The Methodology of Mission – Making Disciples

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the methodology of mission

Our Lord Jesus tells His disciples what the specific task of mission is to be:

19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

This is the focal point of the Great Commission. The highest priority of Jesus’ mission is evangelism. Jesus tells what specific outcome evangelism is to have – making disciples. What that means and how it is to be done is clarified by Jesus.

An examination of Matthew 28:19-20 shows that this Scripture text consists of four verbs. It consists of an imperative tied to three accompanying participles. The central imperative or command is not the first verb to “go” but “make disciples.” The centerpiece of Jesus’ command is the making of disciples.

How is disciple-making to be done?

Jesus tells His disciples that making other disciples is a three-step process: first, by going to those who had no exposure to the gospel; second, by calling them into a relationship with Jesus that culminates in baptism; and third, by teaching them to observe Jesus’ commands.

All three activities – going, baptizing, and teaching – are necessary components of transformational or real-life discipleship. When done correctly, lives are genuinely changed. This is the ultimate objective of disciple-making – the transformation of lives.

However, the greatest omission of the Great Commission worldwide is the lack of changed lives. All too often, decisions and proselytes are made instead of disciples.

When this happens, churches are filled with bodies that exhibit little evidence of changed beliefs and behaviors. This results in spiritually apathetic “believers” who deteriorate into nominal Christians. And nominal Christians, although wearing the tag “Christian,” are not Christ-followers at all. They are superficial followers of Christ in need of conversion experience.

It is incumbent on every disciple of Christ to reproduce themselves and to engage in the process of making disciples that have the transformation of lives as the final goal. Only then are people genuinely disciples of Christ. Only then is the intended outcome of the Great Commission achieved among all nations.

Ike Agawin
ServeBeyond Director

REAL LIFE Discipleship

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real life discipleship II

Over the next couple of months, you will have the opportunity to read some great blog posts related to the issue of discipleship. Discipleship is ultimately what we are about — making obedient followers of Jesus. The topic certainly deserves our attention. Bill Taylor introduced the topic last week, but as we embark on this short journey of discussion — and before we get too deep into the issue of discipleship — I want to spend a couple of moments contemplating the descriptors of “REAL LIFE.” Why have we attached that to the concept of discipleship?

Of course, there are several potential responses to that question. We could say that we want to consider REAL “life discipleship.”  In other words, not theoretical, academic, or even ideal, discipleship but discipleship that is truly life discipleship, honest and real. Not fake or pretend.

While that is true, I would like to suggest that there is something else bound up in that description. The discipleship we want to focus on is a discipleship that is expressed and experienced in “real life.”  And what is “real life?”  Bill suggested last week that it is complex – and messy. But allow me to push into further detail with a question.

Is “real life discipleship” made up of two hours in church on a Sunday morning?

“Included” yes, “made up,” only partly. “Reflected in” – maybe, “exhausted” – by no means. Sunday morning is only a small part of what we are thinking about. Any discipleship that is limited to our Sunday morning (or Saturday night, or Sunday evening) experience is more than just truncated, it is immature and unbalanced. The discipleship that Jesus calls us to is a real-life discipleship, which means discipleship that embraces all of life as we are experiencing it.

Monday morning is as much a part of our discipleship as Sunday morning. Your interaction with your boss, or employee, or client, should reveal your discipleship as much as your interaction with a friend after a Sunday service around a cup of coffee. Your tone with your children in response to their disobedience or defiance is as much discipleship as taking them to youth group on Thursday night. Your engagement with your neighbor is as much discipleship as your engagement with your pastor.

Real Life is your Sunday experience with your church family. But it is also so much more. Real life includes your workplace, your school, your kid’s school, your family, your neighbors, your hockey rink, your “enemies,” your politicians, your…. You get the point. Real life discipleship impacts all of life. Complete life, and honest life. It is about being a disciple in all of your real, actual life. The good. The bad. The ugly. The bright spots. The dark corners.

This is our calling, to help make real life disciples. And it can only succeed if we as leaders are embracing and exhibiting real life discipleship. Let us take off the masks, open our discipleship daytimers to all 7 days of our week, and expose our entire real life to the call of discipleship Jesus has for us. Are you brave enough to do that? I hope so. Join us in the journey.

Terry Kaufman
EFCC Leadership Catalyst

Real Life Discipleship

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real life discipleship

In a word, what I am saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”  Matthew 5:48 (The Message) 

I love this paraphrase of Matthew 5:48. It rightly summarizes what Jesus is calling His kingdom subjects to (especially in light of the previous verses). In this season we are focusing on real life discipleship. There is no doubt that disciples of Jesus ought to look different than subjects of the kingdom of this world. Jesus is our King. As His subjects, we are ambassadors to this foreign land we live in. We ought to reflect His kingdom values and be a faithful, non-anxious presence in this high anxiety world.

