From the free e-book Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship.

Converts vs. Disciples

Some churches focus on evangelism at the expense of discipleship by seeking to win converts instead of making disciples. The goal of evangelism is disciple making. The Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 is to make disciples who will follow Christ rather than simply win converts. When Jesus said, “make disciples” the disciples understood it to mean more than simply getting someone to believe in Jesus and they interpreted it to mean that they should make out of others what Jesus made out of them. Robert Coleman explains the Great Commission in the following way:

“The Great Commission is not merely to go the to the ends of the earth preaching the gospel (Mark 16:15), nor to baptize a lot of converts into the name of the triune God, nor to teach them the precepts of Christ, but to ‘make disciples’—to build people like themselves who were so constrained by the commission of Christ that they not only follow, but also led others to follow his way.”

Superficial Discipleship

The Great Commission compels Christians to focus on keeping people through discipleship as much as they focus on reaching people through evangelism. With the rise of the modern evangelical movement in North America in the 20th century came an over-emphasis on evangelism at the expense of discipleship. At the First International Consultation on Discipleship, John R.W. Stott called attention to the “strange and disturbing paradox” of the contemporary Christian situation. He warned, “We have experienced enormous statistical growth without corresponding growth in discipleship. God is not pleased with superficial discipleship.”

Bill Hull also addresses this issue by saying, “The church has tried to get world evangelization without disciple-making.” The church must once again make discipleship a priority for a new generation of believers. The consequences are evident. Statistics show that the average church in North America loses 74 percent of people between the ages 18‐24. According to one of the most recent statistical surveys of the top 25 churches, many of the denominations in North America are in decline rather than growing.

Not only are churches in North America not growing through evangelism, they are not keeping believers through discipleship. One example is The Southern Baptist Convention. In 2004, they reported more than sixteen million members. Only 6,024,289 or 37 percent of their membership are present for the average Sunday morning worship service. Where are the other ten million people? Lack of discipleship and not just evangelism is one of the growing contributing factors for church decline in North America.

The church needs to bring evangelism and discipleship together. Christians have viewed discipleship as something they do on one hand and evangelism on the other, which is a false dichotomy. The church needs to rediscover the integration of evangelism and discipleship in order to fulfill the Great Commission and make 21st century disciples of Christ.

Read Winfield Bevins’ free e-book Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship.

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From the free e-book Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship.

Grow Disciples Naturally

Many churches have a linear discipleship program where they try to funnel everyone through the same process. Sadly, many times churches simply use the latest program or book in hopes that what works for a large church across the country in a different context will work for them. I have learned that discipleship is usually the opposite. What works in California or New York might not work in Tennessee. You need to find out what works in your culture and context. Being organic means that you begin with the gospel and let the people grow naturally, right where they are. This is growing disciples naturally.

Why Organic?

You may be asking yourself the question, “Why organic?” The answer is in the Bible. The Old and New Testaments are based on an organic worldview. The Bible uses various organic metaphors to describe spiritual growth such as sowing and reaping (John 4:37; 2 Cor. 9:6) planting and watering (1 Cor. 3:6), growing (1 Pt. 2:2; 2 Pt. 3:18) and bearing fruit (Mt. 7:17‐20; John 15:1‐16; Gal. 5:22). The church is spoken of as a family (for example the use of terms such as brother, sister, mother, father, bride, etc.). The church is also the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12:12‐27 Paul talks about the whole body as a distinct metaphor for Christ’s church. In Paul’s body metaphor, every part has an important role to play in the whole.

The Body of Christ

Nowhere in the New Testament do we find the word church referring to a building. In its earliest expression, the church meant a group of individuals who had come together in the name of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for church is ecclesia, which literally means “the called out ones.” Interestingly enough, the English dictionary describes church as, “A place of public worship.” Over the ages, the concept of church has shifted from being a body to becoming a building. People have gotten it backwards. Followers of Jesus must get back to an organic understanding of what it means to be the church.

