By living and sharing the gospel, we are participating in what Jesus is doing through the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Father’s mission to the world. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus defined the fruit of his ministry as the multiplication of his disciples (followers) throughout the world. Indeed, it is our calling and privilege to make disciples with Jesus.
Sadly, churches sometimes lose sight of this calling by focusing on merely gathering people, instead of helping them become active disciples of Jesus. Tony Morgan makes this point in “Avoid the Funnel of Doom,” an article in which he urges churches to move away from an “event mentality” to focus on providing three things that help people become and then mature as followers of Jesus, who is the Truth:
- Solid biblical teaching by which people hear the truth.
- Mentors that help people catch the truth.
- Systems that facilitate spiritual disciplines and mission engagement so people practice the truth.
Note the progression–what we in GCI refer to as a discipleship pathway (see the diagram above). Effective churches help people travel this pathway–progressing from being blind to the truth (Jesus calls such people “lost”); to eyes-opened believers; to actively engaged workers (with some workers becoming leaders who multiply ministries and churches). To download this diagram as a PowerPoint presentation, click here, and note the information at http://mindev.gci.org/strategy.htm.
GCI’s Church Administration and Development (CAD) team offers Transformational Church consulting services that help congregations develop a discipleship pathway fitted to their circumstances. To learn more about these services, see http://www.gci.org/CAD_Services.
– Ted Johnston, CAD ministry developer