Carey Nieuwhof recently shared a fabulous blog entitled, 3 Ways the Modern World Destroys Your joy, Hope, and Faith in Everything (and How to fight back). He argues that having too many choices undermines our joy. We become paralyzed by FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out. If we choose, then we may miss out on something better. So, we avoid committing to things, or choosing. And we miss out. The second thing he highlights is the commodification of loneliness. One would think that social media would alleviate loneliness. Instead, relationships are more surface and designed for validation from strangers rather than being honest, vulnerable (and yes, dangerous) friendships. The third issue robbing us of joy, hope and faith is the apocalyptic spectacle of “politics as entertainment.”  We live in a world of selective reporting that leads to a negative view of the world; a negativity bias that sees the “world going to hell in a handbasket.”  This leads to a polarization on issues based on gross oversimplification. We do not want reality – reality is boring and complicated. We want simple, apocalyptic entertainment. Nieuwhof argues that we live in an affluent society addicted to a hunger for apocalypse – every little issue is seen as “the sky is falling.”  He notes that we want from the world what we are hesitant to dole out to others – justice, love, understanding and kindness.

It seems to me that we do live in a society short on Joy, Hope and Faith. Worse, followers of Jesus can get caught up the very things that destroy human flourishing. This is where real life discipleship comes in. As subjects of Jesus’ Kingdom, we are called to grow up, to be mature. To live out our God-given identity towards others generously and graciously (as He lives towards us). This is to make a simple point.

Real life discipleship is not about more knowledge. It is about living as kingdom subjects who dole out what we want from others – justice, love, and kindness.

We need the power of Jesus and His Holy Spirit for this. Yet we have a part in this too. My part is to focus on things above, practice contentment, thankfulness (undermine FOMO!). I am called to live out my faith in community, not substituting “safe” surface validation of strangers for the honest, refining deep communication of brothers and sisters.

Lastly, I am called to put away this addiction to oversimplifying and overdramatizing the events of the world I live in. I am called to live out my faith as a disciple in the real world. And the real world is more complex than the media portrays it to be (and as I am tempted to think it is). That is why James and Jesus reminded us to be slow to judge. The world and its issues are complex, and I do not have all the data. So obedient disciples of Jesus are slow to speak, anger and judge. We are quick to listen and entrust justice to the One who has all the data. And while we are here (as His ambassadors), we should ask ourselves, “If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do…How would I be? What would I do?”  This might lead us to being real life disciples who in some small ways, create pockets of grace and flourishing in this post-fall world that reflect God’s pre-fall design.

Bill Taylor
EFCC Executive Director

Rebuilding our Witness and Reputation

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rebuilding our witness and reputation

I didn’t get much sleep last Sunday night. I was grieving for the body of Christ, as another body blow to its reputation landed in its gut. I’m writing this less than a week after the Matt Chandler (Village Church in the USA) announcement regarding his leave of absence, after having engaged in an inappropriate social media relationship with a woman. Whatever the facts of this case may be (we are not going to explore them here), it is just one in a lengthy string of celebrity pastors and Christian leaders who have fallen. Regardless of tribe, distance, or church size; this hurts the entire body of Jesus.

In this blog, we have been talking about rebuilding. Especially rebuilding after Covid. What if there’s other rebuilding which needs our attention? What about our part in rebuilding the witness and reputation of the body of Christ? You may say, “we had no part in destroying it, why should we be concerned about rebuilding it.” Or “those are other churches with other kinds of leaders.” While there may be truth in that, we are not altogether separated from these issues. I still remember the faces of shock and grief, as I read a letter from the EFCC Home Office to our congregation, a little more than two decades ago, which announced the resignation of our EFCC President at the time. I think the questions for us remain. We have a part to play. But what exactly is that part?

Charting a comprehensive solution clearly requires something outside the scope of this blog. However, some great books addressing some of the issues are out there. It would be healthy for us all to give these matters some thought. Here are three recommendations:

  • A Church Called Tov – Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer
  • Celebrities for Jesus – Katelyn Beaty
  • When Narcissism Comes to Church – Chuck DeGroat

Finally let me talk about two things that I believe matter greatly:

Character Matters

We are the church of Jesus Christ. We are disciples. The finished product of discipleship is to look like Jesus. While this will not be accomplished in this life, that is the journey we collectively help each other travel. Jesus says those who abide in him will bear fruit. That fruit should include the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When the church of Jesus Christ empowers and emboldens leaders who are far more concerned with results and growth than the pursuit of godly character and fruitfulness, we are flirting with disaster. I’m not saying this is the case in every single scandal, but the telltale signs of this have been all over most of them.

