jesus called plain “fishermen” to spend time with him and then transformed them into fishers of men. If God can change the lives of these ordinary non-theologians, he can produce disciple-makers today.
A mature follower of Jesus obeys, loves and bears fruit (John 8:31; 13:35; 15:8). These and other verses describe the outcome of disciple-making more than the process. In the Olympics we see athletes with flawless physiques. What we don’t see are the years of personal commitment and training required to produce their world-class ability. While a mental picture of what a mature disciple looks like is needed, equally important are the components that produce such a disciple.
Jesus is the perfect model His approach to disciple-making involved two basic elements: time and practice. First, Jesus called his disciples to spend time with him in a variety of life settings. Second, he expected them to practice a godly lifestyle. This kingdom lifestyle was clearly taught and visibly modeled for them every day. Jesus showed his followers how to love God, neighbors and enemies. They grew spiritually through their daily commitment to stay with him and obey his teaching.
Developing a new skill always requires training. To run a marathon, your preparation might begin by attending a class or listening to an experienced runner. A training video may introduce you to various techniques that will help you endure 26 miles, 385 yards. But seminars and videos are not enough. Can you get in shape by watching a workout video? Training for a marathon calls for hours of running. Likewise, spiritual development requires practice. We learn by doing. Habits are formed by discipline, commitment and effort. No one becomes like Jesus by merely thinking about him.
Jesus sees what we can become and wants to enlarge the way we see ourselves. The original disciples certainly realized that the words, “I will make you fishers of men,” were Christ’s agenda. The simple phrase fishers of men significantly shaped the mental picture they had of themselves and their future. Ask Jesus to help you see yourself as a disciple-maker.
Paul and Peggy Schlieker
Paul and Peggy Schlieker have a heart to provide easy to use, practical Bible study lessons that can be used in a variety of settings – both inside and outside of the church building. They teach and disciple seekers, new believers and seasoned followers. Their simple approach is, “if you can read it – you can lead it.”
A Perspective from the Pews
As a pastor I often wondered if I was communicating this whole idea of reproductive discipleship well enough that our church people were catching it. So, after all this time, I asked Chris Boshaw, a former member of my last pastorate to write about “disciple making” from the perspective coming from the pew, rather then the pulpit. You tell me…did he catch it or not?
Andy
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Discipleship… What’s That?
At the prompting of our blogmaster, I am writing an article from the layman’s point of view about discipleship. What does it mean to the CE (Christmas / Easter) church goer, those who are new to the faith and those who are in various states of maturity in the faith? I would also like to explore the term disciple and offer a new way of thinking about it.
First of all, what does the term disciple mean? For many years I have taught my children that when one person says something to another person there are three perspectives.
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The actual words that were spoken
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The intent of the person who spoke them
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The attitude of the person who heard them
So, what were the actual words spoken that drive us to disciple? What do the words “Therefore go and make disciples” mean? Well if we read the statement in context in Matthew 28:18-20,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus tells us to make disciples by teaching them to obey everything that Jesus told his followers and to baptize them. Seems pretty straight forward to me. We need to tell people about Jesus, baptize them into the faith, then teach them what he taught his followers and then go out and do the same for others.
Now, what was the intent of his statement? At the risk of being presumptuous, Jesus was telling us that His passion, His desire, His reason for coming, the reason for His death and His resurrection was to save those lost in sin and to help them grow in the full knowledge of who He is. So now, re-read that passage, emphasizing it as Jesus might have, keeping in mind the passion and fervor behind those words, not just the words themselves.
Now for the tough part… what is our attitude and how do we receive and understand what Jesus wants from us? How does our perspective change or color our response to the Great Commission. Let’s look at this from the perspective of three different types of Christians I mentioned earlier.
For the CE (Christmas/Easter) church goer, the term disciple or discipleship is as confusing as the terms evangelism, edification, sanctification and pre-tribulation rapture. The term disciple is someone they think hung around with Jesus, but that’s about it.
