D14: A STRATEGY FOR MAKING DISCIPLES WHO MAKE DISCIPLES AT THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF BENBROOK

Todd Pylant

October 2013

First Baptist Church of Benbrook 1015 McKinley, Benbrook, Texas 76126 www.fbcbenbrook.org

Copyright 2013 by Todd Pylant (www.toddpylant.com) and the First Baptist Church of Benbrook (www.fbcbenbrook.org) Published by Word of God Speak Publishing, 10329 Trevino Lane, Benbrook, Texas, 76126 ISBN-13: 978-1492958220 ISBN-10: 1492958220 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures noted with NIV are quoted from the New International Version (NIV) copyright 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

DEDICATION This book is dedicated to the members of the First Baptist Church of Benbrook who graciously offered me a sabbatical in order to work on this project. It has been my distinct pleasure and honor to serve as the Senior Pastor of this church since 2004. The First Baptist Church of Benbrook is filled with some of the most faithful disciples of Christ that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. They love the Lord and love each other, and it is an honor to be called your pastor. I feel about this church as the apostle Paul felt about the church on Colossae, We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints (Colossians 1.3-4)

PREFACE When I learned that my church was going to offer me a sabbatical, I knew exactly what my project would be. Of course, a sabbatical is a time to take a rest from the normal duties of a Senior Pastor. And a sabbatical is a time of renewal for a pastors spirit. And a sabbatical is a time for a pastor to remember what makes his heart sing, in the words of the Lilly Foundation. But a sabbatical is also a time to work on some kind of project related to the pastors ministry. For the last three years, I have been trying to mature as a disciple maker. My first experience with disciple making was with a man who got saved several years ago. I started meeting with him one-on-one, working through a discipleship curriculum, and it actually went very well. My second disciple making attempt was with another new believer, but it didnt go as well. In fact, he turned out to be the seed that fell among the thorns, but that is another discussion. In this situation, I used another curriculum, and it obviously didnt go so well. By the time the next opportunity came around, I had more questions about disciple making than I did answers. What is the best curriculum to use, or at least a good curriculum? Should I meet with the person one-on-one or in a group? What exactly should we do during our meetings? And more importantly, how can I get more of my church members involved in the process? What if more people need to be discipled than I can personally meet with, what then? 4

I started to read about disciple making strategies. The first book I came across was Transforming Discipleship by Greg Ogden. I learned about using discipleship triads to build a discipleship tree within my church. I learned to think big enough to act small, so I did. I started a triad several years ago, and it was a great experience. After meeting for a year, we tried unsuccessfully to multiply. So, we came back together and reformed our triad with an eye to multiplying again. It was at this time that I came across Robby Gallaty. Gallaty is a pastor in Tennessee who is passionate about making disciples. In addition to leading his church to be a disciple making church, he runs Replicate Ministries to educate, equip, and empower disciple makers. I called Gallaty, and he was gracious enough to send me a preview copy of his new book, Growing Up. By this time, my sabbatical was just around the corner. I decided to use my sabbatical to do as much reading and research as I possibly could about the various disciple making strategies being used in the church today. I wanted to know about the core values behind the strategies, what they did about curriculum, how they multiplied, and a growing list of other questions. I bought as many books about disciple making as I thought I could digest in a month, and got to work. I was fascinated to learn how different the various disciple making strategies were, and yet they were each bearing fruit in their context. I began to identify core values and key questions that must be answered in order to develop a disciple making strategy for my church. The book that you hold in your hands is not really an original work, per se. If you are looking for some original ideas about disciple making, you have come to the wrong place. What follows is a summary of my research. I have tried to understand some of the key issues involved in 5

developing a disciple making strategy with the goal of creating a disciple making strategy for my own church. The strategy that I have adopted is by no means original; it is more of a conflation of strategies developed by others. The book is divided into six parts: (1) a story that illustrates the importance of being both a disciple and a disciple maker, (2) an examination of what we are currently doing in the church to make disciples and why its so ineffective, (3) a working definition of what a disciple of Jesus really is, (4) some observations about how disciples are made and the pathway to transformation, (5) comparing and contrasting various disciple making strategies, and (6) a suggested strategy for making disciples who make disciples at the First Baptist Church of Benbrook in Fort Worth, Texas. If you want to cut to the chase, you can skip right to Chapter Six and read about the strategy, but I would encourage you to consider reading the entire book to get a broad understanding about the importance of making disciples, what the intended goal is, what the process looks like, and the core values behind our strategy. But it is my hope and prayer that as you read this book that the Spirit of God will call you into the most sacred calling of being a disciple who makes disciples. In Christ, Todd

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Joes Story As A Disciple As A Disciple Maker 2. Disciples Who Make Disciples The Great Commission The State Of Disciple Making In North America Why Our Disciple Making Efforts Are Failing More Than Attending and Belonging 3. What Exactly Is A Disciple? A Disciple is Developing The Mind Of Christ A Disciple is Obeying The Commands Of Christ

9 13 14 19 19 20 23 26 29 30 36

A Disciple is Being Transformed Into The Image Of Christ 42 A Disciple is Participating In The Mission Of Christ 4. How Are Disciples Made? Stages Of Growth Keys to Transformation Simple Plan: Worship to Community to Discipleship Context 5. Disciple Making Strategies One-On-One or Groups? 7 52 57 57 61 67 71 71

Six Different Disciple Making Strategies Core Values In Any Disciple Making Strategy

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6. D-Groups: A Disciple Making Strategy for the First Baptist Church of Benbrook 83 What is a D-Group? Group Covenant When Do D-Groups Meet? How Are D-Groups Started? What Do D-Groups Do When They Meet? How Long Does a D-Group Last? 7. Resources Group Covenant Sample H.E.A.R. Journal Entry Praying for the Lost Accountability Questions Books for Disciples Who Make Disciples 83 87 88 88 90 90 93 93 94 95 96 100

Five Year Goal for the First Baptist Church of Benbrook 102 About the Author 103

1. JOES STORY
A long time ago, in a land far, far away, there lived a prince Actually, this is a true story. Many years ago, in a land far away from North America, there lived a young prince. In many ways, this prince had everything going for him. He was from a long line of kings, and his right to the throne was very secure. His kingdom didnt go to war very often, and the people submitted quite happily to the kings rule. His grandfather ruled for 55 years. His father had been king for only two years, which was a good thing since the handsome young prince was only eight years old. He lived in the plush palace of a small kingdom on the other side of the world. While his kingdom was small, when compared to some of the world powers, it was still wealthy and secure. He and his family lived off the fat of the land in such opulence that would have make the wealthiest American today look like a pauper. But when this young prince was only eight years old, his father was assassinated by the palace servants. The entire kingdom rose up in such a fury to put to death all those who had participated in the plot. And after all that blood bath, the young prince, still only eight years old, was crowned as the new king. Like I said, in some ways, he had everything going for him. He was rich. He was powerful. He was secure. He had a long life before him. He was set. 9

But in so many other ways, he had everything going against him. It all depends on how we look at it. In terms of wealth and prosperity, he had everything going for him. But in terms of his moral compass, he was totally lost. His grandfather was a powerful, but evil man. Moreover, his moral compass was set to Due Evil during his days on the throne. He was a ruthless man, putting to death anyone who disagreed with him. But as bad as his moral compass was, his spiritual compass was even worse. Its not that he was an unreligious man. No, he was a fiercely religious man. He pursued his religious beliefs with a passion, which might not have been a problem if he had been pursuing the One True God. Instead, his grandfather worshipped the pagan gods. His grandfather worshipped the sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven. He employed fortune tellers, mediums, and even necromancers (those who talked to the spirits of the dead). He even sacrificed his own sons as an offering to the pagan gods, and encouraged the people of his kingdom to practice infant sacrifice. On every high place in the land, he set up an altar to his pagan gods. He even set up male and female prostitutes in the temples for people to use as acts of worship. And anyone who dared to question what he was doing, he put to death. He killed so many of his own people that he had a reputation for filling the streets of the capital city with blood from one end to the other. So, consider the culture this young king found himself in. Power was something to be used to your own advantage and to your own pleasure. Religion was the pursuit of pagan gods that required sexual immorality and infant sacrifice. And at the tender age of eight, this young prince was now the director of it all. But something strange happened in the palace. This young king had a different heart. He actually cared about what was morally right and what was morally wrong, 10

and he lived according to a higher moral law. Unlike the two kings before him, his moral compass actually worked. And regarding his religion, his heart was drawn to the One True God, the God of Moses, the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, the God of his fathers, at least of the generations before his grandfather. But the young king didnt have much to go on. You see, his grandfather and father didnt allow for the worship of the One True God. The priests of YHWH who had not already been killed had been converted to pagan worship. The sacred texts that taught about the God of Moses had been misplaced, or lost, or destroyed. And even the one place that you would think would be dedicated to the worship of YHWH, the temple that King Solomon built, had been converted into a temple for pagan gods. Inside Solomons Temple were altars to the sun, the moon, and even booths for the prostitutes. This young king may have wanted to be obedient to YHWH, but he had nothing to go on. He had no way of knowing exactly what it meant to worship the One True God. Which is why what happened eighteen years later was such a big deal. When the young king was 26 years old, he was still trying to live right and worship YHWH, though he knew little about what that meant. So, he did the best he could. He knew the Temple was the place for YHWH worship, so he undertook a project to repair the temple. But it should be noted that he did not remove the pagan altars from the temple. So it was not a purification as much as a remodel. He was trying to make the building as nice as he could, but he still didnt know what the building actually stood for. Until the workers found something during their work. The workers found the Book of the Law. Putting aside how incredible it is that the Sacred Scriptures had been misplaced, lost by the very people 11

whose job it was to run the Temple based upon the Scriptures, what is remarkable is what happened to this young king when he read the Sacred Text. Up until this point, he had been trying to do that which was morally right and trying to worship YHWH the best he knew how. But after the sacred text was read, he saw how off base he really was. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the kings servant, saying, Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us. (2 Kings 22.11-13) Not only had his fathers failed to obey the words of the book, but the young king had, too. Though his heart was for the Lord, he didnt know exactly what the Lord required of him. But now he did, and he knew that he had fallen short, too. But all of that was about to change. The young king set his heart, mind, and soul to obey the Book of the Law, every word. He used all of his divine power to rid the land of any worship of pagan gods. He removed from the Temple anything devoted to the sun, or the moon, or to any false god. He removed the cult prostitutes. He removed the priests who had been leading the people astray. He destroyed any vessel that had been used in the worship of pagan gods.

