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What’s Up:
Churches keep stuffing heads with knowledge and wondering why discipleship is dead. Your discipleship strategy is failing your church.
So What:
Belief isn’t discipleship. Sermons and studies don’t transform lives without behavior change, accountability, and repeatable processes. And that’s the problem.
The Point Is:
Education Isn’t Transformation
Information doesn’t change people. If it did, we’d all be thin, rich, and holy. We’ve read the books, but we need more than learning – we need behavioral reinforcement.
Define What a Disciple Is
If your church can’t clearly define a disciple, don’t expect to make any. Hint: it’s not just a believer. It’s a follower who bears fruit.
Use Strategies That Work
Accountability. Mentoring. Life-on-life modeling. These aren’t buzzwords, they’re biblical. They form the structure that helps people live what they learn.
Build Repeatable Processes
One-offs don’t disciple. Weekly, repeatable, accountable processes do. Without structure, discipleship dies under the weight of good intentions.
And … ?
We’ve turned Sunday school into the golden calf of Christian growth. Generations have been taught to know more about God, while few have been trained to actually live like Jesus. If that sounds harsh, good. It should. We’ve got churches full of “believers” who can pass a theology test but can’t name the last person they personally led to Christ. That’s not discipleship. That’s delusion.
Discipleship is about changed lives. Changed priorities. Changed calendars. Changed spending. Changed relationships. And change like that doesn’t happen because you read a book or went through the Sunday school quarterly. It happens when there’s accountability, mentorship, and a culture that expects and supports obedience. And all that happens when we stop making education the centerpiece and start implementing processes that reinforce disciple behavior. Sermons don’t make disciples. Systems do.
Action!
Now’s the time to get serious about discipleship. Grab a copy of the Disciple-Making Blueprint and turn the educated into the obedient.