For the brand new believer, they have a hunger to learn and know, but can often be put off by the collegiate-sounding terms that come from so-called mature church people as well. But, in both of these cases, when they understand that a disciple is simply “one who learns from another”, they can make an intelligent decision whether to follow Christ or not.
For the maturing believer, they should know who the disciples were, but may not be aware that they are a disciple as well (since they are learning and growing). I personally never saw myself as a disciple. That seems a pretty lofty a term for my thinking. Me, a disciple? Really? So let’s see if we can put it all together.
Whether people are non-Christians, new Christians or getting along in our faith Christians, we’re not really sure what a disciple is and whether we are one or not.
So let’s take the mystery out of it. Instead of evangelists, we are soul-winners, faith-sharers, or friend-finders. Instead of justified we are “Cleansed in His Eyes”. And instead of disciples, we are:
- Apprentices
- Legendary Learners
- Scholars for Jesus
- Students of Scripture
- Great Commissioners
As I read on another post recently, disciples aren’t simply students but a learned follower. This may be true, but the only way to become a “learned follower” is begin learning and following. We must crawl before we walk, and walk before we run.
We need to make becoming a “learned follower” a priority in our churches. Leadership needs to take a role in setting up a plan and process to begin to apprentice those who are ready and willing to learn. As I see it, to start that plan, you need the following:
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If you are going to have learners/disciples, then you have to have teachers/mentors. Any church that has a heart for discipling must have teachers/mentors ready to teach new believers or those who are young in the faith.
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Make discipleship easier for people to become a part of. By this I mean that we should not limit our discipleship process to only one form. One on one discipling may work great for some but not for others. Consider small group teaching (our church has a course known as GVCU which stands for Green Valley Church University). This is a course offered every 10-12 weeks that lasts for about 8 weeks and is on a specific topic.
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It all begins with leadership. By leadership I mean the action of leading, not just the leadership of the church. Someone in the church needs to have the zeal, excitement and energy to lead a “learner-ship process”. Someone who can recruit and train teachers and mentors, put the programs together (one on one, small class, short course, long course) and effectively communicate it to the congregation.
If we can get people excited about a learner-ship process, we will have more disciples than we know what to do with. The exponential growth of disciples who make disciples who make disciples is astounding. Let’s get a real plan and process in place and we will truly be obeying the Great Commission.
Finally, if we can look at the process of creating Students of Scriptures from an “outside the box” perspective and see it from the eyes of new believers as well as mature believers, we can create a process that can include everyone who wants to become a disciple.
Chris Boshaw. Owner of Poway Computer Repair and a committed Disciple Maker
Chris lives in Poway, California with his wife Julie and two of their three children. He is the owner of Poway Computer Repair, an accomplished musician and has played in church praise bands for a number of years., led small groups and helped other men grow in their faith through One to One Discipling. Chris has an obvious love for mentoring other believers in order to mentor others.
Visit Poway Computer Repair: http://powaycomputerrepair.net
Well, what do you think? Does Chris get it? What do you think church leaders (pastors) need to do to see more Chris Boshaw’s in their churches? I smile with great pride in this brother and know that the years as his pastor was worth the time of friendship and discipling. Chris, I say with Paul, “you are my joy and my crown”. Phil. 4:1
Andy
This Young Pastor has got it Right
“Our Approach to Evangelism & Outreach” 
by Jeremy Lundmark – It’s all about what it takes to make disciples
This young pastor has got it right. Jeremy Lundmark is only 26 and is pastoring his first church in Aplachin, New York. I have the pleasure of working with him in helping this little fellowship to become an effective ministry in its community. In many ways, Jeremy reminds me of young Timothy. He isn’t like many today right out of seminary that want it all done for them before they pastor a church. He is willing to take on a challenge, and sacrifice, build leadership for the future and make disciples, rather then look for a quick fix. Notice the wisdom in his article that are far beyond his years. I only wish I was as wise when I started.