The church is the spiritual and living Body of Christ. Like all healthy organisms, it requires numerous systems and structures that work together to fulfill its intended purpose and overall health. Just as the physical body has to have an organic structure to hold it together while allowing it to grow and develop, likewise the body of Christ must have an organic structure that can do the same. As a new church continues to grow and change, it will outgrow its old systems and structures. Leonard Sweet says, “We must develop ministries that continually adjust and change with our continually changing culture.” In a similar way, a church’s discipleship strategy must be structured enough to maintain order, but organic enough to change with the ongoing needs of the church as it grows or it will hinder its growth. Therefore, the church’s discipleship strategy must be organic.

Organic Discipleship

Organic Discipleship is an organic understanding of spiritual formation that begins and ends with the gospel. Organic means growing or developing in a manner of living organisms. An organic understanding of the discipleship will require church leaders to rethink current church systems and structures in Biblical terms. Alan Hirsch argues that an organic image of the church and mission is theologically richer than any mechanistic and institutional conceptions of church that we can devise. Organic discipleship is not a program or curriculum; rather it is about learning the natural rhythms of discipleship within your church context.

Read Winfield Bevins’ free e-book Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship.

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Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him

Jesus is comfortable leading passively from a distance at times, and lets his disciples go out before him on their own. We don't have a clear description of what they are doing when they go out before him, but you can infer that they are living the life that Jesus is teaching them about outside of the structure of Jesus physically being present with them.

When they are on the boat after the miraculous feast of 5,000, they were most certainly processing what just occurred. Jesus wasn't there to tell them explicitly, but he gave them a framework to understand the sovereignty of the Father over something as simple as the conservation of mass—yeah there were two pounds of bread, but God can make it into two tons and feed an army.

We can see Jesus' intentionality in giving his disciples time to synthesize what they are learning. The lessons are becoming more than head knowledge, and becoming part of who they are.

Jesus prays for his disciples

Jesus cares deeply about his disciples. He speaks of them as his sheep and of himself as the shepherd who will gladly die for their safety, cries when his friend dies, and spends his last minutes praying for them in his high priestly prayer.

Jesus doesn't just trust that they will be okay, but pleads with the Father that he would continue the work that has begun.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

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Jesus brought the disciples out of their comfort zone

When Jesus walks on water his disciples are horrified. They've seen Jesus break the laws of nature several times over, but this miracle pushes them outside of their level of comfort. Jesus reassures them, and they take comfort in God's sovereignty by seeing that his power has no bounds—he can do literally anything, even walk on water.

Jesus also puts the disciples in situations where danger is imminent. The Jews wanted to stone Jesus because he kept saying that he was God, and the disciples thought it prudent to hunker down and let the mob's anger pass. When Jesus hears of Lazarus' death, the disciples protest going back to Judea in hopes to save their own tails. Jesus responds by telling them that if they are doing good before God, why hide before men? They are putting their safety before the saving of Lazarus' life, and Jesus pushes them through their fear gently—not in a rebuking manner, but in a clear, focused, and resolved manner.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

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Jesus used practical object lessons

Jesus didn't pick the smartest, the coolest, or the most likely to succeed to be his disciples--he went straight to the bottom of the barrel and picked the fisherman, and he taught them in very practical ways. He brought them almost everywhere he went and taught them along the way.

Jesus would pick up a loaf of bread and use it as an example of our dependance on God. He would use his signs and miracles as a way of showing that he has power over death and the effects of sin by raising Lazarus and giving sight to the blind man. He uses his own service of washing their feet as a way to show that they must serve, and even feeds five thousand people to show that even though he is one man, his work can feed the many.

