Mosaix PDX: Blog Mind the Roots (part 4) by Dave Martin

Your History: Can you remember a time in your life when you experienced accelerated growth/transformation? What factors contributed to that growth? Are those factors no longer present? Why might that be?

Definition Check: When you hear "make disciples who make disciples," what specific actions come to mind? How would you know if you're succeeding?

Mission Clarity: On a scale of 1-10, how clear are you about your personal role in the Great Commission? What makes you uncertain?

Heard at a recent disciplemaking forum: “The last thing Jesus told us will be the first question he asks us.” My mind goes to Matthew 28:19, just before liftoff: “Make disciples of all nations.” From that the question I would anticipate would be “How did you do with the mission I gave you?”

Visualizing that scene is a huge motivation to me to give my life to preparing for that question. I think of Paul’s imagining of the scene before King Jesus in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 – “ For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.”

Our context – understanding the landscape of disciplemaking

In a commissioned study by Discipleship.org and Exponential.org, multiple disciplemaking organizations collaborated to examine the state of disciplemaking practices in U.S. churches. The findings reveal five distinct profiles among churches:

Level 1: Subtracting from disciple-making efforts – 29%
Level 2: Plateaued – neither helping nor hindering – 44%
Level 3: Adding disciples through church programs with minimal conversions – 27%
Level 4: Reproducing personal disciplemakers – less than 5%
Level 5: Multiplying personal disciplemakers – 0%

Producers of the report noted three key conclusions:

Fewer than 5% of churches in the USA have a reproducing disciplemaking culture. [Imagine what the percentage is in Oregon!]. Viral disciplemaking movements (DMMs), like those reported in South Asia and Africa, are absent.
There’s a serious lack of commonly understood definitions for terms such as disciple, discipleship, and disciplemaking.
Pastors frequently overrate their effectiveness in discipleship and disciplemaking.

Where would you place your church on this five-level disciplemaking scale?

Our Challenge

In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus gives us…

A Mission: Produce successive generations of disciples who trust and follow Jesus.
A Motive: Jesus’ absolute authority and his promise to be with us always in our mission.
A Method: Baptize and teach them to obey – this is both specific and broad enough that it can be customized to our unique circumstances.

A reminder: all movements of God in history have been preceded (sometimes for years) by fervent prayer and fasting, sustained by prayer, and followed up by ongoing prayer. Without dependence on God through prayer, we can do nothing!

Taking the liberty to slightly alter a famous G.K. Chesterton quote: “Jesus-style disciplemaking (Chesterton said ‘the Christian ideal’) has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” Do you agree with this thought? Why or why not?

Five qualities

In part 2 of this series we examined five qualities we want to see in every growing disciple of Jesus: vision, passion, knowledge, skill, and character.

Let’s revisit those qualities and look at them from a different angle.

Vision

What is it?
- Unusual discernment or foresight. The ability to clearly see and be governed by God's plan to gather His people for an eternity of unimaginable joy with him.

What does it look like?

- Creatively and strategically seizes opportunities to meet needs, share good news, and invest in the spiritual growth of others.

Questions

- How would you complete this sentence: "A successful Christian is someone who _________________"? What does your answer reveal about your priorities?
- When you evaluate your spiritual growth, what do you measure? How often do you consider how many people you're helping become more like Jesus?
- If you were mentoring a new believer, what would you tell them about their responsibility to eventually disciple others?

Passion

What is it?

- A strong devotion to a cause or activity. Being galvanized by a burning desire to be part of something truly great.

What does it look like?

- Frequently talks about following Jesus and being on mission.
- Regularly takes initiative to learn, grow, connect, share, serve.
- Responsive to the Spirit’s leading.

Questions

What discipleship relationships could you pursue even if the church structure doesn't specifically support them?
How has material comfort affected your urgency about spiritual matters and reaching others?
How often do you think about the eternal destiny of people around you? What affects your sense of urgency?
In what ways does your desire for safety and predictability conflict with engaging in God's mission?

Knowledge

What is it?

- Acquaintance with or understanding of the facts of a matter.

What does it look like?

- Pursuing Bible fluency – ability to describe the grand narrative of Scripture, basic understanding of Biblical theology, Bible landscape, and Church history.
- Understanding the basics of disciplemaking.
- Apologetics: Familiarizing yourself with the worldview of people you’re likely to meet.
- Building a mental archive of truth through Bible memorization.

Questions

What specific knowledge do you need to develop to become more effective at discipling others?
Where do you see your church being strong in imparting knowledge? Where is it weak?
How could your church impart knowledge in a way that it could be translated into attitudes and behaviors?

Skill

What is it?

- The ability to use one's knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance; technical expertise; proficiency, dexterity.

What does it look like?

- Practicing different ways of telling your story and God’s story until you can share these confidently and appropriately.
- Being a good listener; learning to ask conversation-deepening questions.
- Gaining cultural fluency so that you can transcend barriers and communicate clearly about the gospel and disciplemaking.
- Ability to use digital tools for communication and sharing of resources.

Questions

What specific skills do you need to develop to become more effective at discipling others?
When you think of disciplemaking skills, what kinds of skills come to mind? Social, language, study, tech, evangelism, mentoring, cross-cultural, etc.? What skills do you feel most in need of? Which skills should your church be offering help with?

Character

What is it?

- The complex of mental and ethical traits marking a person or group; moral excellence and firmness.

What does it look like?

- Demonstrated increase/growth in fruit of the Spirit.
- A commitment to killing sin patterns and pursuing holiness through interaction with God’s Word, along with transparency and gratitude for the daily input of those on the same path.
- Positive regard and desire to understand those from different backgrounds, cultures, worldviews.

Questions

- How many people in your church know you well enough to speak into your character growth? How many people do you know at that level?
- Who in your life sees you live out your faith in ordinary moments, not just church settings?

In closing, a few concluding questions:

How does your church's current structure help or hinder personal discipleship relationships? What’s the biggest barrier?
What barrier (attitudes, capabilities) most significantly hinders your own mission engagement? Why?
What is one specific action you could take this week to begin addressing your biggest barrier?
Who will you ask (either inside or outside of your church) to help you overcome this barrier and stay accountable to growth?

The call to make disciples is not merely a directive but a transformation of life — yours and others. As we reflect on our personal and collective roles in this mission, let’s step forward in faith, locking arms, committed to nurturing a vibrant disciplemaking culture that echoes throughout our communities.

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(The views expressed in blog posts are those of the authors of the posts. They do not reflect an official position of Mosaix PDX, but are intended to promote thinking and constructive interaction. We welcome differing viewpoints.)

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