Take a read and see what Jeremy has to say and as always we welcome your comments, encouragements as well as the things you disagree with.
Andy
“Our Approach to Evangelism & Outreach”
My wife and I just had our second child, a girl, nine days ago. It was a grueling 8 hours that culminated in intense suffering and pain but ultimately resulted in the delivery of our beautiful daughter Brionna Grace.
For those who haven’t been through the delivery of a child, it may be hard to relate. Those who have know exactly what I’m talking about when I say it’s a ton of hard work and pain, which results in the joyous entrance of new life into this world.
The Bible describes our conversion as a “new birth.” In John three Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be “born again.” What does all of this have to do with our approach to evangelism and outreach? Everything! When the Apostle Paul was reminding the Thessalonians how he approached them with the Gospel he used parental language to describe how much he cared for them. Read these words:
“But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.” ~1 Thess. 2:8
“…as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children.” ~1 Thess. 2:11
In both of these verses we see that when Paul reached out to the people of Thessalonica he did so with the care and gentleness of a mother and the correcting authority of a Father. For those who have children you know that the delivery is tough, but it’s only the beginning. Having a child may make you a mother or father biologically, but raising a child is what really makes you a child’s mother or father.
As I thought about these verses, and preached on them a few months back, I was struck at the stark difference between how Paul approached evangelism and outreach and how many churches today approach it. In far too many cases the focus is on the point of conversion, the new birth, or the decision. Once that happens the fact that there is a new life that needs to be taught how to live in this world is forgotten!
Imagine a mother or father who just made it through the delivery of their child. Nine months of waiting, eight or more hours in the delivery room, culminating in the intense pain of delivering a child. They celebrate! They rejoice! They’ve done it! They’ve brought a new life into this world! After it’s all over, the nurse brings the child to them and says, “Here’s your baby!” Confused they look at one another… and then back at the nurse and respond, “You mean we have to raise the child too!!!”
It seems to me that many churches have forgotten that the main thrust of evangelism and outreach is discipleship. We are called to make disciples. The work isn’t done once someone makes a decision, gets baptized, or even when they are added to the membership roles! The church needs to be training disciples so they can, in turn, make more disciples.
Evangelism and outreach have become commitment-less with the use of quick, packaged ways of getting people to reach their friends and neighbors with the gospel without having to build any relationships. People know how to share their testimony, preach Christ and Him Crucified and even how to lead someone to a point of decision. However, in many cases, they’ve never been discipled or taught how to disciple! In other words no one ever told them that they had to take the kid home (metaphorically speaking!)
This results in believers who never experience the challenge, and blessing of caring for, and living in, relationship with a new believer. It causes them to grow cold toward outsiders, and stunts their own spiritual growth. They feel they’ve reached the apex of Christianity… Going to church every week, reading their Bible every day, praying, and leaving a tract or inviting a friend to church from time to time. What more is there to Christianity… Right? Wrong!
If you have done all these things and have yet to reach the ultimate goal and obey Christ’s final commission to the church, to make disciples, your only dancing around what Christianity is all about. Those who’ve had the joy, and challenge, of discipling a new believer know exactly what I mean. There’s very little that holds a candle to the joy that is experienced when a new Christian asks you some silly, everyone should know that, question or when they call you up to say that they realized something they were doing wasn’t pleasing to God so they’ve decided to stop. That’s the apex of Christianity, in this life anyway. Listen to what Paul says of his disciples in Thessalonica…
“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His Coming? For you are our glory and joy” ~1 Thess 2:19,20
So what’s your approach to evangelism and outreach? Let me quote one more passage that might help this all sink in:
“So affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.” ~1 Thess 2:8
When we commit to sharing the gospel, we also need to be prepared to impart our own lives to those with whom we share the gospel. We need to approach evangelism and outreach the same way we approach having children; With the expectation that when the baby is born we’re ready to take it home, so to speak, and train them to “walk worthy of God.” ~1 Thess 2:12
Jeremy Lundmark is the pastor of Community Baptist Church, of Apalachin NY and a graduate of Davis College, Johnson City, NY, and Baptist Bible College, Clarks Summit, PA. He and his wife Alison are excited about the prospect of taking a small group of believers on an adventure of outreach and disciple making while watching lives change and the church grow in the process as well as raising their two children in Apalachin.
