The church, of any form, is made up of disciples, followers of Jesus. When disciple making is not taking place, then the church consists of converts rather than followers.
Too often we provide substitutes for disciple making:
- Church attendance
- Conferences and seminars
- Listening to our favorite teachers
All of these are good things, and some of the processes for making disciples may even take place in some measure. But too often we provide mediators for the word of God rather than invite people to discover and engage in the word of God for himself.
Disciples are formed as they engage with Jesus Christ personally. We make disciples by modeling this and by inviting people to:
- listen to God through His word and Spirit – discovering what God is saying
- act on His word by faith
- experience His person and power as a result of those faith-actions, and thus encounter the living reality of God
A personal relationship with God develops through this process and believers become followers.
A key example of this type of disciple making is found in the Discovery Bible Study (DBS) approach. Such disciple making is simple, it keeps the word of God at the center, and it allows the Holy Spirit to speak to the person without mediation from others.
Restoring the simplicity and powerful reality of disciple making is key to seeing the church-universal come in to her designed glory in a greater measure.
David Watson has a 30 minute talk here on the importance of disciple making that keeps the word of God central, removes filters, and makes room for the discovery process.
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Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church