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Outside the temple, he removed all of the vestiges of pagan worship. He destroyed the places where infants were sacrificed to the pagan gods. He destroyed all of the altars on all of the high places around the country. The chariots that were dedicated to the sun, he burned those, too. He destroyed and burned it all, even scattering the ashes of the dead over them to desecrate them totally to prevent them from ever being used again. The king was sold out. He was committed. He was a fully devoted disciple of YHWH. As A Disciple By now, you may recognize the story of Josiah, the young king. His grandfather, Manasseh, was one of the most evil kings to ever sit on the throne in Jerusalem. He was morally and spiritually bankrupt beyond our wildest dreams. His father, Amon, might have been even worse. His own servants killed him after only two years. Considering that incredible backdrop, it is absolutely amazing that the young Josiah had a heart for YHWH. There was nothing about his family, or his culture, or his upbringing that pointed him to the Lord, and yet he walked after the Lord even as a young child. But his heart to follow YHWH was confronted with the specifics of what it meant to follow YHWH when the Book of the Law was found on the one fateful day when he was in his mid-twenties. When he heard those marvelous words of the Law, he tore his clothes, a sign of genuine heart break and repentance. But he didnt just tear his clothes; he also tore his heart in repentance. Josiah was never the same after he heard those words read to him. And confronted with the truth, he surrendered heart, mind, and soul. His mind was renewed as he learned the truth. He obeyed the moral commands of the Lord. And He used all of his ability and 13

position and energy to obey the Lord to the fullest of his ability. Josiah is a great example of a man who became a disciple. He developed the mind of YHWH. His mind was being renewed, and he accepted the truths of God as revealed in the Law. He developed a worldview informed by the Law. He obeyed the commands of YHWH. And his heart was transformed into the heart of God. And he was certainly a man committed to the mission of YHWH, to produce a nation of pure YHWH worship. As a disciple, Josiah gets an A plus. As A Disciple Maker Josiah is one of the few righteous kings in all of Judahs history. He reigned for 31 years in one of Judahs most turbulent periods, right before their fall to Babylon. He is an example of what it means to respond to the Law in obedience and humility and with full passion. And Josiah is also an example of one who was committed to making disciples. He used the power at his disposal to try to make disciples of others. He torn down the altars to the false gods. He eliminated the worship of false gods throughout the land. He wanted all the people of Judah to share his heart for YHWH. And he failed miserably. His national revival efforts, as amazing and far reaching as they were, failed because he was not able to change the hearts and souls of the people. He discovered he could not force others to be disciples of YHWH. For the last 13 years of his life, Josiah led a nation-wide revival to lead his country back to the worship of the One True God. And while his worship was pure, he failed to spread the passion for YHWH to others. In fact, almost immediately after he died on the field of battle, his own son, 14

his own 25 year old son, immediately returned to the ways of his great-grandfather. Jeremiah was right, the nation had changed gods (see Jeremiah 2.11). And as hard as Josiah tried to force the people to worship YHWH, he never captured their hearts. And because of the evil of Manasseh, an evil briefly halted by Josiah but renewed by the kings who followed him, God removed his people from the land of promise. Think of that: After enjoying the land of promise for almost 600 years, God took His people out because of the evil of Manasseh. An evil that Josiah tried to put into reverse, but an evil that his two sons jumped into head first. I wonder how this story might have turned out differently if Josiah had succeeded in making disciples of his inner circle, specifically of his sons: Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. There is an amazing story recorded in the book of Jeremiah about a king who burned a scroll that contained the prophetic words of Jeremiah. The Lord commanded the prophet to write down all the words the Lord had spoken to him, and then he was to have them read in the Temple. When the priests heard the words, they brought the scroll to the king. When the prophets words were read to the king, he took out his knife, cut up the scroll, and burned the entire scroll, piece by piece. Who was this king? None other than Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah. As the story is told in Jeremiah, we read this amazing description of the events: Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments. (Jeremiah 36.24) Those words are even more remarkable when we compare this kings response to the words of the Lord to the response of his own father, Josiah. Whereas Josiah was 15

greatly afraid and tore his garments, his son was not afraid nor tore his garments. The sad reality is that Josiah did not make a disciples of his own son. Of course, we are not told whether or not Josiah tried to make a disciple of his son or not. He might have tried, but his son refused to follow the One True God. But we cant help but wonder, if Josiah had been as successful in making disciples as he had been in being a disciple, who knows how history might have changed? Josiah experienced the undeniable truth about disciple making. You cannot make disciples, at least not in the way that we sometimes use the world make. We cannot make someone become a disciple, meaning, we cannot force discipleship upon them. We might be able to make people abstain from certain behaviors, at least while we are watching, and we might be able to force them to attend certain religious gatherings. But we cannot force their heart. Josiah also experienced another undeniable truth about disciple making: it cannot be done in mass. We love to mass produce things in America, from automobiles to hamburgers, but disciples cannot be mass produced. Mass production can tear down altars and force certain religious expressions, but it cannot touch the heart. Josiahs attempts at disciple making are helpful for us today. They remind us that disciple making must aim at the heart, at genuine transformation. And large scale, programmatic attempts at making disciples are not very effective. Furthermore, Josiahs efforts only identify how crucial the role of the Spirit really is. Only the Spirit can convict of sin, and open our eyes to the truth of God, and draw us into righteousness and holiness. And we should not miss how important first hand interaction with the Scripture is. Josiah heard the words of the Law, and it ripped his heart apart. The rest of the nation 16

only heard Josiah tell them about the Law, and it didnt have the same effect. Making disciples must be slow, Holy Spirit drenched, and rooted in ones personal experience with the Word of God. Any strategy to force it upon others, like a program driven approach in a church, are doomed to fail. Josiah reminds us that it is not enough to be a disciple. For the People of God to continue to be the People of God, we must pass the faith down from one generation to the next. We must be disciples who make disciples.

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2. DISCIPLES WHO MAKE DISCIPLES

The Great Commission Discipleship and making disciples are certainly the current buzzwords among the church today, but why is disciple making suddenly all the rage? The short answer as to why everyone is talking about making disciples is that pesky little thing called the Great Commission. Before returning to the right hand of God the Father, our Lord and Savior gave the following commission to the apostles, And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28.18-20) The simple reason why the church is talking so much about making disciples today is because this is what Jesus commissioned the church to do. He did not command them to make converts, or church attenders, or even Christians. He instructed His disciples to make disciples who would observe all that Jesus had commanded the apostles to observe.

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The State Of Disciple Making In North America So, if this is the great commission of the church, how are we doing? The Barna Group has been studying the condition of the Christian church in America for years. Consider some of their following research data.1 81% of self-identified Christians say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important to their life today. But only 18% of self-identified Christians claim to be totally committed to investing in their own spiritual development. Only 22% of self-identified Christians claim to be totally dependent upon God. Only 64% of self-identified Christians state they have confessed their sins to God and asked for His forgiveness. Only 39% of self-identified Christians have participated in three normal religious activities in the past week. The options included activities like attending church services, praying, and reading the Bible. Only 3% of self-identified Christians have reached the place in their spiritual journey where they have surrendered control of their life to God, submitted to His will for their life, and devoted themselves to loving and serving other people.

See Self Described Christians Dominate America but Wrestle with Four Aspects of Spiritual Depth, www.barna.org.

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Less than 10% have had a time of extended spiritual reflection in the past week. Only 21% of self-identified Christians believe that spiritual maturity requires a vital connection to a community of faith. And these statistics are only for those who self-identify as Christians, not for the general population of the United States. Or, consider church attendance. Many studies have tried to get at the question of how many Americans actually go to church, but they usually approach the question in two different ways. The studies that ask people if they go to church usually report that around 40% of the American population attends a Christian church. But the studies that actually try to count the number of people who actually show up at church for Sunday morning worship report a much lower number. The head count method shows that around 17% of the American population is actually in a Christian church on any given Sunday morning. Even if those numbers are adjusted for the fact that even the most faithful of church attenders dont go to church every week due to illness or vacations, the numbers dont get that much better. Only 25% of Americans attend church three out of every eight Sundays. Or to state that another way, only 25% of Americans attend church at a rate of 37% of the time. And this number is declining. In 1990, 20.4% of the population attended church on any given Sunday. In 14 years, that percentage dropped to 17.7% even though the population increased by 18% during the same period. And if

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the current rate continues through 2050, church attendance will be half of what it was in 1990: a startling 11.7%.2 In my own denomination (the Southern Baptist Convention), only 37% of the 15.9 million members actually show up for Sunday morning worship. Think about that: about one third of the people who were baptized in a Southern Baptist Church even bother to do the most basic of all religious activity: attend corporate worship. Regarding total membership, the total number of Southern Baptists decreased 0.7% from last year, a drop in over 100,000 members. Primary worship attendance declined by 3% in the last year. The number of baptisms is at the lowest levels since 1948.3 In George Barnas book The Second Coming of the Church (1998), he shared the results of his research showing that self-identified Christians and non-Christians are really not that much different when it comes to their moral behavior. They share about the same divorce rate, depend on medication for depression at the same rate, and purchase lottery tickets at the same rate. In far too many categories, the moral behavior of Christians is not that much different than unbelievers. So how are we doing at making disciples who will obey all that Jesus commanded us to do? By whatever standard of measure that we can use, whether it be simple church attendance or life transformation, it seems that our current efforts are falling short, to say the least.

See Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in America, www.churchleaders.com. 3 See Southern Baptist Annual Church Profile Report, www.lifeway.com.
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Why Our Disciple Making Efforts Are Failing With all of the effort, time, and resources spent on church work today, why are our disciple making efforts falling short? Why do we seem to be failing to make disciples that observe all that Jesus commanded us to do? In his book Transforming Discipleship, Greg Ogden offers the following reasons. Program Based One cause of the low estate of discipleship is that we have tried to make disciples through programs. The biblical context for growing disciples is through relationships, but in todays church, we have replaced person-centered growth with programs as the means of making disciples. By programs, he means the structured group methods we use to herd large groups of people through systems. Sunday School classes, small group ministries, and need based seminars are examples of such programs. The reason programs dont work is because they tend to be information or knowledge based, they are one person preparing for the many, they are characterized by regimentation or synchronization, and they generally have low personal accountability. By and large, programs are passive discipleship opportunities where little is required of the participant other than attending. Very little transformation happens when all that is required is attendance. You cannot become a lawyer by just attending class. You cannot become a tennis player by attending a class and watching others play tennis. You cannot lose weight and get in shape by attending a seminar and listening to others talk about. Law schools require you to study outside of class. Tennis requires hours of practice. Losing weight requires personal discipline. All of them require personal effort and activity. 23

Becoming a disciple is no different, but we try to make disciples through passive means. People who attend classes and seminars to listen to other people talk about the effort they put into their walk with Christ will never be transformed. Personal effort and action must be required of each person. A Heaven Only Gospel Another reason that our disciple making efforts are failing is that we have reduced the Christian life to the eternal benefits we get from Jesus rather than living as students of Jesus. In other words, we have proclaimed a gospel of get out of hell but not a gospel of following the Master. Disciples are supposed to be apprentices of Jesus who are intentional about conforming to the life of Christ not people who have prayed a certain prayer a long time ago. Disciple vs. Christian Furthermore, we have made discipleship the call and work of super Christians, not ordinary believers. Part of this is because we use the label of Christian instead of and over against the label of disciple. Is it possible to be one and not the other? For many, being a Christian means to have received a free gift, but being a disciple is to sacrificially follow the Savior. But what kind of Christian is not following the Savior? Biblically speaking, this person is a babe in Christ who ought to eating solid food, certainly not the acceptable condition of a believer. Christianity Lite Another reason is that leaders have been unwilling to call people to discipleship. In seeker friendly contexts, we start with the bar very low and gradually raise it up with 24

increments of commitment. We preach the gospel with felt needs, personal fulfillment, or a persons search for meaning and then wonder why the call to take up ones cross, deny oneself, and follow Jesus falls on deaf ears. Lone Ranger Christians We also have an inadequate view of the church as a discipleship community. Biblically speaking, the Christian life is inherently communal, but we live in a radically individualistic age. The church has allowed this trend towards privatized faith to undermine the tight-knit community that is needed if disciples are to be formed. Unclear Process Moreover, most churches have no clear, public pathway to maturity. It is rare to find a church with a well thought out and easy to grasp process or path onto which people can get if they want to become self-initiating, reproducing, fully devoted followers of Christ. A clarity of purpose and connection to process are missing in most churches. Lack of Experience Finally, most Christians have never been personally discipled. Most Christians in American churches have never experienced a process that takes place within accountable relationships over a period of time for the purpose of bringing believers to spiritual maturity in Christ. In summation, just doing what we have always been doing, attending corporate worship and attending programs, will not lead us to maturity in Christ. If we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we have always gotten. Its time for an intentional strategy for becoming a church of disciples who make disciples.

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More Than Attending and Belonging The reality is that the North American church does a good job a creating attenders and belongers but not necessarily disciples. And certainly not disciple makers. For most people, the first step in joining a church or in getting religious is to attend weekly corporate worship services. And to this end, we might be labeled as doing a good job. Even though Sunday morning worship service is on the decline as a whole, we certainly are working hard at creating worship experiences that are more palatable and attractive to unbelievers and believers alike. The music is contemporary, the setting is casual, and we even serve coffee and snacks. But following Jesus is certainly more than sipping coffee while being entertained by good music. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (The Cost of Discipleship) painted a darker picture. He wrote, Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. He wrote passionately about the disease of cheap grace infecting the church. While Christ calls us to take up our cross (an image of extreme sacrifice), deny ourselves, and follow Him, todays church offers a get out of sin free card based only upon intellectual assent. We separate justification (being made right with God) from sanctification (actually being made holy), as if one does not lead to the other. But this belief is killing the church. According to Bonhoeffer, We have gathered like eagles around the carcass of cheap grace, and there we have drunk of the poison which has killed the life of following Jesus. Those who do want to go deeper in their faith move beyond corporate worship and into some kind of community group. Whether we call them Sunday School classes or small groups or LIFE groups, they all serve the same purpose which is to build community and 26

fellowship among the body of Christ. Bill Hull (The Disciple Making Pastor) calls these Velcro ministries which help to stick people to the body of Christ. No doubt, community groups are important because belonging to the body of Christ is essential. But being part of a community is not the same as being a disciple, particularly if those community groups have the same problems listed above, mainly focused on disseminating information with no accountability that requires a person to actively pursue their own spiritual development. The larger question is whether or not attending and belonging is the same as being a disciple. And the answer is clearly, No. We need to be moving people not only into corporate worship and community groups, but we need to move them into a discipleship context, a context where they can be challenged to mature in their faith and to become spiritual self-feeders and self-bathers. But before we can ask what that context might look like, we need to stop a moment and think about what a disciple of Christ is exactly.