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OK…so what do you think of young Jeremy’s comments? Would you add or challenge anything? Or…would you just simply wish to offer a word of encouragement?
Andy
Most Discipleship Programs Don’t Work! Why not?
R. Dwight Hill at factsofthematter.org helps to expose why most discipleship efforts in churches are not working. His insights are right on, yet I tend to think that there are a number of reasons why church discipleship programs fail and often just stop and forgotten about in churches. Read this great article and then let me know why you think that discipleship programs often don’t succeed. Andy
WHY IS IT MOST CHURCH DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAMS DON’T DELIVER THE GOODS?
The Great Commission: “[Jesus] told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this–that I am with you always, even to the end of the world’.” (Matt. 18:18-20 LB)
After 45 years of discipling, it seems to me that the most common mistake made in the discipling process is the assumption that informing people of truth will probably change their lives. How many of us have enrolled in a discipleship program with great expectations and hope. Generally, the people appointed to lead those programs have not themselves been discipled. So the approach is relatively ineffective, as usually less than mature and victorious believers take their charges through material in a notebook. So after the program is completed we all get back to normal, left with a taste of the blahs, simply because the “program” didn’t deliver the goods. That is, our carnal, vacuous spiritual lives remain unchanged. So we wait until another exciting program – purportedly designed to revive and train our sluggish lives – arrives in town. Again we sign up once again, hoping… And so it goes, year in and year out. So, what is missing?
What is missing is a true discipler/mentor appointed to lead a group. A discipler/mentor who himself has been discipled by another mature disciple over an unrushed period of time. This mature discipler’s character reflects that of Christ. He is equipped in the word of God to intelligently train another person to walk with God and apply Biblical truth to daily living in the home and in the work place.
Think of how you train your children. For two decades you mold their attitudes, teaching them discipline, priorities, and values. Yes there is information and truth mixed in. But it is primarily your example, your authenticity and your training and disciplining that forms their character into becoming responsible, healthy and productive adults. You must have the transmission of information inter-woven with character building to get the desired results: Godly, mature, equipped laborer/disciplers of Christ.
The most brilliant Person who ever walked this earth chose to invest 3 out of his 3 ½ years of ministry into the lives of 12 select, but very average working men. What Jesus did was live with these 12 men 24/7. By precept and example he modeled true godliness, molding them into his likeness. That is, He taught and tempered them by His truth and example. He got down inside them and dealt with core issues – character issues – that would in the long term either make or break them. At the end of that training period, Christ, speaking to His heavenly Father about them said, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” (Jn. 17:4) The Book of Acts states that these men (Judas excepted) “turned the world upside down.” (17:6) We are here today because the Master invested deeply and personally in the lives of these men, who in turn multiplied it on to succeeding generations.
The Matthew 28:18-20 passage – “The Great Commission” – is simply His command that we replicate the process He lived and demonstrated. Why are we in such a hurry that we refuse to simply do it His way? And on His timetable? One reason, I believe is that we fail to grasp the power and significance of spiritual multiplication. Another reason is the incredible personal cost of such an investment. We’re not really sure it will pay the dividends. And a third reason is because we are caught up in the pride-driven game of numbers (“bigger is better”), so endemic today in the Body of Christ.
If we are serious about equipping the laity to become effective disciple/laborers for a lifetime (Eph. 4:11-16), the element of personalized, in depth, unrushed life-on-life discipling that involves teaching the truth, training in spiritual disciplines, and building character must be at the very core of our approach.
The question is, are you willing to pay the price of investing your life in another at that level? My prayer is that you are having a great week!
