Overcome challenges to effective disciple-making
How can we overcome challenges to effective Disciple-making and Discipleship in a church congregation?
Advertisement
Effective Disciple-making and Discipleship in a church is the Biblically proven strategy for Church renewal and church growth.
Disciple-making and Discipleship in the church, to promote living a lifestyle of godliness with integrity was the DNA of John Wesley’s Church ministry. In his church ministry, membership in a Discipleship Small Group was non-negotiable.
If you wanted to continue in the congregation you had to be in a Discipleship Small Group. In 1742 in one congregation in London there were 426 members, divided into 65 Discipleship Small Groups.
Eighteen months later that same congregation had 2200 members, all of whom were in Discipleship Small Groups.
Effective disciple-making
But why is effective Disciple-making and Discipleship such a big challenge to many in church ministry today? The following are 11 obstacles to effective Disciples-making and Discipleship in the church congregation:
- Leaders who themselves haven’t been discipled don’t really know how to discipline others.
- Many believers assume they’re already discipled.
- Few churches have a clear discipleship pathway.
- Many discipleship strategies have limited discipleship to “information transfer.”
- Good discipleship requires leaders to re-focus much of what they do.
- Other leaders tried to do discipleship, but gave up too soon.
- Many leaders think only in terms of “bigger is better” and “crowds are greater.”
- Some of us are impatient—and discipleship takes time.
- At least in North America, many of us are independent and self-sufficient
- We don’t want to admit our struggles, and we don’t like to deal with the struggles others have.
- Few churches or church leaders get recognised publicly for being great disciple-making churches.
We must address the above challenges so as to be able to carry out effective Disciple-making and Discipleship in our congregation and see members transformed into Christ-like persons who will live as salt and light in the family or home life, in the church life, in their workplace or business life and in their godly love and service to humanity in their communities and nations.
For us to be effective in Disciple-making and Discipleship in a Church congregation we should follow the following seven basic principles to guide us to do it effectively.
- Bathe everything in Disciple-making and Discipleship in prayer. Prayer must be our first option in the disciple-making ministry. Prayer must be our first activity in planning a Disciple-making strategy.
- Teach them to understand the critical importance and necessity of making Christ-like disciples. And to get buy-in, to be convinced and persuaded to go on the spiritual formation journey into Christ-likeness and Christ-like discipleship.
- Create a disciple-making culture within the church and in every Church organisation, example, Men’s Ministry, Women’s Ministry, and Youth Ministry. Creating a Disciple-making culture in the church is essential to effective disciple-making and discipleship ministry.
The Church must be seen to exist to make disciples. The Pastor is there to make disciples. The Leaders are there to facilitate the making of Christ-like disciples. All thinking, attitudes and behaviours in the church must help to make disciples and establish a true discipleship lifestyle.
- Draw a Disciple-making plan. Simple to understand. Simple to follow. Simple to practice in raising other disciples.
- Design and provide appropriate and effective structure. People grow best spiritually in small group life.
- Instruct in the faith/doctrine. That is to teach sound Biblical doctrine and deal with biblical illiteracy. Take people through different levels of catechism to build them up in the holy faith.
- Evaluate disciple-making within the church. Provide instruments and tools to measure progress. How do we know we have become true disciples of Jesus? Are you seeing God use you to change other lives to become spiritually firm as evidence that you are a maturing Christ-like disciple? Indeed, we can become Christ-like and live Christ-like, loving God more fully and loving our neighbour genuinely and practically.
An extremely important purpose is “to raise Christ-like disciples who make disciples.” That is, to build up Christ-like disciples and equip them with capacity to facilitate the spiritual formation process in others.
The mature disciples of Jesus we raise must be able to say and practice this: “I have the capacity to help others to become true Christ-like disciples too!” Indeed, true Disciple-making is Apprenticeship.
“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” (2 Timothy 2:2).
In Disciple-making and Discipleship in a Church congregation we must intentionally and consistently keep focus on the main goal:
The critical and extremely essential goal for effective disciple making in the ministry of the Apostles in the Early church and in Church ministry today is “to facilitate the spiritual transformation of people into Christ-likeness”. That is, to see people experience change, transformation –transformed lives, “metamorphosis”, into becoming like Christ and to
live like Christ (1 John 2:6 NLT). These changed Christian disciples will live differently.
They will live godly lifestyles of integrity into every area of human endeavour (see 1 Timothy 4:12; Daniel 6: 1-10, 19-28) Disciple-making and Discipleship in a church congregation or fellowship are critical and essential for church renewal and church growth.
We must constantly work at seeing church members’ lives transformed into Christlikeness-“growing in every way more and more like Christ.”
(The author is a consultant in authentic Christian Spirituality and Discipleship and former CEO of Scripture Union)