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3. WHAT EXACTLY IS A DISCIPLE?

In order to be committed to the business of making disciples, we must obviously know what kind of disciples we want to make. In order to make coffee tables, or microwaves, or automobiles, the maker must first have a blueprint that defines the target. So, what exactly is a disciple of Jesus? On some levels, it is strange that we even need to ask the question. The first followers of Christ were mocked as little Christs, which is what the name Christian actually means. They bore the name of Jesus at great cost. They were ostracized, mistreated, persecuted, and reviled because of the name they bore. But the American culture is quite different. In a culture where 79% of Americans self-identify as Christian (according to a recent Pew Research study4), it is odd that many want to carry the name of Christ without living according to the content of the gospel of Christ. In America, we actually need to define what it means to be a follower of Christ. Being a follower of Christ is much different than being religious. Religion is a set of activities that one does for a few hours per week, but following Christ is so much more. It is more than trying to abide by certain behavioral guidelines. And it is certainly more than giving money to a local church. To discover the full meaning of being a follower of Christ,

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

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we must explore the teachings of the Bible. And as we do, we discover that a follower of Christ is one who is Developing the mind of Christ Being transformed into the character of Christ Obeying the commands of Christ Participating in the mission of Christ Lets take each of these four key aspects of being a follower of Christ one at a time. A Disciple is Developing The Mind Of Christ The apostle John began his gospel with the following words, But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1.12-13) The word translated believe is the Greek word for faith (pisteo), and though we dont like to use faith as a verb in the English language, it really captures what the apostle was saying. The ones who faith in the name of Jesus are the ones who are born of God. Unfortunately, the phrase I believe in Jesus is the most overused phrase in the American culture. It is somewhere close to Mom, ice cream, and apple pie. Who doesnt believe in Jesus? But what does that mean? Can we simply give mental assent to the idea of Jesus, to the

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historical person of Jesus, to the vague teachings of Jesus? Or does it mean something more specific? What we shall see is that faith is much more than mere intellectual assent. To follow Jesus is to act upon what we believe to be true. Consider the following verse from Romans: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12.2) The apostle Paul encouraged us to be renewed in our mind which implies a rebuilding process. To be renewed means that there is a before and after picture in the mind of a follower of Christ. Disciples are in a constant rebuilding process where the mind is being made new and where that renewal process is leading to transformation. What does the renewal of our mind look like? Beliefs First, the mind of Christ involves the things we believe to be true about God and His creation. Historically, the church has called these beliefs, doctrine. There are simply some things that we must believe to be true in order to be a follower of Christ. We are not free to create our own image of Jesus. Jesus was and is who He was and is, and it matters what we believe to be true. In fact, the Scriptures often link essential beliefs to whether or not a person is saved. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11.6) 31

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4.15) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. (1 John 4.2-3) If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10.9) In just these four verses, the Bible identifies several essential beliefs, truths we must believe to be true in order to be saved. We must believe that God exists. We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We must believe that Jesus has come in the flesh (the incarnation). We must believe that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. These, and others, are essential beliefs. In order to be a follower of Christ, we must believe certain truths about God. And yes, it does matter what we believe. We live in a culture that values believing more than the content of what one believes. Have you ever heard someone say, It doesnt matter what you believe as long as you believe something? Well, it does matter if you want to be a follower of Jesus. In fact, eternity hangs in the balance of what we believe to be true. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1.8-9)

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Believing in a false doctrine, in another gospel, is enough to be accursed. It matters what we believe to be true about Jesus. Faith may be more than right doctrine, but it certainly is not less than right beliefs. Biblical Worldview Second, to be developing the mind of Christ means to be developing a biblical worldview. Worldview simply means the way one thinks about the world around them. It is the framework or lens through which one views reality. It is the way we make sense of the world and the way we evaluate the world around us. According to Romans 12, a renewed mind of Christ helps us to discern what is good and perfect, pleasing to God. Our worldview impacts how we decide whether a particular behavior is moral or not. Our worldview determines how we relate to our spouse, our children, our friends, our neighbors, strangers, and even enemies. Our worldview impacts the careers we choose, how we entertain ourselves, and what we do with our resources. Our worldview is the grand filter through which all of these decisions are processed. And lest we think that this is just a philosophical discussion for academics, consider the words of the apostle Paul: See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossian 2.8) Our enemy, the devil, is prowling about trying to captivate people with an unbiblical worldview so that they will live not according to Christ. Followers of Christ are

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developing and constantly growing in their ability to see the world around them through the lens of Christ. Biblical Wisdom Third, the mind of Christ also involves discernment. The mind of Christ is much more than knowledge; it drifts into the area of wisdom and discernment, areas that are not mere intellectual pursuits. Consider a long but very important teaching from Scripture: Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love himthese things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a persons thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but 34

is himself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2.6-16) The mind of Christ is not a wisdom of this age. Instead, it is a wisdom revealed to us through the Spirit so that we might understand the things freely given to us by God. The natural person does not accept this wisdom of the Spirit because it is spiritually discerned. But by Gods grace, we have the mind of Christ teaching us all the things freely given to us by God. If we consider these words in light of the larger book of 1 Corinthians, they are even more remarkable. The apostles letter covers issues like divisions in the church, civil disputes, living out our faith in the marketplace, marriage, sexual purity, and worship. In all of these issues, and in so much more, we can have the mind of Christ to discern what is good and right. And this discernment is not an intellectual pursuit but a spiritual pursuit, a result of the indwelling Spirit of God. To be developing the mind of Christ goes beyond right doctrines and a biblical worldview. It includes the work of the Spirit revealing to us all that God has given to us. Transformation Fourth, as Paul made clear in Romans 12, the mind of Christ leads to transformation. The end game of Christianity is not simply to know a bunch of facts about the Bible. It is to be transformed by the person of Jesus, to become like him. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form 35

of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.5-8) Having the mind of Christ does not lead one to remain in the ivory tower. No, the mind of Christ leads to transformation. It leads to following Jesus in His footsteps. A Disciple is Obeying The Commands Of Christ As we gave already seen, being a follower of Jesus is more than just believing some things to be true. It is more than belief, but not less. To be a follower of Christ is to be committed to obeying the commands of Jesus. Consider the following: And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2.3-6) The apostle John is saying that Gods love is not made complete in us unless we are keeping His commandments. John implies that even in the early church there were people who wanted to be identified with Jesus, even to know and experience His love, but who were not really followers of Jesus. This is why the early confession of faith was the very simple statement, Jesus Christ is Lord (see Philippians 2.11). Jesus was the name of the God who became flesh. Christ is a title, a designation. It means that we believe 36

that Jesus is the Messiah, the prophesied One, the One sent by God to be our Savior. And Lord means supreme authority. To call the Christ our Lord is to confess our submission to Him, our commitment to be obedient to His Lordship. This is why Jesus confronted people who identified with Him but who refused His Lordship. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? (Luke 6.46) Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7.21) What is even more disconcerting is the reality that it is possible for religious people to deceive themselves, to think they are followers of Jesus but who really arent. So here are some observations about what it means to obey the commands of Jesus so that we wont be among those who are surprised on the Day of Judgment. We Are Obeying A Person, Not A List Of Rules Sometimes, people will say things like I like Jesus but I dont like His rules. But the commands of Jesus are the expressions of His heart. We cannot separate His rules from His person. To disobey His commands are to disobey Him. The real focus of obeying Him is not to follow rules but to follow Him. As every good parents knows, Rules without relationships breeds rebellion. If we treat Jesus as nothing more than a list of rules, then we are breeding the ground of our own rebellion. Yes, His commands are important, but the most important thing is to develop a relationship with Him. 37

There Are Blessings To Obedience Why does Jesus give us commands to obey? The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10.10) What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 32.12-14) Some believers think that God is a grumpy old man who doesnt want anyone to have fun. But God is not the fun police. In fact, the Lord wants you to have abundant life. He wants you to love life. He wants you to have a blessed life. Those who understand this know that the commands of Jesus are not a burden because of the heart of the Father. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5.2-3) This is not a promise of struggle free living (see James 1.2-4), but it is a guide to avoiding self-inflicted wounds, the pain that we bring into our own lives by living in disobedience to the way of the Savior. The Specifics Of The Commands Are Important I have heard Christians say that we dont need to read the Bible because we all know that God wants us to be good and to be loving. After all, they say, isnt the whole law 38

fulfilled in the one command to love our neighbor (see Galatians 5.14)? But the problem is that we dont know what is good and we dont know what is loving unless the Lord teaches us. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, You shall not covet. (Romans 7.7) Paul was saying that he would not have known that coveting was wrong unless the Law told him it was immoral. The truth is that we dont know what is good, and we dont know what is loving. What seems loving and good to us is to love our family, to love our neighbors, and to love our friends but to tolerate and avoid our enemies. But that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible tells us to love our enemies, to bless those who persecute us, and to return a blessing when insulted. The reason we need to know the specifics is because we dont know what is good and loving unless God teaches us. Obedience Is As Much Positive As It Is Negative Some of the commands of Jesus tell us to stop doing certain things, and some of the commands tell us to do certain things. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4.31-32) Not only are we instructed to stop being angry and full of slander and bitterness, but we are also commanded to be 39

kind and forgive. There are some nots and some dos in the commands of Jesus. Believers often fall short because we are satisfied by just not doing the bad stuff. But there are a lot of positive commands in the Bible. To follow Jesus means more than the cessation of evil deeds. To follow Jesus also means the beginning of active righteousness. Obedience Takes Training Just like running a marathon takes training, and just like working as a nurse takes training, and just like teaching elementary school takes training, so it is with the life of a disciple. We did not just wake up one day, lost in our sins, and suddenly know how to walk in obedience to the Savior. Our sin natures need to be trained, trained to discern right from wrong, and trained to make the tough decisions to be obedient. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5.14) Training implies that we are actively participating in the training. After all, who has been trained in anything without their active involvement? And how are the followers of Christ active in their training? By working with the Spirit to be transformed. We work with the Spirit to be transformed much the same way that a sailboat captains work with the wind. Practicing the spiritual disciplines are the way that we hoist up our sails to catch the transforming power of the Spirit. Later, we will discuss the spiritual disciplines at length, but we actively participate in our training by the regular reading of Scripture, by meditating on the Word of

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God, by memorizing Scripture, through conversational prayer, and through serving others. The Ultimate Goal Is To Keep In Step With The Spirit The goal is not to obey rules but to live in synchronization with the Spirit of God. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5.25 NIV) We may not need the Spirit to follow a list of rules, but we certainly need the Spirit if our goal is something larger. To keep in step with the Spirit is to live in march step with what the Spirit of God is doing around us, and that is for more expansive than just a list of rules. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5.22-23) While Pauls main point is that there is no law against being impatient or lacking joy, he is also saying that there is a realm that is beyond the law. And that realm is the movement and promptings of the Spirit. What we are really talking about is the promptings of the Spirit, the directions of the Spirit to love and serve others or to speak the truth into anothers life. In this world, disobedience is not so much breaking a written command as it is to refuse the promptings of the Spirit. In summation, to be a follower of Jesus is to obey His commands. We simply cannot say that we follow Him and refuse to submit to His Lordship.

