I believe that everyone who makes disciples will be regarded as a hero in heaven. So I encourage people to take on this role, loving people enough to invest into their lives and to help them trust and follow Jesus. It is hard to image anything worth more at the end of our lives as we gaze into eternity standing before Jesus.
But there is an even greater eternal impact.
Eternal Impact
If we learn to make disciple makers, we have multiplied the good even further. Multiple disciple makers will have more impact than just one disciple maker. In fact, if disciple makers will be heroes, then those who make disciple makers will be hero-makers!
We wanted to encourage disciple makers, so we developed an online assessment.
Our assessment helps people envision not just making disciples, but making disciples who make disciples.
Knowing Where You Are: The Assessment
Take this assessment free here.
In the early beta-testing of the online tool, we discovered a surprising insight. Less than 25 percent of the respondents aspired to be level 5 disciple makers!
That means of people known to be committed to disciple making, only 25 percent aspired to make disciple who make disciples. Only 25 percent aspired to be disciple makers, who, in my view, are the hero makers.
You can take the Disciple Maker Assessment here at no cost.
The 25 percent included many people in ministerial and pastoral positions. We were surprised, but after conversations between the development team, the number began to make sense. The truth is that it is a big step for everyday Christians—and even those in ministry—to turn aspirations and desire into actions and become personal disciple makers.
Once a leader or a church leadership team starts to emphasize the importance of personal disciple making or getting people to embrace it as something they practice it requires a lot of teaching, love, and coaching. Most of our early respondents felt good about aspiring to become disciple makers. We agree with that.
We want expand everyone’s vision.
Let’s aspire to be like Jesus and Paul (2 Timothy 2:2). They made disciple makers. Those who make disciple makers change the lives of multiple generations for eternity. They are making people who will be heroes in eternity.
For Jesus spent the most important time in his ministry not just making disciples, but making disciple makers out of James, Peter, John, and the rest of the 12. Those who make disciple makers are imitating Jesus.
There is no higher calling.
Written by Bobby Harrington
Bobby Harrington is the Executive Director of Discipleship.org, a national platform, conference, and ministry that advocates for Jesus’ style of disciple making. He is the founding and lead pastor of Harpeth Christian Church (by the Harpeth River, just outside of Nashville, TN). He has a Doctor of Ministry degree in consulting and has spent years as a coach to church planters and senior pastors. He is the author of several books on discipleship, including DiscipleShift (with Jim Putman and Robert Coleman) and The Disciple Maker’s Handbook (with Josh Patrick).
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