For as long as I have been involved in church leadership, ministry leaders have lamented the lack of discipleship within the local church. To remedy the problem, churches, para-church ministries, and publishing houses introduce new discipleship methods and tools every year or two that are supposed to revolutionize the discipleship process. The problem? After all of these years the needle does not seem to have moved very much.
Perhaps the needle hasn’t moved because we have moved. Moved away from a biblical understanding and practice of discipleship. In the West (I won’t speak about other situations with which I am not as familiar), we have seen the lack of discipleship as a systemic problem and have sought to repair it with a systemic effort. The whole church is sick, so we better find a program that treats the whole church.
As a result, we implement new programs–or to sound cool we call them strategies or initiatives–and overlay them on the whole church with the hope that we can suddenly take a half-century (or more) of ineffective discipleship an repair it with a quick fix. Of course, this doesn’t work. Two options then present thsemeves: 1. leaders decide that program didn’t work so they move on to the next one in two years or 2. leaders buy the lie that discipleship isn’t really possible, so they throw all of their effort and attention into corporate worship and outreach and completely abandon discipleship as a core value.
What we fail to do is step back and ask hard questions. When our quick fix doesn’t work, we don’t consider that perhaps there is no quick fix. Maybe the church is like a good brisket; you just can’t cook it in the microwave.
If you have joined the chorus of voices lamenting the failure of discipleship within the local church, I would like to invite you to shift your paradigm. Rather than implementing a new program, consider sticking with Jesus’ program.
- Start small. Find one or two or three others in whom you can invest and start the process of discipling them now.We like to talk about how Jesus started with twelve, but he didn’t. Jesus started with four, and then according to John the next day he called two more. He would soon add the twelve, but he didn’t have them all from the beginning. There was a process. And even among that twelve, there were three within his inner circle. Jesus started small and continued to focus on that small group even though there were hundreds of others who were following him.
- Be patient. Jesus spent three years training his disciples. Three years before they began to make a significant impact. Discipleship takes time.
- Be intentional. Jesus spent tons of time with his disciples, but he always looked for teaching opportunities. As you build a group of people around you, spend time with them formally and informally. Take them with you as you minister and as you live life, but intentionally look for opportunities to teach and train.
- Make multiplication a part of the DNA. Jesus told his disciples from the beginning that he was going to make them fishers of men. They were going to move on and do what he did. Communicate this clearly with those you disciple.
- Raise up leaders. Discipleship is more than accountability and more than a Bible study. Discipleship should involve the intentional effort to train and raise up leaders. Help people to understand where they are on a maturity and leadership continuum, and then make a plan to get them to the next step.
For ministry leaders, there is fear in doing anything that may appear to be exclusive. It is good and admirable that you recognize the need for the entire church to be discipled. But it is also good to recognize that the best approach to reaching biblical maturity is the biblical approach.
The lack of discipleship is a systemic problem, but the solution is not to overlay a new program or strategy. Trust the methods of Jesus. Start small, and watch that group of people in whom you invest grow into disciple-making ministry leaders themselves.