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A Disciple is Being Transformed Into The Image Of Christ But being a disciple is even more than developing the mind of Christ and obeying the commandments of Christ. A disciple is one who is in the process of being radically transformed into the image of Christ. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12.2) The word translated as transformed is the Greek word from which we get the English word, metamorphosis, which means to change from one form into another. This is truly an incredible aspect of the Christian gospel. There is a divinely produced change within our very beings. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3.18) my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! (Galatians 4.19) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8.29) So, the miracle and mystery of being a disciple of Jesus is that there is a divine work of God going on within us

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where we are being transformed, changed from one form into another, transformed into the image of Christ. An Example From Ephesus For example, consider a passage from Ephesians 4. In these 15 verses, we see the character of a disciple of Christ. They are developing the mind of Christ, obeying the commands of Christ, and being transformed into the image of Christ. He began by describing in detail those who are not disciples of Jesus. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. (Ephesians 4.17-19) Those who are not disciples of Christ do not have the mind of Christ. They are futile in the thinking, darkened in their understanding, and ignorant. They are not obeying the commands of Christ because they have given themselves up to sensuality, greed, and every practice of impurity. And they are not being transformed into the image of Christ because their hearts are getting harder and harder, more and more callous. But then Paul described the distinct difference between those who are not disciples of Christ and those who are. But that is not the way you learned Christ! assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life 43

and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4.20-24) On the contrary, the disciples of Jesus have been taught by Him, meaning, they are developing the mind of Christ. They are putting off the old self and obeying the commands of Christ and putting on the new self. And they are being renewed, transformed into the image of Christ, created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Paul then continued to describe in detail the specific elements of righteousness and holiness that they were to be putting on. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4.25-32) Notice all the specific commands of Christ to be obeyed: putting away falsehood, speaking the truth to one another, refusing to sin in our anger, working honestly in order to 44

have something to share, speaking only words that are good for building up, putting aside all bitterness and wrath and slander and malice, being kind to one another, and forgiving each other as Christ has forgiven us. Depending on how you count the list, there are as many as twenty different commands to obey in these eight verses. Some of them are obeyed in our actions, others are obeyed in our attitudes. They describe a new worldview renewed in the mind of Christ and living in the morality of Christ. But dont overlook that one odd statement that sticks out like a sore thumb right in the middle. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4.30) Why is this statement stuck in the middle of all of these commands to obey? Because it is the work of the Spirit that makes true righteousness and holiness possible in the disciple of Jesus. This is why a disciple of Jesus is one who is pursuing being transformed into the image of God by the work of the Spirit. And this is what separates disciples from attenders and belongers. Some want to believe a few things about Jesus. And others are willing to try to become a good person. But it is a dangerous thing to pursue being transformed into the image of Christ by the work of the Spirit. The Spirit does not want us to sprinkle a few good deeds on top of our lives. Instead, the Spirits goal is complete transformation into the image of Christ. His work involves our behaviors, our attitudes, our beliefs, our thoughts, and our life directions. To follow the Spirit is indeed a dangerous proposition because we have to surrender creative power to our Savior.

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Transformational Triangle How then, do we pursue the Spirit of God to transform us into the image of Christ? Bill Hull (The Complete Book of Discipleship) has captured this pursuit in a diagram he calls the Transformational Triangle. And with the three sides and three points of this triangle, he identifies the key components of how we pursue the Spirit to transform us into His image. Holy Spirit The first side of the triangle is the Holy Spirit. Throughout Scripture, the biblical testimony is that it is the work of the Spirit that brings sanctification, holiness. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood (1 Peter 1.2) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (Galatians 5.2225) It is the Spirit that brings about sanctification. It is the Spirit that bears the fruit of real character change. Over and over again, it is the work of the Spirit that brings about transformation. When we say that the Spirit is at work in our lives to bring about transformation, there are certain assumptions that we are making. First, we are confessing that we ourselves are powerless to bring about transformation. We 46

are confessing that we need help, we need Gods grace, we need God to do a work within us that we are not able to do for ourselves or in ourselves. Second, we are embracing the divine mystery that the Spirit of God is within us. We are embracing and pursuing and seeking the very real reality that the Spirit of God indwells us. Third, we are hoping for change in the work of Christ. Our hope is not placed in our circumstances. Our hope is not in getting that promotion or moving to a better community or a change in whatever circumstance is most painful to us now. Our hope is in the work of God in our souls. Alone. Scripture The second side of the Transformational Triangle is Scripture. Scripture is one of the primary tools that the Spirit of God will use to transform us into the image of Christ. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4.12-13) Notice that no creature is hidden from his sight not its sight. Scripture is not an it but a He. Scripture is living and active and piercing our soul because it is the very Word of God. If we think of the Bible as nothing more than a book, then transformation will forever escape us. But if we see Scripture as the living word of God, and the One to whom we must give account, then Scripture comes alive to pierce our soul and transform our being.

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Community The third side of the Transformational Triangle is community. When the first church was born in Jerusalem shortly after the resurrection, the book of Acts describes their core values. And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2.42) They devoted themselves to the fellowship of the church. For Baptists, we often limit fellowship to fried chicken in the fellowship hall, but the community of the faith is much more than that. It is within the devotion to the community of the body of Christ where transformation takes place. There are so many one anothers in the Scripture. How do you learn to forgive one another unless you are living in community where you can be wronged by another person? How do you learn how to bear one anothers burdens unless you are living in community where you are aware of anothers burdens and have real opportunity to bear them? How do you learn how to speak the truth in love unless you are in community where God is forming each of us into His image? Too many believers want to circle around the community, to attend large gatherings where we face the same wall for an hour and call it community. But the transforming work of the Spirit is experienced in a community where we are known and where we know each other. Training and Pattern of Life The first point on the Transformational Triangle is the training and pattern of life. 48

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; (1 Timothy 4.7) If we want to reach any goal in life, we have to train ourselves towards it. Whether it is an exercise goal or a goal to get a degree or to lose weight, we must discipline ourselves to reach that goal. And spiritual development is no different. For the last two thousand years, followers of Christ have known that unless we discipline ourselves for godliness, transformation will never happen. The spiritual disciples like the regular reading of Scripture, mediation, Scripture memory, prayer, corporate worship, fasting, and giving are just a few of the ways that we put ourselves in the pathway of Gods grace so the Spirit can do something divine in our lives. Circumstances or Events The second point on the Transformational Triangle is circumstances or events. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1.2-4) If you think that following Jesus means that no more bad things will happen because God is watching over you, then you have not been introduced to the full gospel. But, if you are committed to being a disciple of Jesus, transformed into His image, you have a new perspective on the trials of life. Some of the greatest transformation in our lives will come through trials of various kind.

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This means that we have a whole new perspective on trials. They are no longer the bad things in our lives that we need to try to escape at all cost. They are no longer reasons to get angry with God. Instead, they become the key to transformation. They become the deep prayer of our soul that God will squeeze every drop out of every trial to transform us into the image of Christ. If you want to be transformed into the image of Christ, get ready for trials of various kind. Mission The third corner of the Transformational Triangle is mission. To be on mission is to join God in what He is doing in the world at large and in our personal worlds. Being on mission means living into the good work God has created us to do. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2.10) Each of us are Gods workmanship, created uniquely by God to do a good work. And we are transformed into the image of Christ by living into that good work. Instead of thinking of our good work as something we can do after we are fully transformed, we should see the good work God has created us to do as another instrument in His hands to shape us into the image of Christ. In other words, we become like Christ as we serve God and serve others. This is why the church fathers have always included service as one of the spiritual disciplines. By consistently serving others in the way that God created us to serve, we are shaped into His image.

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Conclusion So, disciples of Christ are pursuing being transformed into His image by the work of the Spirit. But here is where we find a paradoxical truth. What we hunger for most in life is the transforming work of the Spirit. But at the same time, we resist the transforming work of the Spirit. What we want is joy, but we dont want to pursue it through the transforming work of the Spirit. What we want is peace and contentment, but we dont want to pursue it through the transforming work of the Spirit. What we hunger for is love, but we dont want to pursue it through the transforming work of the Spirit. For instance, if we are hungering for joy, then where is our hope? If we have placed our hope for joy in changing our circumstances, then we are not pursuing the transforming work of the Spirit. If we disconnect our relationship with Scripture to our pursuit of joy, then we are not really pursuing the transforming work of the Spirit. Or if we fail to connect our community with joy, particularly when community becomes difficult, then we are not pursuing the transforming work of the Spirit. Community is hard. Our family is not perfect. Our church is not perfect. But it is in the context of imperfect communities that we are transformed into His image and learning to find joy in the body of Christ as God finds joy in me. Unfortunately, we often quit on community instead of devoting ourselves to it. Are we disciplining our lives so that God can be at work in our lives to produce joy in our soul? Are we meditating on His truth about joy? What about the circumstances in our lives? Are we so mad at God that joy is a logical impossibility? What about our mission? Do we know the good work God has created us to do? How can we ever know joy if we are not doing what we were made to do?

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A Disciple is Participating In The Mission Of Christ Disciples of Christ are not only developing the mind of Christ, obeying the commands of Jesus, and pursuing being transformed by the Spirit into the image of Christ, but they are also participating in the mission of Christ. One aspect of participating in the mission of Christ is living into the good work God has created us to do. But there is more. What is the mission of Christ? Not only must we think about what Christ was doing in the historical past, but we must also think about what Christ is doing now and will be doing in the historical future. And to this end, we must consider the divine eternal plan of God. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillmentto bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1.9-10 NIV) The divine eternal plan of God is to bring all things under the headship of Christ. This, of course, involves the incarnation which was Gods plan to bring about the reconciliation of humanity. But this divine eternal plan also looks forward to when Christ is going to make all things new, when indeed, all things will be united in Christ and will be brought under the headship of Christ. And while we might not be able to say everything that can be said about the divine eternal plan of God, we can say something. We do know that God has called us to be involved in this divine eternal plan in one specific way: by making disciples. The last thing that Jesus told His disciples before returning to the right hand of God the Father was to go and make disciples. 52

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28.19-20) The one command in this sentence is the command to make disciples. The three participles (verbal adjectives), going, baptizing, and teaching, are descriptions of the main command, which is to make disciples. Go describes what it means to make disciples. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit describes what it means to make disciples. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you describes what it means to make disciples. But the core command is to make disciples, to be a disciple maker. There is a sense of a movement in the Great Commission. At one time, these eleven men were not disciples of Jesus, but now they were. But Jesus did not tell them to return to their homes and become the best disciple they could. No, He told them to go and make disciples of others. Or, as Robby Gallaty (Growing Up) wrote, The gospel came to you on its way to someone else. The gospel was not intended to find its end in your possession. You and I are not the end of the line for the gospel. It was intended for someone else. There is a movement in the Great Commission, movement from being an unbeliever, to becoming a disciple, and then to be on task to be a disciple maker. But we have become stuck at the second phase, content to be a disciple but not being a disciple maker. We are developing the mind of Christ. We are obeying the commands of Christ. And we are being transformed into the image of Christ. But we dont

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hear the last part of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, which is to be involved in making disciples. And the result of being content to be a disciple without desiring to make disciples is that the Western church is not actually making disciples. We might attract worshippers, and we might impart information. But disciples? We arent making what we arent trying to make. Consider the percentage of each generation who meet the criteria of being born again. The Barna Research Organization used several criteria to determine whether or not one is born again. Among those born before 1946, 65% are born again. Among those born between 1946 and 1954, 35% are born again. Among those born between 1965 and 1976, 14% are born again. And among those born between 1976 and 1994, only 5% are born again. In other words, in the last 65 years, the percentage of people in each generation who are born again has dropped from 65% to 5%. Are we doing a good job of making disciples? Or look at our own denomination. If you look at the membership of the Southern Baptist Convention over the last 60 years, you can see an obvious trend. In 1950, our denomination had a 5% growth rate. That rate of growth has been slowly getting smaller and smaller until 2004 when it went flat. After 2004, the growth rate went negative. And of course, a negative growth rate means a rate of decline. This year (2013), our own denomination declined at a rate of 3%. Or consider another study by Barna. He examined what percentage of each generation is post Christian. The phrase post-Christian means a worldview that used to be Christ centered but has become totally absent of Christ. Of those who are older than 67, 28% have a post Christian worldview. Of those who are between the ages of 48 and 66, 35% are post Christian. Of those who are between the ages of 29 and 47, 40% are post Christian. And among those 54

younger than 29, 48% are post Christian. Are we doing a good job of making disciples? Or consider a recent study by Lifeway Christian Resources. Of those young adults who regularly attended church when they were in high school, 70% of them had quit attending church by the time they were 23. And 34% of those said that they had not returned, even sporadically, by the age of 30. That means that 25% of Protestant young adults who faithfully attended church in high school will leave the church after they graduate from high school. It is impossible not to see the obvious: what we are doing as a church in North America is not working, if making disciples is our goal. Which is so surprising considering all of the effort going into church. Think about all of the new church plants, all of the new and creative Christian ministries, and then compare the results. Why are our disciple making efforts not making headway? One reasons is that we confuse disciple making with information gathering. If we can just teach people enough truth, then they will become disciples, right? Evidently, wrong. Never before in history has access to the biblical truth been so easy and universal and yet the state of discipleship is so paltry. Another reason is that we like to make disciples on the mass production method. If we can make 100 cars a day, thats great. But if we can make 1000 cars each day, even better. But Jesus had only 11 people to show for three years of ministry, and really only 3 were the core. And notice that even when Jesus spoke the words that we call the Great Commission, even some of those 11 were still doubting. And dont forget that one was a drop out (Judas). Disciple making is messy, slow, and cannot be done by mass production. 55

We also think of discipleship as something for new believers only. But discipleship is an ongoing, for the rest of our lives, development. It might take different forms as we mature, but we never graduate from discipleship. If being a disciple of Christ means that we are to be disciple makers ourselves, even the common ordinary pew sitting Christian, then what does it mean to be a disciple who is making disciples?