R. Dwight Hill
Mr. and Mrs. R. Dwight Hill have invested the past 45 years of their lives in discipling men and women to follow Jesus Christ, and apply Biblical principles to daily living. Their primary focus has been to equip lay people to multiply their lives spiritually, thus helping to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20)
For the past 25 years the Hill’s have concentrated their discipling efforts on leaders in the business and professional community, in the United States, Asia and Europe.
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So what do you think? What are some reasons that you think discipleship programs fail in many churches today? Is it the materials? The person doing the discipling? Problems already existing in the church? What do you think? I can think of one main reason that is hinted at in this post, but I will hold my thoughts on that until I hear what you have to say. This matter is way to important in the church today and we can’t ignore it.
Andy
Is there trouble with ‘Christian America?’
The trouble with ‘Christian America 
In May of 2009, Andrew Thompson at GenXRising.com posted his comments on Jon Meacham’s cover story in Newsweek. Here’s what he said.
The article itself, though, really wasn’t sensational at all. Meacham is a liberal Episcopalian, and he was mostly just relishing the decline of the so-called Religious Right – a catch-all term for the politicized evangelicalism that came to prominence under Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority in the 1980s. Meacham is also the editor-in-chief at Newsweek, and under his leadership over the past couple of years the magazine has drifted left noticeably. A part of that comes out in a particularly left-leaning religious view, which shows up in reporting of all types but is best seen on a regular basis through Lisa Miller’s BeliefWatch column. So in that sense, Meacham’s article was just standard Newsweek fare.
But Meacham did cite statistics that are troubling beyond his connection of them with the decline of a politically muscular Christianity. A recent survey shows that the number of professing Christians as a percentage of the U.S. population has decline from 86% in 1990 to 76% today. Any position piece is strengthened by hard numbers, and those were Meacham’s. (For a different take on them, go to Michael Gerson’s recent column in the Washington Post.)
So is ‘Christian America’ really dying? Is it not just the Religious Right that is fading away, but is the generally Christian character of our society fading as well?
With a little fear and trembling, I take this subject up in my current column in the United Methodist Reporter. My editor at the Reporter was gracious to give me more space than usual, and with the complexity of this topic I used every bit of it. I won’t repeat my whole argument here but instead invite you to check out the column on the Reporter’s site.
The gist of it is this: There never was such a thing as ‘Christian America.’ And the Christians in America shouldn’t worry about that.
There cannot be such a ‘Christian America,’ in fact, because citizenship and discipleship can never be synonymous terms. Christians owe an allegiance to Jesus Christ above the allegiance to the nation. And that means that a Christian’s primary frame of social reference is not society at large but rather the church.
If we, as Christians, are really worried about declining numbers of the faithful in this land, we should practice a more robust form of discipleship. Ultimately, it is not by baptizing secular institutions or passing ‘Christian’ laws that we practice fidelity to God. It is rather by preaching the word of God, celebrating the sacraments, forming disciples of Jesus Christ, and witnessing to the love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through our works of piety and mercy in the world.
It is good when Christians exert an influence on the society in which they live. Their participation in the larger world can lead to greater civility in social life and more compassion in the legislation and execution of laws. But the telos of the practice of Christian faith is not to make the world Christian. That makes no Scriptural sense. It is instead to spread the gospel and build up the church. And yes, there is a real difference.
So we shouldn’t worry about trying to Christianize America. We should just be concerned with Christianizing the church.
The Rev. Thompson maintains a blog at www.genxrising.com. andrew@mandatum.org.
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So what do you think? Does the writer Andrew C. Thompson have a point here? Do you agree with this statement that he made:
“There cannot be such a ‘Christian America,’ in fact, because citizenship and discipleship can never be synonymous terms. Christians owe an allegiance to Jesus Christ above the allegiance to the nation. And that means that a Christian’s primary frame of social reference is not society at large but rather the church”.
