If the mission of the Church is to make disciples of all nations, then every pastor should be a Disciple Making Pastor.
Many pastors have never been personally discipled. If you ask pastors if they are discipling other people themselves, often the answer is, “No.” Many pastors today have had no disciple making training in their theological education, and they have not had models of Disciple Making Pastors to follow. The Church today is getting the exact results our equipping systems are designed to produce. We are not doing what Jesus did.
Jesus handed the mission of His Church over to men whom He had discipled. They had “studied” disciple making under His experiential education for three years before they began their own individual ministries. Without question, Jesus had a system to produce leaders in His Church. That system revolved around His disciple makers who would carry on His mission.
Today, we need to return to Jesus’ model of disciple making. We do need pastors that have great training in theology, preaching, and shepherding, but we also need pastors who know how to lead the Church to be a Disciple Making Movement.
Becoming a Disciple Making Pastor is a strategic and intentional process. Pastors need support and training as they seek to lead their congregations to become movements of multiplication. Jesus modeled the priorities of Disciple Making Pastors, and pastors today need accountability and coaching to develop the necessary skills to follow Jesus’ mission.
Over thirty years ago, I started a local church and I had no idea how to lead that church to become a Disciple Making Movement. My seminary training and pastoral examples did not equip me to lead the church I was pastoring to fulfill the mission of making disciples. Thankfully, I found the right people and resources along the way to help me learn how to lead my church to become a movement of multiplying disciples. I have certainly not arrived but I have learned a few things along the way that have really helped me make progress as a Disciple Making Pastor.
At this point in my life , I am committed to sharing some of the most important things I have learned about this ministry. This is why I created The Making of a Disciple Making Pastor online equipping group.
In this group, I meet with twelve pastors online for seven sessions where we discuss strategic content our team has developed from 30+ years of “on-the-job” disciple making experience. This journey is ultimately designed to help pastors learn six of the most crucial priorities in becoming a Disciple Making Pastor and how to manage those priorities in their personal and professional lives.
We have more groups launching soon! Check them out here on our website! Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.