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4. HOW ARE DISCIPLES MADE?

The Great Commission implies that disciples need to be made. Walter Henrichsen wrote, Disciples are made, not born. In other words, disciples are not the unintentional byproduct of a lot of church activity, which is the typical church disciple making strategy today. We have lots of worship opportunities. We have lots of Bible studies. We have lots of fellowship opportunities, lots of opportunities to serve. And somewhere, in the midst of all that activity, we are hoping that believers are developing the mind of Christ, obeying the commands of Jesus, being transformed into the image of Christ, and participating in the mission of Christ. But, according to Jesus, disciples need to be made. They need to be formed. And that takes an intentional process to produce an intentional result. So, we must ask the question, How are disciples made? Stages Of Growth In the book Real Life Discipleship, pastor and author Jim Putman describes the different stages of spiritual growth with remarkable clarity. With each of the five spiritual growth stages, he describes their beliefs, common things they might say (what he calls phrases from the stage), and what the church should do with them to help them grow. His five stages are the spiritually dead, spiritual infants,

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spiritual children, spiritual young adults, and spiritual parents. The Spiritually Dead The spiritually dead are the unsaved, unredeemed, those not yet born again. These are characterized by their disbelief in the supernatural, disbelief in God, anger towards Christians or the church, ignorance about the nature of God, spiritual blindness, a belief in their own goodness, and a rejection of moral absolutes. You might hear the spiritually dead say something like: I dont believe there is a God, The Bible is just a bunch of myths, Evolution explains away the need for God, I have been a good person so I will be okay, or There is no absolute right and wrong. The spiritually dead need a secure relationship with a mature believer, a picture of the real Jesus lived out before them, and an explanation of the gospel message. The church needs to do the following for the spiritually dead: share our personal testimony, build relationships with them so that we can earn the right to share the gospel, pray for opportunities to share the gospel, and be prepared to explain the gospel to them. Spiritual Infants Spiritual infants are characterized by their ignorance, confusion, and dependence. While they have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord, they still dont know much about what it means to be a Christian. They still have a worldly perspective about life with some spiritual truth mixed in. You might hear them say things like: I dont have to go to church to be a Christian, I didnt know the Bible said that, I dont have time to be in relationship with another Christian, or We were born as spirit children in heaven before we were born down here, right? 58

Spiritual infants need individual attention from a spiritual parent, to have the Word explained to them, and to have the habits of a believer explained to them. The church needs to help spiritual infants come to learn the truth, to learn how maturation in the faith happens, and to develop the spiritual disciplines. Spiritual Children Spiritual children are young in their faith but have grown up in many ways. They remember who they were as unbelievers so they appreciate how God has changed them. They understand much of the Christian language. They are serving in ministry but often only as long as the benefits outweigh the costs. They might lack wisdom about how to put into practice what they are learning. Feelings are important to them, which leads to spiritual highs and lows. They know more about what other Christians say than about what the Bible says. You might hear spiritual children say things like: I love my small group but lets dont add any more people to it, My church is not taking care of my needs, or I am not being fed by my church. They believe things about life and faith that might not be biblically accurate. They do the right things but often for the wrong reasons. What the church needs to do with spiritual children is to give them a solid biblical foundation and help them develop Christ-like heart and hands. Spiritual Young Adults Spiritual young adults might still struggle with their sin nature, but their heart is to glorify God and to love others as themselves. They know what God wants them to do, but often dont think about reproducing disciples. You might hear spiritual young adults say things like: I love my group and I know others who could use a group like this, In my 59

devotions I came across something I have a question about, or I noticed someone missed our group meetings today so I called on them to check on them. Spiritual young adults need help in finding an appropriate ministry to serve within the church. They need a spiritual parent who will debrief with them about ministry experiences. The need ongoing relationships with other believers that offer encouragement and accountability. They need assistance in identifying their gifts. The church needs to help them understand ministry and give them opportunities to do ministry. Spiritual Parents Spiritual parents are intentional, strategic, reproduction minded, self-feeding, mission minded, team minded, and dependable. They can both feed themselves and bathe themselves (i.e., cleanse themselves from sin through confession and repentance). They think in terms of a team instead of just themselves. They want to see others mature and grow in their faith. They naturally think about how to help a younger believer take the next step in their faith. You might hear a spiritual parent say something like: Can you pray for my friend at work who is asking questions about the Bible, I want to see our small group go on a mission trip, or Will you hold me accountable for disciplining my children? The church needs to give spiritual parents a team to play on and direction. Spiritual Maturation is a Developmental Journey While we may quibble with Putman about some of the specifics associated with each of his five stages, he does help us to see that believers do have to grow up just like humans do. We are born again as infants needing to be spoon fed the Word of God in milk form. But we are not intended to stay that way. We ought to grow up. We ought to move beyond 60

the milk of the Word and grow to where we can sustain ourselves on solid food, even becoming spiritual parents who are able to teach others. Which begs the larger question, How does a spiritual infant grow up? Keys to Transformation In Transformational Discipleship, authors Eric Geiger, Michael Kelly, and Philip Nation describe the transformational sweet spot, a phrase the authors use to describe that most powerful and unique position where the Spirit of God is at work and where we are most prepared to be changed but His work. Spiritual growth is a divine human synergy over a lifetime. God is the One enabling His people to mature and grow while His people are invited to place themselves in the right posture. They use the images of sailing or water skiing to illustrate the power of position and the dependence upon supernatural forces. Like the captain of a sail boat, our role is to place ourselves in the pathway of Gods transforming power. As a result of their extensive research, they identified eight attributes of disciples who are positioning themselves in the transformational sweet spot: Bible engagement, obeying God and denying self, serving God and others, sharing Christ, exercising faith, seeking God, building relationships, and being unashamed. These are the attributes that continually show up in the life of a maturing believer, according to their research. According to them, The transformational sweet spot is the intersection of truth given by healthy leaders when someone is in a vulnerable position. They illustrate this with three interlocking circles: truth, posture, and leaders. Others who have thought deeply about making disciples echo the same ideas. For instance, the same idea 61

was captured by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne in their book, The Trellis and the Vine. They wrote, Growth happens only through the power of Gods Spirit as He applies His word to peoples hearts. According to Neil Cole (Ordinary Hero), the keys to transformation are community, accountability, confidentiality, flexibility, and reproducibility. Robby Gallaty (Growing Up) wrote that the three spiritual change agents are people, circumstances, and the spiritual disciplines. According to Bill Hull (The Complete Book of Discipleship), the transformational triangle consists of community, the Holy Spirit, Scripture, training and pattern of life, events and circumstances, and mission. All of these leaders in disciple making point to the same essential keys to transformation, realities that must be present if a person is going to grow up into a fully developed follower of Christ who is equipped to make disciples who can make disciples. They may illustrate it with different diagrams, and they may use different words, but the concepts are the same. And here they are. Scripture There is absolutely no denying the essential role of Scripture in the spiritual formation of a follower of Christ. This really should be no surprise considering the clarity of what Scripture tells us about itself: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3.16-17)

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The way that a man or woman of God becomes equipped for every good work is through the Scriptures. They are profitable to teach us the truth, correct our beliefs and behaviors, to train us in the continual pursuit of what it means to live in righteousness, and to make us competent to do what God has called us to do. If any believer ever hopes to be transformed, they must develop a healthy relationship with the Word of God. Spiritual Disciplines Which brings us to what believers have called for centuries the spiritual disciplines. What are spiritual disciplines? According to Donald Whitney (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life), The spiritual disciplines are those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth. They are the habits of devotion and experiential Christianity that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times. Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline) defines spiritual disciplines as a means of receiving His grace. The disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us. Dallas Willard (Spirit of Disciplines) wrote, A discipline is any activity within our power that we engage in to enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort. According to Henri Nowen, the disciplines are a means to create space to meet with God that you otherwise had not planned on. What Christians have known for centuries is that the spiritual disciplines put us in a position, the transformational sweet spot if you will, to be transformed by Gods grace. And just like any discipline, whether it be exercise or healthy eating or financial management, they 63

require regular practice, self-denial, and patience. The disciplines themselves dont do anything, just as the sail by itself does nothing. But just as hoisting a sail catches the power of the wind, so does the regular practices of the spiritual disciplines. What are the spiritual disciplines? While each of the above authors presents their own list, the common disciplines are: the regular reading of Scripture, prayer, fasting, Bible study, meditation, Scripture memory, corporate worship, service, giving, silence, confession, and simplicity. If a believer has any hopes of experiencing transformation, he or she must be developing the spiritual disciplines. The Holy Spirit The third essential in transformation is the Holy Spirit. I do not list the Spirit as third in any way to imply that the Spirit is the third most important aspect of spiritual maturity, but to follow on the heels of what has come before. We instinctively turn to the Bible when we think about growing in our faith, but we quickly see that casually reading the Bible ever once in a while is not enough. Scripture must become part of the larger picture, the overall picture of the spiritual disciplines. But then we see that the disciplines by themselves are powerless to produce transformation. They only put us in a position where God can do a change within us. Which leads us to the most significant transforming work of the Spirit. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3.18) 64

But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2.13) Being transformed into the image of Christ, being sanctified by the work of the Spirit is the work of the Spirit within us. This is why keeping in step with the Spirit and raising our sails to be filled with the Spirit is such a key to transformation. Community The process of spiritual transformation requires the body of Christ, and not just attending corporate worship where we all face the same wall for an hour. Consider the words of Eric Geiger (Transformational Discipleship): While interviews with believers who are being transformed revealed a posture of weakness to be absolutely essential for spiritual maturation, the discipleship leaders we interviewed overwhelmingly declared that transformation best occurs when a believer is in an interdependent posture with other believers. They were deeply concerned that the timeless truth of maturation in community is subtly being replaced with an American individualistic approach to spiritual growth that constantly promises roots that go deeper without roots that widen into relationships that intermingle. Because transformation occurs when a disciples is in an interdependent posture, discipleship leaders must slaughter individualism rather than celebrate it.