I do know this. Both America and the American church seem to be in trouble and maybe it’s because the church is focusing more on political issues then on Making Disciples. After all, Paul told us that ‘our citizenship is in heaven and not below”. Jesus said that “His Kingdom wasn’t of this world”. He also said that “we are the light of the world” and just maybe in order to reform things until He comes for us is to be that light and THAT will change the world…transform lives and make the country and the church strong again.
Those are my thoughts…what’s yours?
Andy
The American Church in Decline! (What now?)
Is the American church in decline? 
According to a new Gallup poll eight out of ten Americans are “Christian in one way of another.”
(A quick note from our Blog Master)
This article on “The Decline of the American Church” is another that I plan on posting several over the next week or two. Why? Because something must be done. This was not the plan that the Lord Jesus gave to us in Matthew 28:19-20.
In my work with Church Dynamics International www.churchdynamics.org I am doing all I can to help turn this tide and make a difference. One church at a time. But I’m only one person and I believe that as Christians we all have to take a part in doing something about the downward slide of Christ Church. I need your input!
Andy (now back to the main event)
Hmmm? Before Christians get too excited about those numbers, let’s break down the stats.
That 82 percentile not only encompassed Protestants (51 percent) and Catholics (23 percent), but included “other Christian faiths” (8 percent) that many would categorize as unorthodox or simply non-Christian.
And those numbers are down from a 1948 Gallup poll when Americans were 69 percent Protestant and 22 percent Roman Catholic.
In a 1937 Gallup poll, three-fourths (73 percent) of Americans said they were church members. The number remained virtually the same through the turn of the century. Since 2000, however, that number has dropped to between 63 and 65 percent. (Wow, that’s a 14 percent decline in membership in just seven years!)
But simply being a “member” of a church is very different than actually attending church. Of the two-thirds who claim church membership, only one-third said they attended once a week; 12 percent they attend “almost every week.”
The number of Americans labeling themselves “Christian” is down from 91 percent to 82 percent in little over fifty years. Church membership is down from 73 percent to 66 percent over the same time. And only one half of those claiming church membership actually attend church once a week.
Despite the increasing numbers of mega-churches and TV ministries, the number of Protestants and Catholics in America has declined 19 percent. However, overseas, especially in Africa, South America and even Communist China, Christianity is flourishing.
So, why the decline in of the church in North America and increase in other areas of the world? I have some theories, but I’d like to hear yours. What needs to be done about this disturbing trend?
The Decline of the Western Church and the Call to Renew Your Church’s Ecclesiology
This article by Drew Goodmanson is one of those that you may need to read twice. He uses some terms that may be new to some of us and his content causes you to think outside the box. Most likely the reason the Western Church is in decline is because we don’t think outside the box enough. I’m anxious to see what you think of this post.
Andy
The Western Church is in decline. Part of the challenge is the church is stuck in old models of ecclesiology based on Constantinian views of church. The church is seen as a power structure seeking to ‘attract’ people from the outside to join. This model is set to fail to change our culture, as author Alan Hirsch puts it:
A combination of recent research in Australia indicates that about 10-15 percent of that population is attracted to what we call the contemporary church growth model. In other words, this model has significant “market appeal” to about 12 percent of our population. The more successful forms of this model tend to be large, highly professionalized, and overwhelmingly middle class, and express themselves culturally using contemporary, “seeker friendly” language and middle-of-the-road music forms. (source: The Forgotten Ways
In America, we may have a couple decades before we reach the 10-15 percent. Yet churches continue to try to one-up each other to create better programs, funnier messages, more creative marketing to capture people from this pool of seekers. For example, Outreach magazine’s June 2007 issue reported a seemingly encouraging statistic: 97% of Protestant churches reported doing something evangelistic within the year. (Source: Ellison Research’s “Facts and Trends“) It was only when you dig deeper, the stat loses some punch:
- 70% did a Vacation Bible School
- 59% passed out literature such as tracts or magazines
- 56% held large events such as block parties and fall festivals
These are good things to do, but all of these are attractional-based evangelism that will reach people who share a similar worldview to Christians. Meaning, when people hold a similar morality, view of absolutes and typically conservative background these events are effective. For most others, they are ineffective.
