Discipleship Network Forum

By Allen White

Small groups are no longer making disciples at the rate they once were. For many churches, the purpose of groups is to assimilate new people and keep them connected so they won’t leave. Everyone needs to go where everybody knows their name, and they’re always glad you came… But, if the purpose of small groups ends with assimilation, host homes, and the church-wide campaign, then how are disciples being made? Host homes and campaigns are great to get groups going, but not so great for on-going discipleship.

Disciple Making is Not Complex.

Programs are complex. Disciple making is not. Jesus told us what we need to know to make disciples.

First, Jesus gave us the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV). Jesus boiled 613 commands down to two: Love God and Love your neighbor. God is easy to love. But, neighbors, which neighbors? Look out the window.

Second, Jesus gave us the Great Compassion in Matthew 25 [ “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:45). Feed hungry people. Clothe those in need. Show hospitality to strangers. Visit the prisoner. Care for the sick. Essentially, love your neighbor as yourself. See #1.

Third, Jesus gave us the Great Commission. Read this and try not to “yada, yada, yada” it. “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus told us to “Go.” How well are we scattering? We’re pretty good at gathering. Jesus didn’t say the lost should come to our seeker services. That’s not working as well as it once did. [LINK]

Does this seem too simple? If our lives were focused on these things, we would grow. Our people would grow. As Jim Collins says in Good to Great, “If you have more than three priorities, you don’t have any.”

Disciple Making is Customized.

Disciple Making relies on a system to produce disciples. When we hear the word system, we often resort to a manufacturing process, a catechism, or a training program. While some of these methods might add to disciple making, there is a considerable flaw in the thinking. People don’t come to us as raw materials. They aren’t blank slates. They have a past. They are different – genders, races, backgrounds, educations, experiences, personalities, gifting, callings, opportunities, abuses, and so many other things contribute to who people are. I’m not like you. You’re not like me. Yet, we are called to be like Jesus.

While we must all know basic things about the Bible and what it teaches, how we reflect more of Jesus is a different journey for all of us. I grew up in church. That’s a funny statement, but we were there so often that at times it felt like we lived there. I learned all of the Bible stories in Sunday school. Our church was more of the Arminian persuasion, so I’ve gone to the altar more than 100 times to make sure I was saved. I called this eternal insecurity.

I learned to live by a code of conduct which included no smoking, no alcohol, no dancing, no movies, no playing cards, and the list went on. In my church we couldn’t belly up to the bar, but we could belly up to the buffet. That’s how we got the bellies!

In a holiness tradition, there is a fine line between setting yourself apart for God and becoming legalistic. Legalism defined the don’ts for me, but not all of the don’ts. The don’ts seemed more significant than the do’s.  But, if I lived better than other people, then God would bless me. The others got what they deserved. I didn’t need to understand people from other backgrounds. They were sinners. They were going to hell. There wasn’t a lot of love going around.

Now, put me in your church. How could you help me become more like Jesus? How can I learn to love my neighbor as myself? How can I see people who are different from me as people who God loves? I don’t need to know more of the Bible. I know it. Bring on the Bible Jeopardy!

How would you affect my attitudes and my behavior? How could I think more like Christ? How could I act more like Christ? By the definition set in the church I grew up in, I’m a model citizen. I fit with the tribe. They’re proud of me. Yet, I lack so much.

This is where cookie cutter disciple making goes wrong. We produce rule followers with cold hearts and no actions to demonstrate God’s love to those who are far from Him.

Fortunately, I’m much different now than where I was when I graduated from high school. But, it wasn’t college, seminary, or another church’s process that got me there. It was something unique that God is doing in my life. I’m not the exception here.

My friend John Hampton, Senior Pastor of Journey Christian Church, Apopka, FL lost a ton of weight recently. By ton, I mean, 50-60 lbs. and he’s kept it off. How did he do it? He joined a gym who gave him a personal trainer. The trainer’s first question was “What do you want to work on?” The trainer didn’t prescribe a standard course of physical fitness. The trainer connected with what John was motivated to change. In turn, John’s team is now sitting down with people at their church and asking them, “What do you want to work on?” Then, offering a next step to get them started.

