Disciple-Making Movements:
History in the Making

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For years I have been increasingly fascinated and encouraged by the exponential growth of robust communities of disciples who multiply, often in some of the world's toughest mission contexts. We are seeing both church history and world history in the making. Here is a tour and key resources.

Let's clarify up front that disciple-making is not the same as 'discipleship' as traditional Christians use the term. Most Christians think of discipleship as the personal spiritual maturity of someone who is already a believer, usually by adopting spiritual practices from church tradition. There is nothing wrong with that! But disciple-making is what Jesus commanded his followers in Matthew 28:18–20: "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ... and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you." Doing that will develop not only a believer's maturity and gifts, but also bring growing transformation not only of prior believers but people far from God, their social circles, their contexts, and cultural outsiders of every kind in every place, like a woman working yeast through a huge batch of dough (Matthew 13:33).

Disciple Making Movements (DMMs) emerging worldwide involve a God-size vision ('end-vision'), a clear pathway to realizing it, and simple biblically consistent tools to fulfill the Great Commission in ways conventional mission won't.

What is a disciple-making movement? "When there is a move of God, disciples are rapidly multiplying, and thousands … are coming into the kingdom in a short amount of time through ordinary disciples passionately obeying Christ and boldly spreading the gospel everywhere they go … that is what we call a new DMM."

Here are some recent statistics courtesy of the '24:14' network of movement catalysts. Bottom line: DMMs have produced far more than 100 million new disciples of Jesus in the past three decades, with sustained exponential growth rates of over 20% annually. And these new disciples aren't shallow! They are strong, courageous, equipped, and fruitful even where they face severe persecution.

This page offers an excellent overview that includes this brief appetizer video:

And here's a 90-minute all-purpose introduction:

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Links for Drilling Down:

It Starts with God,
so Abide in God's Heart

"You have to start at the foundation by abiding in Christ (John 15:5, Psalm 78:72, Matthew 11:12, 17:20). Those that bear fruit are those that abide. There is no way around it."

'The Brutal Facts'

Current church growth and missionary methods aren't accompishing God's vision for the peoples of the earth.

Movement Principles

These are the same worldwide, but always require adaptation in local contexts.

Features and Contrasts

Paul Huyghebaert: "It is not the climate of the culture, but rather the climate of the Church in those regions, that has paved the way for movement." This means traditional churches play a significant role in spiritual support.

The Seven (Sacrificial) Sails

Only God can start and sustain movements, so disciple-making depends on the Holy Spirit. But as a sailboat needs its sails up so the wind overcomes its inertia and the water's drag, so God calls and equips disciple-makers to be ready to move when the Spirit blows. These are the so-called 'seven sails' of disciple-making movements.

Action Steps

Pray; learn and discern; train and practice; coach.

A Helpful Training Series

An hour-long playlist from disciple-makers in east Africa.

Opportunities for Traditional Churches

What might conventional churches have to do with New Testament-style movements without buildings, seminary-educated clergy, extensive programming, or budgets?

Training

Places for further training and coaching in disciple-making.

Further Resources

Want to learn more?