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Community is a vital aspect of spiritual transformation because we hammer out and hammer in the gospel message as we live alongside others. We learn to forgive as we live in community. We learn to serve in community. We learn to care about others in community. We learn to give to others in community. We learn how to love, to be kind, to be patient, to bear one anothers burdens, and a hundred other real gospel truths only in the context of community. Accountability But for community to be effective, it must have an accountability element. It is not enough to be a fellow attender to a large worship gathering. Real community requires accountability to be, well, a real community. And accountability requires confrontation, confession, and compassion. Only if we are known well enough for another to know that we are not living in obedience to Christ can we be confronted with our disobedience. And only if we are confronted, can we confess our sins to one another. And only in a community with real accountability, can we ever really know the grace of forgiveness and restoration. Pain Smooth seas do not skillful sailors make. And the same is true of disciples. One of the reasons that committing ourselves to maturing in our faith can be so difficult is the simple truth that the Spirit often matures us into the image of Christ through trials and tribulations. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1.2-4) 66

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5.3-5) The simple truth is that if we want to mature in our faith, then we had better expect and welcome the trials of various kinds as instruments in the hands of the Savior. Service Spiritual transformation is an on the job training situation, meaning that we do not become a disciple and then serve, but we become a disciple as we serve. Discovering the good work God has created us to do can only be done as we are serving. Serving others, serving in the church, serving the community, and serving strangers are all ways in which the Spirit works to transform us into the image of Christ. So, if we want to be in the transformational sweet spot, we need to be active in our service in the name of Christ. Simple Plan: Worship to Community to Discipleship Context In order for disciples to be involved in disciple making, they must have a plan, and the church needs to offer a clear path to both becoming a disciple and to becoming a disciple maker. Consider the following blunt statement by Bill Hull (The Disciple Making Pastor): Telling people what to do without providing the means to do it is cruel and defrauding. It creates 67

spiritual schizophrenia, Christians who are experts on what they are not experiencing. Not only does it leave people unprepared for ministry, they become guilty and frustrated with the Christian life. This also gives the devil a choice opportunity to create problems inside the church. When an army never goes to war; it by necessity focuses on shining boots, making beds, and marching in a straight line. The church that does not move to action by necessity must focus on Roberts Rules of Order, committee rules, and acquisition of pulpit furniture. Ouch! A church without a plan for disciples to get involved in disciple making is cruel and defrauding? Clearly, it is not enough for us to be convinced of the need to make disciples, but we must have a process for doing so. Thom Rainer (Simple Church: Returning to Gods Process for Making Disciples) also advocates for a local church to have a clear process for making disciples. A simple church is a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. Rainer focusses on four key words: clarity, movement, alignment, and focus. Clarity is the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people. Movement is the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment. Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process. Alignment ensures the entire church body is moving in the direction, and in the same manner. Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process. Bill Hull (The Disciple Making Pastor) advocates for a three phase process to move people through the stages of spiritual growth. The come and see phase is where the church calls people to come and see who Jesus is and what it 68

means to follow Him. In this phase, the church gathers, exposes, and inspires people to follow Christ. The most ready-made gathering tool of the church is the Sunday morning worship service. In addition, the church offers Velcro ministries, activities to help people stick with the congregation. These are small group Bible studies, Sunday School classes, childrens activities, social gatherings, sports teams, choirs, etc. These are other opportunities for people to come and see what Christ and His church are all about. But a disciple must move beyond the come and see phase and into the come and follow phase. In this phase, one actually begins to mature as a follower of Christ. And key to this phase is a discipleship context. Disciples are not made in corporate worship or even in community groups like Sunday School classes. Disciples are made in a disciple making context. And unfortunately, according to Hull, only 50% of Christians ever move from the come and see phase into the come and follow phase.5 Rainer and Hull use different expressions and differ on the specifics of how to carry it out, but they are both saying the same thing. The local church must have a process to move people along the stages of spiritual growth. Corporate worship and community groups are important but are not sufficient to produce disciples. They are the first and second step towards are more comprehensive goal. We must be moving believers into a discipleship context in order to make disciples. So, what do these disciple making contexts look like?

The third phase is the come and abide with me phase, a way that Hull describes those who are called to be ministers and missionaries. This context is best fulfilled by seminaries and Bible colleges, and as such, is not really part of his disciple making strategy for the local church.

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5. DISCIPLE MAKING STRATEGIES

One-On-One or Groups? When we think of making disciples, our natural inclination is to think of one person training up another person. In fact, some follow the model of Paul and Timothy, encouraging every disciple maker (Paul) to have a disciple (Timothy). But according to Robby Gallaty (Growing Up), the one-on-one model of disciple making is not the most effective way to make disciples for the following reasons. First, one-on-one discipleship is much like a ping pong match with the disciple maker hitting the ball across the net waiting for the return hit. In this model, the leader bears the burden of keeping the conversation going. Secondly, a one-on-one model is challenging to reproduce because it requires each believer to have the confidence of the apostle Paul. And most believers never feel qualified to take full responsibility to make a disciple out of another believer. Third, groups of two tend to become a counseling session where the leader is imparting biblical wisdom to solve the personal problems of the less mature believer. As Gallaty wrote, Biblical wisdom for personal issues is certainly a part of the discipling relationship, but therapeutic advice every week must not define the group. In fact, the vast majority of those who are experienced in making disciples advocate for some sort of a discipleship 71

group rather than a one-on-one disciple making strategy. Why are discipleship groups such a powerful force in disciple making? Greg Ogden (Transforming Discipleship) offers the following reasons. First, there is a shift from unnatural pressure to the natural participation of the discipler. When a third or fourth person is added, the leader is no longer the focal point, but they are a part of a group process. The discipler in this setting is a fellow participant. Though the leader is the convener of the group, they quickly become one of the group on the journey together toward maturity in Christ. Secondly, there is a shift from hierarchy to peer relationship. A discipleship group creates more of a comealongside mutual journey. The focus is not so much upon the leader as it is upon Christ as the one toward whom all are pointing their lives. Even as a pastor, Ogden discovered that though the relationship may have started with a consciousness that he was the Bible answer-man because of his title and training, within the first few weeks the group allowed him to be another disciple with fellow disciples who were attempting together to follow Jesus. Third, there is a shift from dialogue to dynamic interchange. The simple reality is that a group of three or more is more alive and dynamic than a one-on-one conversation. Life, and energy, and the Holy Spirit seems more palpable in groups. Fourth, there is shift from limited input to wisdom in numbers. The book of Proverbs speaks of the wisdom that comes from many counselors (Proverbs15:22). It is often those who may be perceived as younger or less mature in the faith from which great wisdom comes, or a fresh spark of life, or just great questions. Disciple makers seem to all agree: an effective disciple making strategy uses groups instead of one-on-one relationships. 72

Six Different Disciple Making Strategies Many key leaders in the body of Christ who are passionate about making disciples who make disciples have been hard at work developing a strategy to make disciples in their ministry contexts. And as I began to prayerfully consider a discipleship strategy for the First Baptist Church of Benbrook, I became very much aware at how different the various approaches to making disciples really are. And these differences are not just at the surface levels, with different names or logos. They actually differ on some very key issues. Consider the following six different disciple making strategies. Life Transformation Groups Neil Cole (Cultivating a Life for God) advocates for Life Transformation Groups. These consist of two to three people who meet weekly for personal accountability in the areas of their spiritual growth and development. In their weekly meetings, they discuss Scripture, hold each other accountable, confess their sins to each other, and pray for the lost. They have no curriculum, but agree to read 25 to 30 chapters of the Bible each week. The groups have no leader. The groups multiply quickly; whenever a fourth is added, they quickly become two groups of two each looking for a third member. This can happen in as little as few months but certainly in less than a year. The church has no oversight of the groups, of who can start a group, of what they study, or when they can multiply. These groups are the poster child for organic. Triads Greg Ogden (Transforming Discipleship) advocates for discipleship triads. These triads have much in common with 73

Life Transformation Groups, but do have small differences. In his model, three people journey together for a year to a year and a half while they grow toward maturity and being equipped to disciple others. Like Cole, his groups focus on accountability, confession of sin, Scripture, and prayer. Unlike Cole, he does advocate for the use of a group covenant to clarify expectations of group membership. Ogden does suggest a modified Scripture based curriculum in his other book, Discipleship Essentials. This is a 25 session study that includes suggested Bible readings, a short study of the memory verse, an inductive Bible study, and a reading (short teaching lesson that each group member would read). The result is that the amount of scripture actually being read is quite less than in Coles method. Ogdens strategy is still organic, with little church oversight over who is empowered to start a group, when they multiply, etc. Initially, the group does have a leader (or convener of the group), but the group should quickly transform into a peer discipleship group. This method is still quite organic. D-Groups Robby Gallaty (Growing Up) uses D-Groups. These are groups of 3 to 5 people who meet weekly for the express purpose of becoming disciples who make disciples. This method has much in common with Life Transformation Groups and Triads. The focus of the weekly meetings is Scripture, Scripture memory, accountability, and prayer. The groups meet for 12 to 18 months before they are ready to multiply. Like Ogden, Gallaty has supplemented the reading of Scripture with a moderate 24 week curriculum. The weekly guides have the assigned Scripture to read (which is rather short), a reading assignment (a one page handout over a specific topic), and a memory verse. The guides also lead the group meeting times through accountability and 74

prayer. The groups do have a leader whose role is to keep the group on task. The level of church oversight seems very moderate at best, but to be honest, this was not addressed in the book Growing Up. Small Groups Jim Putman (Real Life Discipleship) uses discipleship small groups. These are groups of 5 to 15 people, possibly of mixed gender, who meet weekly for the purpose of biblical discipleship. Groups are led by intentional leaders who use church approved biblical curriculum and the discipleship process to help bring people closer to Christ. The curriculum is a Bible storying method called Orality. Leaders are equipped, trained, and supervised by the church. Only church approved leaders may start new groups. The group leaders are the disciplers who are discipling the others in their group. Multiplication is controlled and slow but intentional. Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (The Trellis and the Vine) also advocate for a discipleship small group. These groups have 6 to 10 people who meet every other week for two hours for 12 months. The group meetings have leader led Bible studies, prayer, discussion of how to minister to others in the congregation, and training. These groups are really designed for those who are in ministry roles in the church. This is why they are called co-laborers. This method is not easily reproducible. They are trying to create ministers who will live for Christ, but they are not creating a reproducible strategy for the common believer. However, this method would certainly produce ministers within the congregation. Bill Hull (The Disciple Making Pastor) defines disciple making as any good faith effort by leaders to provide an intentional environment with accountability on the basis of loving relationships. In his model, the corporate worship service and small groups provide an opportunity for 75

believers to come and see what Jesus is all about. A few will move beyond this into the come and follow discipleship context of a two year discipleship group. These groups have 3 to 14 people who meet once a week for 2 hours to develop basic skills (Bible study, prayer, relationships, outreach, etc.). His goal is to get 50% of a congregation to go through these discipleship groups. This particular book did not address who is authorized to begin such a group or whether or not those who complete a group are expected to start their own group, but the impression is that these are pastor led groups. If this is so, then the groups operate under church oversight, and the church controls who can lead a group, what the group discusses, and when the group multiplies, if ever. Conclusion In just these six different discipleship strategies, strategies that are each successful and bearing fruit in their own context, we see very divergent core values. Some are highly organic while others are highly structured. Some have no curriculum but the Bible while others use a church produced curriculum. Some ask for their members to read 30 chapters of the Bible each week while others require only a few verses. Some allow anyone to start a new group while others have an extensive leadership development process. Some allow for groups to multiply quickly and without any oversight while others multiply only with direct permission and instruction from the church. Some groups are small (3 people) while other groups are large (15 people). Some groups are gender exclusive while others are not. Some require an 18 month commitment to the group while others multiply in as little as three months. Some have a clear group leader and operate under a teacher/pupil model while others are peer discipleship groups with no clear 76

leader. Some strategies are simple while others are complex. Some are organic while others are highly structured. So, here is the ten million dollar question: which strategy is right for our church? Core Values In Any Disciple Making Strategy Whatever disciple making strategy our church adopts, it needs to be built around the following core values. Simple After doing much research about different disciple making models, I discovered that some models are very complex and others are very simple. The more complex models have multiple layers of leadership, extensive curriculum, and a high level of church control. Other models maintain a more organic strategy with discipleship groups that are easy to start and easy to multiply. I think the more organic strategy is right for our context. We need to focus on a very basic strategy: inviting believers to form discipleship groups where the powerful combination of Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the body of Christ can have transformative effects. And then, we need to trust and rely upon the Spirit of God to move through the congregation as the groups multiply to include others. Reproducible Any disciple making model must be easily reproducible for it to be generationally effective in the life of a church. Groups that require leaders to undergo extensive leadership training or wait for certain times during the year to begin are difficult to reproduce. Furthermore, groups that require the leader to be an apostle Paul type of leader are more difficult to reproduce simply because of the scarcity of the apostle Paul types in the local church. An effective 77

strategy must be easy to reproduce, and easy for the average believer to both participate in and initiate. Active Effective disciple making strategies must require more than mere attendance of those involved. It must require those involved to actively participate in the development of their own faith. Sitting in a classroom listening to someone else describe the truth God has revealed to them will not mature a disciple. They must engage with Scripture and with other believers. Passivity cannot be allowed. Peer Based Disciple making strategies differ on the role of group leaders. Some models embrace a teacher/learner model where the leader is trying to impart certain truths, behaviors, skills, or practices in the lives of his or her group members. But this model has two significant flaws. First, it limits the leaders of discipleship groups to those who have the gift of leadership and who feel qualified to instruct others in their faith. The fact of the matter is that very few within the church feel qualified to lead such a group, and if the church can only produce a few leaders, then it will only be able to involve a few people in discipleship groups. But a more significant flaw is that the participants are one more step removed from the transformative power of the Scripture and the Spirit. Groups that are dependent upon the teaching of the leader are missing out on the most powerful teacher of all: the Holy Spirit of God. Only the Spirit can convict of sin. Only the Spirit can reveal truth. Only the Spirit can produce the character of Christ within. A disciple making strategy should be removing barriers between a believer and the Spirit, not setting them up. 78

