Growing Real Disciples

I’ve been involved with Christian leadership since the early 1980s. I guess I’m officially old, whatever that means. 

Throughout my years of service, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Perhaps one of the greatest blessings has been to work with many wonderful people, devoted souls who deeply love the Lord and seek to honor His name above all else. 

There have also been some “spiritually ugly” people I would have preferred not to meet. Just a short time around these misguided individuals was enough to leave a lingering foul taste in my mouth. 

More concerning, however, has been the large number of well-meaning Christ-followers who have either been shipwrecked in their faith, or became mired in worldly mediocrity. I don’t have hard statistics to support my perspective, but I do have many memories. Try taking a few minutes to think about people you know who once actively served in the local church but are now nowhere to be found in those hallowed halls. I’m guessing you can think of more than a few.

As much as we talk about the importance of discipleship, I question how well we are actually helping people grow to spiritual maturity. Pastors often blame their people for a lack of spiritual vitality, and people their pastors, but I can’t help but feel we’re all missing something vital.

If the people of God are not growing to spiritual maturity, the mission of the church breaks down. At best, we end up with a revolving door through which as many leave the church as enter. And even worse, the poor witness of self-absorbed church attenders will severely undermine the effectiveness of our community witness. 

Beyond simply diagnosing the problem, how do we turn the corner on this essential issue? How do we spur the people of God to grow to spiritual maturity? Two specific thoughts come to mind.

First, we must get smaller. So much today seems to be about reaching the masses, about making everything bigger. We think that super-sized congregations are a sign of heavenly blessings, and sometimes they are. Numbers matter, of course, because each number represents a human soul. Still, effective discipleship must take place on a relational level. As valuable as Sunday services might be, they do not provide an opportunity for the type of back-and-forth dialogue required to effectively grow disciples. People have questions and concerns that should be addressed in a relational, supportive, and nonjudgmental environment. That’s what makes small groups so powerful.  

Second, we need to tweak and elevate the role of teaching in the church. Too often, we think of teaching in the dry sense of conveying information, and that is certainly one application. It helps, for example, to know something about the backdrop of the Roman Empire in the days of Jesus and the early church. 

But teaching is also something more! A Christian teacher doesn’t simply convey information, but also seeks to unlock an understanding of divine and human ways. It is here that growth begins to flourish.

John 8 records a conversation our Lord had with a group of Jews who believed Him to be the Messiah:

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32 (NASB1995)

When Jesus said, “You will know the truth…”, was He speaking only of facts? It has been my experience that real growth and transformation take place only as people begin to understand truth. When we understand Biblical truth, we make application. When we do not understand Biblical truth, we make rules.

Let us consider the topic of grace to illustrate this point. I have known pastors—and even high-level leaders—to preach grace but practice law. What I mean is that they understand and appreciate the basics of grace enough to use it in an organizational name, but they practically live by law because a fuller revelation of grace has not taken root. Rules must then be made for every new situation.

The Bible transforms lives, but lasting fruit requires something more than head knowledge. As we teach for understanding, dialogue about the ways of God, and pray for a deeper revelation of truth, our people will grow toward spiritual maturity. 

I am not saying positive results are a certainty. We know from the Parable of the Sower that providing the finest seed is no guarantee of a fruitful harvest. People make their own choices, and even Jesus had His Judas, Paul his Demas. That being said, we can do better at growing real disciples. And by God’s grace, we will do better.

Bob Santos is the founder of Search for Me Ministries and the author of fourteen books, including The Teleios Trail: Thirty Topics to Explore for Spiritual Growth and the soon-to-be-released Small Groups Are a Big Deal: How to Lead Them Well. https://www.sfme.org/books/small-groups-are-a-big-deal