Tim O’Neill
National Leader, Exponential Australia
Ten SHIFTS to Birth Disciple Making Multiplication In Your Church or Plant
No.8 How to Develop a Disciple-Making Culture
We can teach, introduce practices and implore the people in our church to become disciple makers, but unless we shape the culture of the church to be a disciple making culture, it’s not going to happen.
Without a disciple making culture we will see inertia rather than momentum, a culture that prioritises coming over sending, spiritual consumerism rather than spiritual activism and listening to messages rather than doing what Jesus commands us to do.
Some ministries like Building a Discipling Culture have been doing great work in trying to help churches around Australia develop and shape their culture to be a disciple making culture. But two things about shaping culture. First it’s one of the toughest jobs a leader has to do, and secondly it takes time.
Following are four critical components and six of the obstacles leaders face when trying to implement a disciple making culture include:
- The fear of losing people (particularly in small churches), along with their tithes and service.
- A difficulty in changing culture when people have grown up in an attractional or traditional culture.
- Pride when churches believe that they are doing discipleship but the facts tell a different story.
- When people don’t want to make disciples because they don’t want to put in the effort and would rather move on if they’re expected to work.
- Theology that expects the Holy Spirit to do what Jesus has commanded and the Spirit empowers us to do.
- Indifference and hard heartedness to the plight of people who are not yet Christians.
Doug Paul from Catapult describes how you need to have a plan of how you will develop a disciple making culture in your church. He defines “culture” as “whatever is normal for a group of people”.
He suggests that the plan will have four distinct components:
- Practices – to embed the culture. We hi lighted a range to practices (or tools) in the article “Helpful Disciple Making Tools”
- Language – to help create culture (i.e. words or sayings that are repeated and become known i.e. “there is no plan B”, “who are you discipling?” )
- Artefacts – something you can touch / feel / see to remind people of the culture. CAP Australia had the practice of ringing the bell in their office whenever a client came to faith. Some churches have baptism photos displayed as a constant reminder.
- Narrative – stories and testimonies that multiply and spread the culture.
These are just four components that can be put in place in any church. But remember that cultural change will take time, but without the culture being conducive to disciple making, the church won’t become a disciple making church.
