Discipleship-System Builder

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2. A Discipleship-System Builder
A church leader, especially one involved in church planting or pastoring, is not just a disciple or even just a disciple maker. A disciple is a person who follows Jesus, is transformed by Jesus, and joins Jesus on His mission. That’s the job of every believer. A disciple maker makes disciples. Every Christian has that job. A pastor is more than that. They have been given the task of leading a church in which they are to create a system in which people are taught how to be disciples. In other words, they and their team are called to lead in the development of a church-wide system that will make disciples who make disciples. Leadership (administration, as it is called in Scripture) is a responsibility that is broader than just discipling others or leading a small group. Church planters, follow Timothy and Titus and build churches that serve as the “household of God” and the “pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-16 ESV). Included in Paul’s instructions to Timothy was the call to …show more content…

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

This has happened because house churches effectively replicate Jesus’ discipleship process: growing believers in a loving and accountable small group environment, and mobilizing them to reach out and do the same with others. These disciplers (our preferred term for movement leaders) naturally rise up and reproduce.
Discipleship is an explicit command to Jesus’ followers – to you and me. And multiplication is implicit in the Great Commission: … “go therefore and make disciples…teaching them to observe all that I commanded

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