We can't use the same type of object lessons that Jesus did because we aren't the Messiah, but we can follow Jesus' example by using metaphor, speaking in plain English, and creating circumstances that allow us to teach our disciples.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

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If you are like me, you have probably had a bad small group experience at least once in your life. You know the kind, where some weirdo takes over the discussion, or where the leader allows too much time of awkward silence. There is nothing worse than a bad small group experience. In fact, this is the reason why so many people are reluctant to be a part of a small group. As group leaders, our job is to protect our small groups and make them a safe place where people can share, grow, and learn together. We train our small group leaders to watch out for the following five landmines, which can destroy a good small group.

1. They become a gossip group.

Small groups are not a place to talk about others; rather they should be a safe place that is free from gossip and condemnation. People who attend a small group should feel free to come as they are and share openly and honestly. If we are not careful, small groups can degenerate into a gossip group that will tear down instead of build up.

2. They become a one-man show.

The leader should not do all the talking. Encourage others to participate and share in the group discussions. I have been to some small groups where only one person does all the talking. When this happens no one wants to share, much less attend. An effective small group leader encourages everyone to participate in the times of discussion.

3. They become a place to complain about the church.

Small groups can become a sounding board for disgruntled people to complain about the church. This is not a place to complain and slander the church. If people have a problem with the church, they need to share it with the church’s leadership, which is biblical. Train your leaders to protect the unity of the church by not allowing upset people to use the small group as a place to complain about their problems.

4. They become a place for crazy people to take over.

Small groups can attract crazy people who will hijack the group if you let them. Do not allow people to get off the subject by chasing rabbit trails. Whenever people start getting off track in the discussions, bring them back quickly. This requires a lot of discernment and grace. A good leader can keep people on track and the discussion moving.

5. They become an end in themselves.

Sometimes small groups become merely a meeting place or a social club; rather small groups should reach out to new people in the community. Small groups can also serve the community. Encourage your people to reach out to others. Begin thinking of creative ways that you can serve together as a small group.

This post is adapted from a forthcoming ebook by Winfield Bevins.

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Jesus tested his disciples

It's simply amazing to see the wisdom that Jesus uses when talking to Philip before he multiplies the fish and loaves. Jesus and Philip know that they don't have enough money to buy food for the ocean of people sitting before them, so Jesus puts the ball in Philip's court and asks him what they should do. Philip says "We could give each person a crumb."

Philip's worldview says, "We can buy this much bread and divide it by the number of people, and the quotient will be a crumb for each person." His math is poor in God's arithmetic--Jesus is infinite in his power, and infinity divided by any number is still infinity. Jesus can provide enough bread for everyone, and still have enough left over for lunch the next day. He tested the disciples, and they learned through their failure to believe.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

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Jesus pointed to the heart

When Jesus is teaching his disciples, he points them straight to their heart to show them where the real problem lies. Sin is not some force that floats around like the Eastern Qi or the dark side of the force; sin is in the hearts of people, and people's lives are the vehicles for sin and destruction.

The disciples keep turning to what they can do versus what they are to believe—our intuition is that doing gets results and belief is a luxury that makes us feel good about what we do. Jesus points to the heart and says, there's the problem, right there. Believe in God, rely on me, trust God, and let him deal with the sin problem. You'll grow good fruit if you have a good heart and bad fruit if you have a sinful heart. It's the heart.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

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One of the most important skills every Christian, especially a ministry leader, must learn is the distinction between a concern and a responsibility. The younger the Christian or ministry leader, the more likely they are to lack the skill of discerning concerns and responsibilities. In my own pastoral ministry, failures in this area have contributed to extreme overwork and exhaustion. I was recently reminded of this important distinction when I read the simple and helpful book Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro, a fellow pastor whom I have greatly enjoyed the few times I have met with him.

As a Christian, we should lovingly and sincerely have concern for many people and their many circumstances. Our hearts should ache for the pain and trouble that others experience in life. This concern should compel us to speak truth into their life, which can include everything from pointing out sin to giving wise counsel, and intercede for them before God in prayer.

