One thing I’ve observed over the last three decades is that there are many resources available to make disciples.

I asked my friend Glenn (who serves in a regional role in a network of churches who are bent on making disciples, developing leaders and planting new churches) what church leaders need to move their disciplemaking efforts forward.  What I should tell you about Glenn is that he is not a pastor.  Glenn is a former businessman with a heart for helping churches become attractive communities where people, who are far from God, connect with Him.  This is important because when we discussed what the churches really need in his region, he was coming from the perspective of a highly engaged leader in his church, who is struggling through the challenge of making disciples in the Harvest and then resourcing pastors and church planters to empower their people.

Glenn and me discussed the question at length.  We agreed that the pastors did not need another book.  Just for fun I googled “disciple making books” and found 78,800,000 results.

Two observations we made:

1. Focus on Implementation: we observed that the missing piece for leaders we are serving is taking action.
2. Self-discovery is Critical: we also observed that most leaders in ministry are trained to speak and communicate knowledge.  Unique to this time is the need to listen – truly listen.  We believe there is a need to shift to an approach based on self-discovery (listening and asking questions).  This is why we have described the disciple maker as a Disciple Coach – a person that comes alongside people to help them discover the next step they sense God wants them to take on their discipleship journey.

This changed our focus from creating content to helping leaders identify areas disciple makers need support to accelerate their efforts into the second, third and fourth generation!  This is precisely why we have worked hard at understanding the habits of a Disciple Coach.  Jesus conveyed knowledge (in word and deed) in conjunction with authentic relationship – as he empowered His disciples!  We simply wanted to understand the nature of the support He provided.  That helped us refocus our energy from content to support.  I like the term “content agnostic” to describe the approach we used.  The way you make disciples needs to fit you and your ministry.  That is not what the habits are intended to accomplish.  We focused on the best ways to support the work a disciple needs to be fruitful.

See our previous blogs under each of the 5 Disciple Coach Habits:

1. Missional Values – CLICK HERE
2. Active Prayer – CLICK HERE
3. Relational Connection – CLICK HERE
4. Disciple making Cycle – CLICK HERE
5. Strategic Partnerships – CLICK HERE

Our journey to support the work of disciple makers, has led us to develop an online quiz.

We are committed to help pastors, church planters and missionaries (like Glenn) assess the kind of support they need.  Over the course of the next few blogs I will be sharing the various aspects of the quiz and the report you will receive explaining your quiz results:

• Score Breakdown – graph of your current strengths and weaknesses as a Disciple Coach (see image above)
• Key Areas – a brief explanation of the area you need to focus, linked to a coaching guide to help you develop this area
• Book a free call – you will be invited to schedule a no-obligation, free 25-minute Zoom call with me.

Would you consider taking the quiz and providing feedback for us?  We are curious if what we have developed will be of help to you and those you are partnering with to make disciples.  I look forward to sharing the various applications of the quiz leading up to the launch later this month.