In response to this, here are a few items I am thinking through:
1. Corporate Gatherings are important to reflect the exaltation of Christ, just as mission moves us into a more incarnational mode. We need multiple forms of gatherings to reflect the fullness of the church. I say this in contrast to some in the emerging movement who prefer to abolish larger corporate gatherings. Yet, in stark contrast to most Evangelical churches the corporate gathering is not the center of the church universe. Goheen writes: “There is a need to continue to struggle with communal patterns of ecclesial life that will enable the church corporately to be a preview of the kingdom. However, this should not be done at the expense of the mission of God’s people in their various and scattered callings. This continues to be the primary point of missionary engagement in Western culture.” (HT: Brad Brisco) For a visual on this, view the Triperspectival Ecclesiology diagram.
Triperspectival note: As Corporate gathering & Classes occur there is a greater emphasis on Normative (red circle). Missional Communities and Home Groups have an emphasis on Existential (blue circle) while Tribal encounters (going with others to where non-believers live/meet) and being a missionary to people is more Situational (green circle).
2. You need to rethink the success of your church. Too many pastors find their identity in the number of people that attend on Sundays. Your church can have a great number of people attend on Sunday’s but if this is where their connection to being the church ends, you may only be feeding the idols of consumerism. Churches should spend much more emphasis on creating disciples to embody the gospel in daily life. Goheen quotes Newbigin as he writes: “I do not believe that the role of the Church in a secular society is primarily exercised in the corporate action of the churches as organized bodies in the political or cultural fields . . . On the contrary, I believe that it is [exercised] through the action of Christian lay people playing their roles as citizens, workers, managers, legislators.” (HT: Brad Brisco)
3. Bible Studies are great, but to reach people churches need to form missional communities. Small gatherings of people who are a committed to a neighborhood. It is these people who pray for the area, are deeply committed to the needs and express this in acts of love and mercy. These people need to be an active hermeneutic of the gospel on display for unbelievers to see. This paradigm will require active engagement in a neighborhood to build trust and reach those who are open or spiritually curious.
4. Churches that aren’t actively embodying the gospel to tribes of people will only reach seekers. Hirsch calls mission going out and incarnation as going deep. We need to develop a culture in our church of mission and pastors, elders and deacons need to model how to be incarnational to reach people groups who do not respond to attractional ministries. We need to create a new missionary mindset in our people. It will be these individuals living out the gospel who embed in tribes of people who will be able to reach those who doubt, hold to alternative faiths or even stand in opposition to the Christian message. The more extreme the resistance, the more relational mission becomes and often is only able to be bridged by specific people who either come from a similar background or somehow develop a connection based on other extenuating factors.
For most traditional or evangelical churches moving from a Sunday event with some mid-week Bible Studies to a church who takes mission seriously will be difficult. It will take people completely out of their comfort zone and require both great patience and love as Christians move into active relationships with non-believers. This is difficult being many mature Christians have completely isolated themselves from the unbelieving world. For many Christians there will need to be a complete shift in ideology and a conversion to mission in order for this to occur. Sadly, churches who go through this process will end up losing people unwilling to follow their leaders as they follow Christ. But ultimately this transition is critical for the Western Church to once again move to the margins of society where we began and were able to completely change the Roman world through decentralized missional living.
Drew Goodmanson serves as CEO of Monk Development and is co-founder/pastor at Kaleo Church. Monk is an Internet strategy and development company. Monk created Ekklesia 360 which is used by thousands of churches and ministries. Drew often speaks at conferences and has written for several national publications about how churches/ministries can use the Internet. Goodmanson.com is recognized as one of the Top Church Blogs. Kaleo Church is a missional community, multi-site church planting movement in San Diego, CA. More about Drew Goodmanson.
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Okay, what do you think? Is the American church in decline? If so, why? What can be done about it? I’m really anxious to see your thoughts on this one.
Andy