Rediscovering Disciples, Leaders & Churches that Multiply
Jon Luesink /
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
The Disciple Making Crisis
Evangelicalism in Canada is in steep decline, shrinking below 3% of the population. When we reach 2% we'll begin to qualify for what mission agencies describe as an “unreached people group”. Even more sobering is to realize that the last time North Americans were adding new believers faster than we were sending them to heaven was 1927.
Not only have our prevailing models of ministry been failing for nearly a century, they have also proved to be especially fragile during the COVID crisis. New and proposed laws are gradually weaving, whispering threats of overt persecution.
What would we need to change to not just survive, but thrive?
How can we turn the corner from decline to multiplicative expansion?
Rediscovering Disciples, Leaders & Churches that Multiply
Disciple Making Movements (DMM) and Church Planting Movements (CPM) have been answering these questions for the last thirty years. Earnest missionaries like David Watson and Curtis Sergeant were inspired by George Patterson, Roland Allen, the Moravians, and Patrick of Ireland who all looked past the 4th century Constantinian models of doing church to the patterns and principles found in the book of Acts. From all around the globe, these principles are beginning to bear fruit on the last and most difficult frontier: affluent, Christianised North America.
The focus is to make every follower of Christ a reproducing disciple rather than a mere convert.
Simple, transferable patterns create frequent and regular accountability for disciples to hear accurately from the Lord, obey Him, and pass it on to others. This requires a participative, small group approach. Each disciple is equipped in comprehensive ways in order that they might function not merely as consumers, but as active agents of Kingdom advance. Each disciple is given a vision for reaching their relational network and for extending the Kingdom to the ends of the earth until there is “no place left”. Reproducing churches are intentionally formed as part of the disciple multiplying process. The intent in CPM/DMM approaches is that disciples, churches, leaders and movements can multiply endlessly by the power of the Spirit.
What paradigm shifts might need to happen?
What might need to be different to “relax into what God can do through ordinary people?
Barriers to Building Immunity, keeping us from going Viral1
The legacy of our history and culture may have unintentionally woven in obstacles to gospel fruitfulness and even fragilities that make us vulnerable to persecution.
Have you already been trying to embrace these realignments?
7 Realignments from Church-As-We-Know-It to Disciple Making Movements
1. Organizational Focus: What does it look like when Christians gather together?
CHURCH-AS-WE-KNOW-IT
Location: the collective of all that happens in the building where people are spectators at events or participants in a program; they're “at church”.
DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT
People: all those who claim faith in Jesus, wherever they happen to be and go as Christ’s ambassadors - who operate collectively & individually on mission for God.
2. Orientation to the Lost: When thinking about engaging with non-believers, is our mindset to invite them to come to us, or for us to go to them?
CHURCH-AS-WE-KNOW-IT
Come: church is a destination (like the cinema, a grocery store, and other institutions) offering spiritual services for those we invite to cross our threshold, or hungry enough to do so alone.
DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT
Go: this orientation puts believers out among the harvest of lost people, as “missionaries” to their culture and network of relationships.
3. Believer’s Self-Perception: The way a church functions plays a part in shaping a believer’s identity; behaviour will likely align to support that identity.
CHURCH-AS-WE-KNOW-IT
Adherent: Though Protestantism upholds “the priesthood of all believers”, vestiges of the clergy/laity divide remain. Systems, programs and the “audience” experience reinforces a “church-going-Christian” adherent mentality that makes it difficult to see themselves as one who is responsible for equipping someone else to be a disciple maker.
DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT
Disciple-Maker: the primary identity of those professing Christ is that of a viable, Spirit-led, disciple-making disciple who serves as a mediator-priest-ambassador directly to a lost world. Though patterns and methods help, it’s not a program or controlled recipe, it’s learning to follow God into each unique conversation, to become “fishers of people.”
4. Ministry Goal: Accomplishing these very different ‘end’ goals requires very different activities, competencies, processes, and measurements.
CHURCH-AS-WE-KNOW-IT
Salvations: conversions and baptisms are the most celebrated metrics of ministry; a personal profession of faith to ensure eternal security.
DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT
Disciple-Makers: salvation is a crucial milestone in the development of a person who is on the way to becoming a faithful, mature, capable, disciple-making follower of Christ.
5. Maturity Gauge: What is the measured outcome that defines maturity?
CHURCH-AS-WE-KNOW-IT
Knowledge: often the default action is to measure knowledge gained (or at least, the accuracy of knowledge shared). The subtle danger is perpetuating a belief that knowledge of Scripture and doctrine is the measure of maturity.
DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT
Christlikeness: Ever increasing Biblical knowledge is encouraged so that we can learn to recognize, hear, and understand the voice of our Shepherd, by actively listening, trusting, and applying what he tells us. Those who are the most mature look most like Jesus.
6. Invitation: What you win them with is what you win them to.
CHURCH-AS-WE-KNOW-IT
Low Bar Appeal: This approach positions the church as a provider of services in a large-group, anonymous gathering, to the prospective new attender (customer). The point of entry is as broad as possible with little —and ideally no— required commitment. Later attempts to raise the bar on commitment create a subtle but awkward tension between appealing to them as customers and challenging them to submit to God’s calling for their lives.
DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT
High Bar Call: Jesus’ high bar of entry allowed him to filter out those who were not truly committed to his mission to be disciples and disciple-makers. It gave him confidence that those who hung around would finish the task and be equipped and trained to lead the church. He was very committed to serve these with great patience. Those who come to Jesus like this, know the mission is to go to call others.
7. Participation: Our actions will usually align with our beliefs.
CHURCH-AS-WE-KNOW-IT
Passive Attendance: The main way people participate in church is by attending gatherings, with the majority watching. Few do the work of studying, thinking, praying, searching and revealing Biblical insight. There is little opportunity for the audience to engage in the process. The subtle danger of setting up a passive experience is that it creates an expectation that attenders do not or cannot hear from God reliably.
DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT
Active Obedience: Trust-centred obedience is the most basic application of following Jesus in faith and is a key factor in producing discipleship multiplication. Every other faith practice is built upon trust-centred obedience. Disciple-making means living like Jesus, responding to the promptings and leadings of the Holy Spirit as He did. Disciples must actively learn to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice and trust the Spirit’s promptings in prompt obedience.
1 Summarized from “In the Way: Church as We Know It Can be a Discipleship Movement (Again)” Damian Gerke
Jon Luesink has been married to Jill for over 30 years and they have 4 children. After pastoring in Chilliwack for 12 years, the Lord called them to lead a church planting team in Czechia as missionaries for 8 years and then to serve with Avant Ministries Canada, raising up the next generation of missionaries. Now, as a DMM Catalyzer at Outreach Canada, Jon is focused on helping to reverse the disciple making crisis in Canada and beyond, through the catalyzation of disciple making movements.
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