A more effective model is the peer group discipleship model. The peer group disciple making model sees each member as fellow travelers on the way to maturing in Christ. No one person is responsible to prepare a lesson, but each member is expected to participate in the discussion based upon their own readings. The leaders of the group are really conveners. They convene the group, perhaps keep the discussion on task, but the Spirit is the one who is the teacher of the group. This not only opens up the possibility of starting a new group to every believer, but it also makes the group dependent upon the Master Teacher, the Spirit. Scripture Based Disciple making strategies differ on the role of curriculum in the discipleship group. Some models follow an extensive curriculum complete with workbooks with blanks to fill and topics to cover. Some models have the groups meeting for two years to cover all of the topics. But the problem with curriculum is twofold. First, the leaders get bored with it after a few times through it. And if we want disciples to spend a life-time making disciples, then it sets up a situation where leaders lose interest in leading groups. And disinterested leaders do not good leaders make. The second problem is that curriculum based groups are one step removed from Scripture. Good disciple making strategies are encouraging believers to develop the spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading, meditation, Scripture memory, and Bible study. We want followers of Christ to be self-feeders, fully equipped with nothing more than the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Designing groups that are dependent upon a curriculum actually hinders this goal instead of helping it.

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Spiritual Disciplines An effective disciple making strategy must have the formation of the spiritual disciplines at the heart of its plan. Mature disciples regularly read Scripture. Mature disciples meditate on Scripture. Mature disciples memorize Scripture. Mature disciples pray on a regular basis. Mature disciples pray regularly for the lost. And an effective strategy leads its members, actually requires its members to develop these basic spiritual disciplines. Strategies that require little to no Scripture reading outside of group meetings, or that dont hold its members accountable for Scripture memory, or that dont lead its members to meditate upon the Word so that the Spirit can speak truth into their souls are not really making disciples. They are making group members who are being fed at the group meetings. Effective disciple making strategies develop self-feeders and self-bathers, those who can feed themselves spiritually armed with nothing more than the Bible and the Spirit and who regularly confess and repent of their own sin. The groups times are an overflow of what is going on in their personal walk with Christ. The group times are not a substitute for their personal walk with Christ. Holy Spirit Dependent As I have already said, an effective discipleship strategy is dependent upon the work of the Spirit within each individual and within the group. Some models have the church leadership exercising large amounts of control over the groups, over who leads them, and what they study. But we want to be dependent upon the Spirit to guide the group meeting times and to guide disciples to form new groups to make more disciples.

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Reproducing Not only are groups reproducible but they are also reproducing. And there is a significant difference. A model can be reproducible in theory but not in practice. Sunday School departments are supposed to form new classes on a regular basis, but they rarely do. Discipleship groups must be different. They must have as part of their DNA from their beginning that this discipleship group exists to form more groups, to include more people. This is why the group covenant contains a clause about multiplication so that members come in with the understanding that starting their own group one day is the intended goal. Relational Disciples are rarely made in isolation. And disciple making can never be done in isolation. After all, how can one person make a disciple out of another person without there being some interaction? Effective disciple making strategies recognize this obvious truth but also see its divine power. Not only does the Spirit of God indwell the individual believer, but the Spirit also indwells the gathered church (see Ephesians 2.22). The Lord has promised to be present when two or more are gathered in His name (see Matthew 18.20). But small groups lose their effectiveness when they cease to be small. People can hide even in groups of eight to twelve. For this reason, a good disciple making strategy is formed around groups that are small enough where no one can hide but large enough to have a vibrant community dynamic. Accountability We all need help to grow. Accountability is a powerful force in the maturing disciple. This keeps discipleship groups from allowing members to passively attend. We 81

need a strategy that holds each other accountable for reading the agreed upon Scriptures before the meeting, that holds each other accountable for obeying the commands of Jesus, and that holds each other accountable to be praying for each other and the lost.

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6. D-GROUPS: A DISCIPLE MAKING STRATEGY FOR THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF BENBROOK
So, the final question is, What is the right strategy for our church at this time? All of the disciple making models mentioned above have been used by God to bear fruit all over the world, and they each have much fruit to demonstrate their effectiveness. But each local church must wrestle with the issue anew. Many strategies may be good, but only one is right for our church at this moment. And this is why I am leading our church to embrace DGroups as our disciple making strategy. What is a D-Group? D-Groups (Discipleship Groups) are groups of 3 to 5 people who meet weekly for the express purpose of becoming disciples who make disciples. They are gender exclusive with men meeting with men and women meeting with women. D-Groups are built around three core values. Core Value #1: Scripture Members of the group will agree to read a certain portion of the Bible before they meet together for their next meeting. The group has the freedom to choose which part of the Bible to read and how much to read. In order to encourage the formation of other spiritual disciplines, I 83

suggest that the group agree to read one to two chapters of the Bible each day. There are certainly other variations to this model. The group may agree to read one chapter of the Bible over and over again during the week. For instance, the group may agree to read John 15 or Psalm 119 once a day for a week. At other times, the group may agree to read the entire book of Mark in one week. Longer books like Isaiah might be divided into 7 chapter segments. But the key is to regularly read significant amounts of Scripture. The Bible has 1189 chapters, so it will take 3 years and 4 months to read it all at a pace of one chapter a day. In other words, there is enough Scripture to keep the group busy for a long time. The important thing is not what you read but that you are reading. Constantly. But D-Groups are about more than just the regular reading of Scripture. D-Groups encourage believers to develop the spiritual disciples of mediation and Scripture memory, too. To this end, members of the D-Groups are encouraged to journal as they read Scripture. To meditate simply means to think deeply about something. Sadly, we forget much of what we read unless we do something to capture it. Journaling is a simple tool to capture what we read and to think deeply about it so that it doesnt just float away. One very simple method of journaling that has radically changed my life is the H.E.A.R. method. You dont need a fancy notebook, nor buy any expensive supplies. All you need is some paper, or a word processor, and you are ready to go. Heres how it works. For each days reading, you are looking for the Scripture that jumps off the page, where the Spirit prods your heart. Write this Scripture verse down. This is the H, which stands for Highlight. You are highlighting on your page what the Spirit is highlighting in your heart. 84

Next, take a few moments to think deeply about that Scripture, and then write down your observations. These may include questions. This is the E, which stands for Explain. Using your own words, explain what this Scripture means. Next, ask yourself how this Scripture applies to your life. What is the Lord saying to you through this text? This is the A, which stands for Application. What might this scripture be calling you to do? Finally, what are you going to do as a result of what God is saying to you through this Scripture? This is the R, which stands for Response. This often takes the form or a prayer or an action step. Highlight, Explain, Apply, Respond. These simple steps will help you to retain and to meditate on the Scripture that you read. A sample HEAR journal entry is included on page 94. Another spiritual disciple is scripture memory. This is one of the most neglected of all spiritual disciplines, and one that is so powerful for transformation. If you want to develop the mind of Christ and to have a biblical worldview where the truths of the Bible just ooze out the pores of your mind, then you must be hiding Gods words in your heart. There are a wide variety of Scripture memory plans to choose from, but our church uses a system called Fighter Verses. This is a five year Scripture memory system that provides a weekly memory verse and leads us to memorize a wide variety of Scripture covering a multitude of subjects. The Fighter Verses focus on the character and worth of a great God, the battle against our own fleshly desires, and the hope of the gospel. The memory verse for each week can be found at their website (www.fighterverses.com) or in the church bulletin.

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Core Value#2: Accountability One of the most powerful aspects of a D-Group is the accountability it provides. By meeting weekly to discuss the agreed upon Scriptures, we are held accountable to both read and mediate over the Scriptures. By requiring each member to quote the memory verse, we are held accountable to be memorizing Scripture. The sad reality is that we put effort into that which we know we will be held accountable for, whether it is in our careers or in our spiritual development. Knowing that we will have to show our journal pages and quote the memory verse will encourage us to do both. Moreover, the group holds each other accountable for living the Christian life, for obeying the commands of Jesus. To this end, the group discusses a set of accountability questions. Knowing that you will give an accounting of your life to your discipleship group each week is a powerful means of staying the course. The Bible commands us to stir up one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10.24), and this is one very effective way to do just that. Sample accountability questions are listed on pages 9699. Core Value #3: Prayer The spiritual discipline of prayer is essential, and the DGroup not only prays together but also prays strategically for the lost. First, the group ends each meeting by praying over one another. One simple way of doing this is to have one member sit in a chair while the other members gather around, laying hands on him or her. One of the other group members vocalizes the prayer for the group. Each group member takes a turn sitting in the chair and in vocalizing the group prayer. This not only allows each one to experience the grace of being prayed for but also to develop the ability 86

to pray out loud, something that is challenging for young believers. But more than that, the D-Groups encourage disciples to pray for the lost. Each member of the group is encouraged to share the names of one or two people whom they are praying for to be saved. Each member records these names in their prayer journal. Each member of the group prays daily for not only their own names, but also for one other unsaved person who is on the groups prayer list. Each day, the group member would choose another person from the groups prayer list to pray for in addition to praying for the one or two on his or her personal list. This way, between 6 to 10 unsaved people are being prayed for each week, depending on the size of the group. Sample prayers for the lost are included on page 95. Group Covenant Each group member will agree to the D-Group Covenant. This is not intended to be a legalistic contract but a way to be on the same page regarding our expectations for the group. Groups simply function better when each member knows what is expected of them before they commit to join. The Group Covenant is as follows: In order to get the most out of my discipleship relationship, I commit myself to the following standards: 1. I will pledge myself fully to the Lord with the anticipation that I am entering a time of accelerated spiritual transformation. 2. I will complete all assignments on a weekly basis prior to my D-Group in order to contribute fully to the discussion. This includes the Scripture readings, journal entries, and Scripture memorization. 87

3. I will make every eort to meet with my D-Group for approximately one and one-half hours each week to discuss the Scripture readings from the previous week and how it applied to my life. 4. I will contribute to an atmosphere of condentiality, honesty, and personal vulnerability for the edication of others in the group as well as my own spiritual growth. 5. I will pray for the other disciples who are on the discipleship journey with me every week as well as praying for the lost who are on our groups list. 6. I will begin praying about replicating the process with a group of at least two other people when this group is ready to multiply. When Do D-Groups Meet? D-Groups are free to meet whenever and wherever it works best for the members of the group. In fact, this is one of the most powerful aspects of D-Groups. It is much easier to coordinate the schedules of two to four other people than to get a large group together. And a group of 3 to 5 people can meet almost anywhere, from a coffee shop to a city park. The key is to find a time that works for every member and to find a location that allows for confidentiality. How Are D-Groups Started? A D-Group can be started by any believer with a passion to do so. There are no leadership classes to complete. Church permission is not required. All that is required is for a believer to have a desire to deepen their spiritual walk by joining a discipleship community. Then, how does one go about starting a group? 88

