The greatest churches and ministries in the world have a culture of discipleship – where it’s the norm for people to be making disciples. This means everyone is a catalyst – a disciple who makes disciples. Here’s how you can be one:
Get equipped.
A catalyst is equipped with simple tools to make disciples. If you want to get in the game, learn how to use our conversation library to start having intentional, life-giving conversations with people in your world. Start a home with the people closest to you, and then begin to export it to others.
Stick to the system.
If you really want to be a catalyst for a simple discipleship culture in your church, you need to stick to the system. If you use the resources in a reproducible way, you’ll make it easy for the next person to be a catalyst. Stick to the simple FLEX method for conversations.
Schedule it.
One of the most practical things you can do as a catalyst is to schedule your discipleship conversations, whether at home, with a small group, or one-on-one in mentoring. If you don’t schedule a weekly time to connect and talk (even if it’s just on the phone), you’ll have very little chance of getting traction with your mentoring.
Don’t give up.
If you really want to bring a discipleship culture to your ministry, you’ll need a little grit. People are fickle. Discipleship is messy. You won’t have success with everyone you try to mentor. Even Jesus had a Judas! Don’t give up on it. In time, you’ll find that you can make an impact on people in your world – and you’ll become a catalyst for successive generations of disciples.
Discussion Questions:
- Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
- What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
- Talk about the benefits of using the FLEX method for discipleship conversations.
- Look at your schedule. When can you make time for mentoring or small groups?
- Have you ever gotten discouraged about disciple-making? Explain.
- Takeaway: Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
- What is a discipleship culture? Do you have one in your church or ministry? Defend your answer.
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
