“How Do You Make Disciples?”

I love asking pastors that question.

Not long ago, I sat around a conference table with several pastors, professors, and denominational leaders. We were all there to talk about discipleship. When the question was asked about how disciples are made, the thoughts were pretty vague and varied. Most said that getting people into small groups made disciples. In these groups, men and women were “being discipled.” But when pressed to give specifics of how they knew discipling was taking place or what the end product looked like, the room got pretty quiet. In most cases, church leaders are running long-standing programs with little thought to whether these programs are actually contributing to the formation of passionate, reproducing disciples. If more people are in these programs year over year, it is a success. If attendance is waning, it is time for an overhaul or a new program. The question of whether or not the program is actually producing disciples is seldom asked.