The first step is to pray, asking the Lord if He is directing you to start a D-Group. If the answer is Yes, the next step is to ask the Lord to place on your heart the name of one other person with whom to share the vision. This will probably be someone that you already have an affinity for since it is easier to meet regularly with and to share your heart with people that you enjoy spending time with. Robby Gallaty (Growing Up) says that when looking for potential group members, we should look for F.A.T. believers. Potential group members should be willing to be faithful to process. They should be available to meet once a week. And they should have a teachable spirit. If they will not commit to the process, and if their schedule will not allow them to attend the group meetings, and they are not hungry to grow in their faith, then they probably are not ready to participate in a discipleship group at this time. After explaining the concept of a D-Group with this person, ask them to pray about forming a D-Group with you. Then the two of you can pray about two or three other people to invite. When all of the group members have been invited, have an initial meeting to get organized. You may want to provide for each member a copy of this book, which can be obtained through the church office, but it is also available on the church website. Share copies of the Group Covenant to make sure each member understands what is expected. Copies of the Group Covenant are also available on the churchs website. Choose a time and place for the weekly meetings. Decide on the Scripture reading for the first meeting. Finish by praying as a group for this new venture. Ask for the Lords blessing and bountiful presence to be upon your group. When your D-Group is up and running, please let the pastor know who is meeting in your group. 89

What Do D-Groups Do When They Meet? A D-Group meeting is composed of three parts. First, the group discusses the Scripture readings from the past week, sharing what the Lord taught them through the Scriptures and how it has changed their lives. They also take turns quoting the memory verse, including the reference, to the group. Second, the group discusses the accountability questions, paying attention to any sins that need to be confessed or any special prayer needs. Finally, the group prays together, both praying for each other and praying for the lost. How Long Does a D-Group Last? The better question is, When is a D-Group ready to multiply? Remember, part of the DNA of a D-Group is for disciples to become disciples who make disciples. Each group member comes into the group knowing that when this particular D-Group finishes, they are to prayerfully consider starting a D-Group with two to four other believers. So, how long does it take for that to happen? There is no set answer to that question. Some D-Groups will be ready to multiply in as little as three months, but others might take a full year. D-Groups have a natural life cycle, and the rhythm of the group will move from infancy to young adult to mature adult and then into decline. When a group begins to lose its energy, it is not a sign that the DGroup has failed but rather a sign that the D-Group is ready to multiply. When the time to multiply comes, you will notice a tug of the Spirit. The Lord will put the names of other believers on your heart who might benefit from such a group. You might come across a spiritual infant who could really benefit 90

from such a group. You might notice new members of the church who really need a way to connect to the body and to Christ. In other words, multiplication is under the direction of the Spirit, but a D-Group should most likely multiply within a year. Each D-Group should multiply into at least two new groups, but could possible multiply into more than that. If the group has five members, it is possible that five new groups might develop out of that one group. However desirable this might be, it probably is not the norm. A more reproducible model is that the D-Group would multiply into two groups, opening up two to three more spaces for new disciples. This way, each member of the group is starting a new group with a partner, and the culture of the group is more easily passed on to the next group.

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7. RESOURCES
Group Covenant In order to get the most out of my discipleship relationship, I commit myself to the following standards: 1. I will pledge myself fully to the Lord with the anticipation that I am entering a time of accelerated spiritual transformation. 2. I will complete all assignments on a weekly basis prior to my D-Group in order to contribute fully to the discussion. This includes the Scripture readings, the journal entries, and Scripture memorization. 3. I will make every eort to meet with my D-Group for approximately one and one-half hours each week to discuss the Scripture readings from the previous week and how it applied to my life. 4. I will contribute to an atmosphere of condentiality, honesty, and personal vulnerability for the edication of others in the group as well as my own spiritual growth. 5. I will pray for the other disciples who are on the discipleship journey with me every week as well as praying for the lost who are on our groups list. 6. I will begin praying about replicating the process with a group of at least two other people when this group is ready to multiply. 93

Sample H.E.A.R. Journal Entry The following is a sample H.E.A.R. Journal taken from Robby Gallatys book, Growing Up. Date: October 2, 2013 Read: Philippians 4.10-13 H (Highlight) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4.13) E (Explain) Paul was telling the church at Philippi that he had discovered the secret of contentment. No matter what the situation in Pauls life, he realized Christ was all he needed, and Christ was the One who strengthened him or persevere through difficult times. A (Apply) In my life, I will experience many ups and downs. My contentment is not found in circumstances. Rather, it is based upon my relationship with Christ. Only Jesus gives me the strength I need to be content in every circumstance in life. R (Respond) Lord, please help me as I strive to be content in You. Through Your strength, I can make it through any situation I will face today.

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Praying for the Lost The following prayers for the lost were provided by Neil Cole (Ordinary Hero). Where N is used, it stands for the name of the lost person for whom you are praying. 1. I pray, Lord, that you draw N to yourself (John 6.44) 2. I pray that N will seek to know you (Acts 17.27) 3. I pray that N will hear and believe the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2.13) 4. I ask you to prevent Satan from blinding N to the truth (2 Corinthians 4.4 and 2 Timothy 2.25-26) 5. Holy Spirit, I ask you to convict N of his/her sin and his/her need for Christs redemption (John 16.7-11) 6. I ask you to send someone who will share the gospel with N (Matthew 9.37-38) 7. I also ask that you give me (and/or my fellow disciple) the opportunity, the courage, and the right words to share the truth with N (Ephesians 6.19-20 and Colossians 4.3-6) 8. Lord, I pray that N will turn from his/her sin (Acts 17.3031, and 1 Thessalonians 1.9-10) 9. Lord, I pray that N would put all of his/her trust in Christ (John 1.12 and John 5.24) 10. Lord, I pray that N will confess Christ as Lord of his/her life, that his/her faith would take root and grow, and that he/she would bear much fruit for your glory (Luke 8.15, Romans 10.9-10, and Colossians 2.6-7)

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Accountability Questions The following accountability questions are suggested by Neil Cole (Ordinary Hero) for the group to use to challenge one another to stay faithful to the process of transformation. 1. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions? 2. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not your spouse this week? 3. Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you? 4. Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships this past week? 5. Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face-to-face? 6. Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? Explain. 7. Have you continued to remain angry toward another? 8. Have you secretly wished for anothers misfortune so that you might excel? 9. Did you finish your reading this week and hear from the Lord? What are you going to do about it? 10. Have you been completely honest with me? Other Possible Accountability Questions Other disciple making strategies through the years have used similar questions to the same end. 1. Have you spent time in the Scriptures daily, reading and journaling the assigned passages? Have you been journaling daily? Or did you start journaling today 96

2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

8. 9. 10. 11.

12.

13. 14. 15.

knowing that you would have to share your journal entries? Have you been memorizing and reviewing the assigned verses daily? Have you specically prayed for the needs of each member of the group? What about your thought life? Have you been focused on pure thoughts, godly thoughts (Philippians 4:8, 9)? Or have there been impure thoughts that have consumed your mind? Did you battle against lustful thoughts? Viewing ungodly internet sites? Viewing or listening to media that hinders your relationship with God? Have you spent time building relationships this week? Family? Friends? Others? Have you conducted yourself in a manner worthy of the Gospel? School? Work? Finances? Have you shared Christ with someone recently? Are there unbelievers that you frequently interact with that you should share the Gospel with? Have you taken care of your body through daily physical exercise and proper eating and sleeping habits? Have you been truthful with the group in your answers? Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions? Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not your spouse this week? Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you? Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships this past week? Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face-to-face? Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? 97

16. Have you continued to remain angry toward another? 17. Have you secretly wished for anothers misfortune so that you might excel? 18. Did you finish your reading this week and hear from the Lord? What are you going to do about it? 19. Are you consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that you are better than you are? In other words, are you a hypocrite? 20. Are you honest in all your acts and words, or do you exaggerate? 21. Do you confidentially pass onto another what was told to you in confidence? 22. Are you a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits? 23. Are you self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying? 24. Did the Bible live in you today? 25. Do you give it time to speak to you every day? 26. Are you enjoying prayer? 27. When did you last speak to someone about your faith? 28. Do you pray about the money you spend? 29. Do you disobey God in anything? 30. Do you insist upon doing something about which your conscience is uneasy? 31. Are you defeated in any part of your life? 32. Are you jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful? 33. Do you thank God that you are not as other people, especially as the Pharisee who despised the publican? 34. Is there anyone whom you fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what are you going to do about it? 35. Do you grumble and complain constantly? 36. Is Christ real to you? 37. Have you experienced God in your life this week? 38. What is God teaching you? 39. How are you responding to his prompting? 98

40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53.

What sin do you need to confess? How did you do with your reading this week? What is God telling you? What are you doing about it? How have you experienced God since the last time we met? Who did you share this weeks Scripture reading with? What are you thankful for this week? What problems do you have this week? Is there any way this group can help you? What did your readings say about God? About your relationship to Him? Is there a command to obey from your readings? Did the Scripture challenge you in a certain way this week? How do you need to change how you relate to God? How do you need to change how you relate to others? What are you going to struggle with in order to obey what God is telling you this week?

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Books for Disciples Who Make Disciples Cole, Neil. Cultivating a Life for God: Multiplying Disciples Through Life Transformation Groups (Church Smart Resources, 1999) Cole, Neil. Ordinary Hero: Becoming a Disciple Who Makes a Difference (Baker Books, 2008) Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline: the Path to Spiritual Growth (Harper Collins, 1998) Gallaty, Robby. Growing Up: How To Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples (CrossBooks, 2013) Geiger, Eric and Michael Kelley and Phillip Nation. Transformational Discipleship (B&H Publishing, 2013) Henrichsen, Walter. Disciples are Made, Not Born (Victor, 1988) Hull, Bill. The Disciple Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith (Baker Books, 2007) Hull, Bill. Choose the Life: Exploring a Faith That Embraces Discipleship (Baker Books, 2004) Hull, Bill. The Complete Book of Discipleship (NavPress, 2006) Marshall, Colin and Tony Payne. The Trellis and the Vine (Matthias Media, 2009) Ogden, Greg. Transforming Discipleship (Intervarsity Press, 2003)

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Putman, Jim and Bobby Harrington. Discipleshift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples (Zondervan, 2013) Putman, Jim. Real Life Discipleship (NavPress, 2010) Rainer, Thom and Eric Geiger. Simple Church: Returning to Gods Process for Making Disciples (B&H Publishing, 2006) Whitney, Donald. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress, 1993)

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Five Year Goal for the First Baptist Church of Benbrook Bill Hull (The Disciple Making Pastor) has a personal goal of moving 50% of his congregation from the come and see phase into the come and follow phase, the discipleship context that he uses in his church. For Hull, this is a five year goal. Following his lead, my personal goal is to see 50% of our adult and student worship attenders to be involved in D-Groups in the next five years. Currently, we have about 270 adults and students in our morning worship services. If 50% of them were to be involved in D-Groups, that would mean 135 believers over the course of five years. In 2014, I hope to lead our church to have at least 4 DGroups, which would include between 12 and 20 people. If each of those 4 groups were to multiply within a year, then we would have 8 D-Groups meeting in 2015, involving between 24 and 40 people. If those 8 groups were able to multiply into two groups each, then we could have 16 groups meeting in 2016, involving between 48 and 80 people. If those 16 groups were able to multiply within a year, then we could have 32 groups meeting in 2017, involving between 96 and 160 people. Of course, multiplication of discipleship groups never happens on course. Many will agree to join a D-Group, only to fall away within a few weeks. Some groups never multiply, for various reasons. And occasionally, some groups will multiply into five new groups. But what the above examples illustrate is that involving 50% of our worship population into D-Groups within five years is a very accomplishable goal. In fact, it could happen by the beginning of the fourth year.

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About the Author Dr. Todd Pylant has been the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Benbrook since 2004. He holds degrees from Baylor University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Bethel Seminary. He has served churches in Texas and Georgia. He is the author of Word of God Speak: Understanding the Bible, Hearing Gods Voice (2011) and If: The Conditionality of the Gospel and the Danger of Apostasy (2012). He lives in Benbrook, Texas with his wife, Kelli, and their three children: Bailey, Cade, and Ainsley. His books, sermons, and other articles can be found at www.toddpylant.com.

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