I put on my consultant hat and met with some Bethel World Outreach Center leaders last week to talk about discipleship.
When the Sunday attendance and offering numbers are up, most pastors call it a “win” and take a day off. But, not the Bethel team—because to them, doing church is not about counting people and counting money—it’s about making disciples.
If you are serious about making disciples, then having a full auditorium and a full offering plate just doesn’t cut it.
So, how do we make sure we are really making disciples, and not just filling a building, doing church, or running a religious business?
To answer that question, I wrote the word “EVERYTHING” on the Bethel whiteboard. Then I emphatically said. . .
EVERYTHING we do must be about making disciples, EVERYTHING. . .
– the sermons we preach
– the topics we choose to preach about
– the way we write our sermons (teamwork)
– the way we do altar ministry
– the way we do children’s ministry
– if/how we do membership
– how we do foundations
– the announcements we make
– how we take the offering
– how we schedule our time
– what we count
Everything listed above either underlines or undermines the discipleship process.
Jesus said he would build his church. He told us to make disciples. Too many pastors and church planters are confused about this. They are trying to do Jesus’ job and neglecting theirs. They get so busy building a church, that they have no time for discipleship.
If we make disciples, Jesus will take those disciples and build his church.
Are you doing church, or are you making disciples?