Still, as a Christian we cannot take responsibility for everyone and everything for which we have concern. As finite beings, there is only so much we can do and we must discern whom God has called us to help and how God has called us to help them. When we take responsibility for people and things we ought not, we are sinning by taking off someone’s shoulders a load God has called them to carry and sinning against our own health, family, and priorities by offering to carry it for them.

I envision that everyone has a backpack with responsibilities that God has given for him or her to carry. Some people’s backpacks are big, and others are small. Nonetheless, God has called us each to fill up our pack with specific responsibilities. Some people are lazy and try to take things out of their pack and get others to carry them instead. Examples include the able-bodied man who lives with his mom, making her responsible for his housing and food; the lazy employee who cannot keep a job and expects his or her friends and family to always give him or her money; and the irresponsible young woman who assumes the government, her family, or a wealthy boyfriend will pay the price for her foolish life choices. Tragically, for many, the whole definition of someone being loving, godly, and spiritual is that they are willing to carry the loads God has called others to carry. This is not ministry. This is co-dependency, co-idolatry, and sin.

Scripture, of course, says it perfectly. Galatians 6:2–5 admonishes us, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. . . . For each will have to bear his own load.”

At first glance, this Scripture passage seems contradictory but it is not. It says that everyone, by himself or herself alone, should carry whatever load God has placed in his or her backpack. It also says that Christians should take some burdens out of the backpacks of some people and put them in their own packs and carry them out of love. In the Greek, the difference is between the words “load” and “burden.”

A “load” is a light enough pack that someone should be expected to carry it alone. Practically, this means that the typical person needs to find a job, pay their bills, read the Bible, attend church, pursue Christian friends, pray, repent of sin, share their faith, watch their diet, exercise, and look after themselves and their spouse and children if applicable.

A “burden” is a heavy load that is simply too much for one person to bear without the loving help of Christian friends. Practically, the person with cancer or another debilitating ailment, the mother of young children who is abandoned by her husband, the poor elderly widow who cannot pay her bills, and others like them should not feel guilty for seeking reasonable help nor should they be chastised for doing so. Rather, the church exists in part to help lessen their burden by taking some of the financial, emotional, and practical weight out of their pack and carrying it for them.

One key to ministry is discerning what is a load someone else has to carry (in which case we show concern) and what is a burden we and others need to help carry (in which case we take some responsibility).

Are you someone who is expecting too much time, energy, money, and/or investment from the leaders in your church? Which loads do you need to just buck up and carry without whining until someone else does your job? Have you manipulated others’ concern for your load to get them to take on your responsibilities as their burden in the name of loving Christian community?

Are you a Christian leader who is weighed down by all the loads you are carrying for others who need to carry their own load? How have you sinned by allowing concerns to become responsibilities and others’ loads to collectively become your burden?

Pastor Dad

Every dad is a pastor. The important thing is that he cares for his flock well. Pastor Mark Driscoll's new eBook offers spiritual insights on fatherhood. Get it here.

Jesus didn't waste time with stupid questions

Question: How many angels dance on the head of a pin?

Answer: Who cares?

Though Jesus allows questions from his disciples, he doesn't follow the pattern so common today that says "there is no such thing as a stupid question." In fact, there definitely is such thing as a stupid question.

What should I know?

People want stupid questions answered because it makes them feel better, or it gives them a sense of power. We want to know the answer to every question, and we are quite uncomfortable with ambiguities. Both the Pharisees and the disciples ask questions that don't have meaningful answers, and Jesus often replies to them by answering a different question that does have a meaningful answer. The questioners probably felt like they were receiving an insincere answer—but they forgot who it was talking to them. They are not God and therefore should be saying, "I'm not worthy to know what to ask—what should I know?"

The Pharisees try to to trick Jesus by giving him difficult quandaries, like with the woman caught in adultery, or the Jews accusing him of lying about coming from heaven. Jesus sidesteps these questions and points to the accusers' sin, Jesus' righteousness, and the Father's sovereign hand.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

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