I am clear about what I believe and why I believe it by this point in my life (now that I’m in my 70s). But I find that many people today—especially many younger people—carry ambiguity with them about their convictions.
Ambiguity is the enemy of the church, and the church is already paralyzed by an ambiguous definition of a disciple. So when you bring over 20 organizations together, like Discipleship·org does every year at their National Disciple Making Forum, you risk building a new kind of Tower of Babel. People are bombarded with so many options and they don’t know what to do.
Yet many congregations are trying to make disciples with a definition such as “a follower of Jesus” or “a lover of Jesus” or “someone on mission with Jesus.” These definitions don’t help, though, because the leader who is called to make and replicate such people has no specific call to action. Holding to definitions like these is like blindfolding oneself, picking up a dart, and throwing it at a blank wall, only to go and draw a bullseye around the dart. That’s a vain effort and a waste of time.
Blessings,
Bill Hull, co-founder of The Bonhoeffer Project
Bill’s passion is to help the Church return to its disciple-making roots. He considers himself a discipleship evangelist. This God-given desire has manifested itself in 20 years of pastoring and the authorship of many books. Two of his more important books, Jesus Christ Disciple Maker and The Disciple Making Pastor,have both celebrated 20 years in print. Add a third in the popular trilogy, The Disciple Making Church, and you have a new paradigm for disciple making.
Sign up for the 2019 National Disciple Making Forum in Nashville, TN
November 7-8 by clicking here.
New Blogs
“Prepare for Easter: Onramps”
by Chris Swain
“What Do We Mean by “Disciple,” “Disciple Making,” and “Discipleship”?”
by Bobby Harrington
“Get a Discipleship Mindset Each Day with 5 Questions”
by Jim Putman
New Podcast Episodes
S6 Episode 17: Disciple-Making Culture in the Local Church — Panel Discussion (Craig Etheredge, Chris Moody, and Lance Crowell)
S6 Episode 16: Culture Is Sustained Through Emerging Leaders — Disciple-Making People (Craig Etheredge and Chris Moody)
S6 Episode 15: Culture Is Supported Through Systems — A Disciple Pathway (Craig Etheredge)