There is nothing outside of us that can motivate us more than what is inside of us. For the believer, God is inside of us – in case you didn’t know where I was going there. What we are motivated to change right now should be the thing we focus on changing. If we don’t sense a need to change, then we need to bring that question to God: “What do you want to work on?”

Disciple Making is Obedience.

The last phrase in the Great Commission punched me between the eyes not long ago: “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Read the phrase again. What did Jesus tell us to teach disciples? Hint: Jesus did not say to teach his commands. Jesus instructed us to teach obedience.

In the area where I live, everyone goes to church. There are more than 75 other churches within 10 miles of the church I attend. It’s part of the culture. While these church-going folks are faithful to church attendance, it doesn’t stop them from being hateful, passive-aggressive, and racist. There’s a high incidence of domestic violence here. The daily news is not good news. Now, this isn’t everybody. But, with so much access to church, you’d expect people to be a little more like Jesus. Bible knowledge is there, but changes in attitudes and behaviors are lacking.

Recently, a man who grew up here, told me about his family history in the area. His family has lived here for over 100 years. It’s a colorful family history – running moonshine and other illegal activities. At one point, he told me, “My grandmother was a fine Christian woman, well, except for running a brothel.” I had no response.

Concluding Thoughts

How’s your disciple making? What results are you seeing? What’s missing?

There is so much to unpack here. Please join me in the comments for a discussion. We’ve got to get our people beyond just coping with life. We’re on a mission. How can your members join that mission?

Most people my age seem to have concluded that their best years are behind them. As a result, they’ve put their life on cruise control, content to grab a few fleeting moments of gusto amid years of decline and purposelessness.

Although I can sympathize with these sleepwalking friends, I’ve chosen to reject their unhopeful mindset. I’m still idealist enough to believe my final third of life can be the most enjoyable and impactful time I’ve ever had on this earth.

Perhaps you think this is just wishful thinking, but I’ve taken courage from historical figures who were late bloomers. Their greatest accomplishments happened in the final decades of their lives:

• Ray Kroc launched the McDonald’s hamburger chain when he was 52.
• Ronald Reagan never was elected to public office until age 55, when he became the Governor of California. Ultimately he became the oldest President in U.S. history and one of the most successful.
• Harland “Colonel” Sanders launched his Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise when he was in his mid-60s.
• Moses, famous for setting the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt, wasn’t commissioned by God for that assignment until he was 80. Despite growing up in luxury in Pharaoh’s household, he spent many disappointing years as an underachiever after killing an Egyptian and fleeing to the desert at age 40.
• Sarah finally bore her first child, Isaac, when she was 90—and her husband Abraham was 100, when his body seemed “as good as dead” (Romans 4:19).

Stories like these have caused me to conclude that it’s never too late to make your greatest impact on the world.

So I hope you haven’t already checked out of life. Your greatest joy and most important assignment may be just ahead.

If you’re still not convinced, I call your attention to Jesus’ first miracle, when he turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. Tasting this miraculous wine, the head of the banquet marveled, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now” (John 2:10).

My friend, Jesus still can turn water into wine. He can take a drab, unexciting life and add unexpected flavor and fizz. And yes, the rest of your years can be the BEST of your years.

So quit spending all your time looking in the rearview mirror. Go ahead and open your heart to the Lord and the exciting possibilities He has for your future.

We’ve all met people who seem to live their entire lives focused on the past. Within minutes of starting any conversation, they’re talking about some childhood trauma…their ex-spouse…their past health challenges…a loved one who has died…or a job they lost decades ago.

And then there are people like me, who tend to have the opposite problem. We continually tell you about our dreams for the future…our goals for the coming year…or the bucket list we want to accomplish before we die. This imbalanced tendency becomes even more extreme as New Year ’s Day approaches every December, when we become obsessed with putting our plans together for the coming year.

