Embracing the Vision
I have been learning so much lately. I am so grateful for the many resources at my finger tips that allow my mind to be stretched and challenged. I read a book this year that really had a great impact on my understanding of discipleship. The book, Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger has a very straight forward and simple message. Simple Church calls Christians to make a clear return to an uncluttered and focused process of making disciples. It calls for Christians to return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No elaborate, multi-level outreach strategies required.
As we begin to embrace a simple disciple making process…KNOW, GROW, SERVE, SHARE…I want to help you understand why this process can help our church thrive with life and love for many. What makes this process work are four concepts that are the key to the success of the process:
Clarity Movement Alignment Focus
Let me explain each one of these. The simple discipleship process of KNOW, GROW, SERVE, SHARE will bring CLARITY. It is my hope that, in time, everyone will be able to articulate our mission and vision. With clarity, everyone understands the mission and vision and the purpose of the church driven by our mission and vision. We all know that we exist to “make disciples” and that we are committed to moving the unchurched in our community to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. So our challenge is to make sure that everything we do as a church is consistent with the vision of making disciples. With clarity, there is never a time when we don’t understand what God has called us to do.
The simple discipleship process of KNOW, GROW, SERVE, SHARE will bring ALIGNMENT. With alignment, everyone in the church is focused on the same process. Adults will be engaged in the process…youth and children will have established systems in place to engage in the discipleship process. This alignment elevates each ministry in the church with the same goal…to make disciples!
The simple discipleship process of KNOW, GROW, SERVE, SHARE will allow MOVEMENT. The process of Know, Grow, Serve, Share is fluid. People can move through the process, starting at any given area and continue to grow. It also has natural growth elements. Knowing leads to growing…growing leads to serving, and so on.
The simple discipleship process of KNOW, GROW, SERVE, SHARE will bring FOCUS. We must stay committed to the discipleship process and ask the same questions of all things that we “do” as a church. Where does this event or program or ministry fit into the discipleship plan? If we are engaged in activities and events that use our energy and resources for something other than making disciples, we will lose focus. We must work together with the same goal in mind in all we do as a church.
I know that God will honor the steps of faith we are taking to become a church with a mission and vision to make disciples. As disciples mature, they will help others move through the process we are calling each of you to embrace…to KNOW Christ completely, GROW in maturity, SERVE wholeheartedly and SHARE God personally. Let’s keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ!
Pastor Greg