Discipleship is critical. Discipleship is the means by which it all happens. Unless we get discipleship right, whatever we intend to achieve through the rest of what we achieve in missional movement is never going to happen. If we fail in discipleship, it fails”Alan Hirsch.
Defined correctly, I would even go further: Discipleship is the core functionality of what church is designed to be. Fail in discipleship and, ultimately, the church itself fails. To transform our world, the church must grasp the natural development of discipleship chains.
But, to back up this statement, we must work at a clear understanding of disciplemaking. It is a relationship rather than a program. Yet it is intentional rather than happenstance.
Discipling another means to assist them to become more like Jesus by showing them how to listen, love, and surrender to His purposes for their life. It is centered on helping that person know and follow Jesus through His Word and by His Spirit. Finally, it is helping that person to assist (disciple) others in the same way thus becoming a disciplemaker.
For me, simple/house church is a natural progression that comes out of disciplemaking because disciples gather, worship, pray, and learn from the word and Spirit in simple, participatory ways.
We focus too much on how to get ‘the gathering’ to work right, and not enough on what it means to see discipleship and discipleship chains formed in the context we are serving in.
How are you experiencing this where you hang?