Of course, I would argue that my imbalance is better than the alternative. Isn’t it better to live in the future than to live in the past? It surely seems that way to me. I would much rather be a futurist than live my life looking in the rearview mirror.

One great thing about being a Christian is that we usually can find a Bible verse to justify our imbalances. For example, futurists like me love to quote verses like Proverbs 29:18 about people perishing if they don’t have a vision. And what about the apostle Paul’s famous statement in Philippians 3:13 that he was “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead”?

But lately several of my friends have challenged me to “enjoy the moment” and “live in the now.” They’ve pointed out that most of my days are spent thinking about what I’ll be doing in some future day. And rather than enjoy the meeting or conversation I’m in at the moment, I’m usually looking ahead toward some future meeting or conversation.

I’ve concluded that these friends have a valid point. As a result of my obsessive futurism, I often miss out on the cool things happening in the moment…in the NOW. Part of this could be blamed on my optimism, I suppose. It’s good that I’m expecting the future to be better than my past or the present. However, the problem for a futurist is that the present never actually comes—we’re always focused on a time still ahead.

What about you? Are you missing out on the blessings of the present because your mind is stuck on events in the past? Or do you suffer from the same malady as I do, allowing your thoughts of the future to rob you of the joys you could be experiencing right now?

While it’s true that the Bible recommends spending some time planning and preparing for the future (e.g., Proverbs 6:6-8), that shouldn’t cause us to overlook our need to live in the NOW:

“NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

 (2 Corinthians 6:2).

“TODAY, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7).

I’m coming to see that although the past and future can have a powerful influence on our lives, neither of them should be more powerful than the NOW. That’s why it’s always better to start a new diet or exercise program today instead of tomorrow. None of us really knows what will happen tomorrow, so we better get started now if we sincerely want to change our lives in some meaningful way.

We need to help each other on this. If you catch me obsessing about the past or the future, please remind me that the only way to change anything about my life is to encounter the presence of God and the love of my friends and family today…NOW.

If you’re like me, the word “anchor” has some negative connotations. For example, dictionaries say an anchor is a device for preventing or restricting a ship’s motion. I certainly don’t relish the thought of having my motion prevented or restricted, do you?

Another undesirable connotation of “anchor” is that it either ties you to where you ARE (your present circumstances) or where you’ve BEEN (your past). In either case, that kind of anchor sounds very dreary to me. Who wants to remain stuck to their present circumstances or their past?

However, the Bible describes a very different kind of anchor, one that connects us to a hope-filled future instead of to our present or our past:

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf (Hebrews 6:19-20).

While faith is a “now” kind of reality (Hebrews 11:1), hope is an optimistic attitude about our future. The writer here says God wants us to have His supernatural hope as “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

Look at how revolutionary this is. While maritime anchors lock a ship in place and prevent progress, this spiritual kind of anchor is tethered to the positive future God has promised us (Jeremiah 29:11).

How do we know this? Because we’re told the anchor goes before us, tied to “our forerunner, Jesus.” It’s not an anchor that settles for our present circumstances. Quite the contrary, it’s an anchor that’s pulling us toward a whole new realm of living.

Also notice that our spiritual hope isn’t supposed to be based on anything we see around us. Just as a ship’s anchor disappears below the water line, the hope described here “enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” This hope isn’t locked in to any kind of earthly circumstances or events, but rather to God’s destiny for us in the unseen realm (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Just as an earthly anchor will prevent a ship from drifting, an anchor of hope serves the same purpose. Yet there’s a key difference. If you pull on a maritime anchor, you will go nowhere. But when you pull on your anchor of hope, you’re propelled forward into more intimacy with Jesus and greater fulfillment of His plan for your life.

Even on cloudy days when your circumstances look bleak, you can count on this anchor to hold. Your Forerunner has already overcome death and defeat, and He’s the One your hope must be constantly anchored to.

May your soul find rest in Him today as He draws you forward into His presence and His purpose.