Church Culture Matters

We must be intentional about developing and maintaining church cultures built on the foundational pillars of humility, servanthood, and accountability to one another. We are all servants. Submission is the posture of a disciple. Walking with each other in that posture is how we grow.

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back unto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Gal. 6:1-3

Most of the leaders who have crashed have been the product of a church culture that seems, at least to me, opposed to the verses quoted above. In an attempt to manufacture the “bigger and better” church there is a trend that Christian writer Skye Jethani has called the “Evangelical Industrial Complex.” He identifies the product being produced in this Complex as the celebrity pastor. After all every major enterprise needs its CEO and protecting the “brand” becomes imperative. I suspect he is right. For each of these crashed leaders, a culture was in place that enabled a style of leadership to develop, unchecked at times, which ultimately led to a crash. Understand, I’m not making excuses for their bad behaviour. These leaders made terrible choices that they didn’t have to make. The above quoted passage goes on to talk about personal responsibility and the fact that we reap what we sow. However, culture still matters.

You may still be saying, we aren’t that kind of church, why does this matter to us? Well, we love to copy “success.”

Haven’t we all been tempted at times to adopt principles, methods, or a church model from somewhere else just to get results?

And let’s be candid, some of this stuff just appeals to our fleshy desires. It feels good to be called the “chief elder.” I have heard that term bantered around at a conference by church leaders. It seems innocent in and of itself – and may well be — but when does it begin to infect a culture with pride and protectionism as opposed to humility, servanthood, and accountability?

I’ve got far more questions than answers these days, especially about this topic. But let’s continue to talk as an EFCC family about the part we play in helping rebuild the witness and reputation of the body of Christ.

Neil Bassignthwaighte
ServeCanada Director & Interim Prayer Catalyst

Rebuilding Our Vision for Ministry

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rebuilding our vision for ministry

Vision is crucial for organizational and leadership success. Without a clear vision, leaders and organizations will stagnate and go nowhere. If leaders do not see where they are going, they are unlikely to get there.

Vision can serve as a True North for organizations and help leaders keep their bearings as they lead their people forward. Any organization with no clear vision of where it is going is in danger of mission drift and being sidetracked and failing to accomplish its purpose. A leader or an organization without a vision to serve is at risk of becoming self-serving.

Helen Keller was once asked, “What would be worse than being born blind”? She replied, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

A clear and compelling vision is critical for leaders and organizations. But where do ministry leaders get their vision?

I once led a national mission organization and was expected to have my vision to move the organization forward. There was tremendous pressure for me to come up with a personal vision. It was very stressful, especially when my vision did not match other leaders’ visions. Leaders are expected to generate a vision, envision a desirable future for their organization, and then develop a plan to achieve the results. The leader is responsible for interpreting the rapid global changes around them and looking into the future to determine the best approach for their organizations.

But God does not ask His leaders and followers to operate this way. When it comes to vision, no statement is more frequently quoted or misquoted by many Christian and non-Christian leaders than King Solomon’s famous observation: “Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18 KJV). A more accurate translation in Hebrew is, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint (Proverbs 29:18 NIV). People come up with a vision, while revelation is something people receive.

Great leaders can dream a vision but cannot discover God’s will. God must reveal it. Leaders who ignore God’s will project their vision and accomplish their own agendas.

Great leaders in the Bible like Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, and Peter received visions from God. Abraham did not become the father of many nations because he had a vision for it. God called him and revealed God’s vision to him. Abraham obeyed and led with God’s vision. Moses became the deliverer of Israel not because he had a leader-generated vision. God revealed to Moses His vision to deliver His people from Pharaoh. Moses obeyed and ran with God’s vision. It was not Paul’s vision to become the Apostle to the Gentiles. He persecuted the Church, but God called him on the road to Damascus. God revealed His vision to Paul. Paul obeyed and embraced God’s vision. Great leaders in the Bible did not come up with their vision. They did not create their vision. God revealed His vision to them. They obeyed, and God’s vision was their vision.

God has revealed His vision for the Church in Revelation 7:9-10:

9 After these things, I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

This is God’s vision for the Church, and He calls His leaders to obey and run with His vision to become a reality. Today, God’s vision has not changed. As we rebuild our vision for ministry in the 21st century, let us renew and rebuild our vision with God’s vision.

Ike Agawin
ServeBeyond Director