Building A Discipling Culture
By: Mike Breen and the 3DM Team
The Back Cover:
"Much ink and many pages have been devoted to all of the missional issues facing the Western church today. As our culture becomes more post-Christian with each passing day, we are all realizing that what has worked in the past is not longer working, that we are far less effective for the Kingdom than we were even 10 years ago. But we would suggest it isn't because we don't know what the Great commission states or the imperatives of the Gospel, or that our church services just aren't getting it done. It's because we are in the mist of a discipling crisis in the Western Church. The people sitting in our pews are rarely becoming like the people we read about in Scripture. They may come to a worship service, join a small group or even tithe, but their lives just don't seem to look like Jesus' life.
The truth of the matter is that we don't have a missional problem or leadership problem in the Western church. We have a discipleship problem. If we make disciples like Jesus made them, we'll never have a problem finding leaders or seeing new people coming to faith.
The central issue is that we have no idea how to make disciples who can do the things that Jesus did for the reasons Jesus did them. Building a Discipling Culture is the product of more than 25 years of hands-on discipleship practice in a post-Christian context that has turned into a worldwide discipling movement, dealing specifically with how to make the types of missional disciples Jesus spoke of. We all want to make disciples. Most of us are unsure how to do it.
For most of our church communities, we have a plan, but the plan isn't working. If you find yourself in this situation, this book is for you."
Building A Discipling Culture
By: Mike Breen and the 3DM Team
Part 1: Understanding Discipleship
Chapter 1: The Challenge & Chapter 2: The Jesus Model
Mike Breen and the 3DM Team offer a sobering look at how Jesus modeled discipleship for his 12 disciples, further more they do an excellent job of showing how he is still modeling discipleship today through His church and through His Word. Breen's writing is magnificent, his tone is articulate, compassionate, graceful, and convicting. This book is 100% invitation and 100% challenge. The truth of this subject in American churches is a hard one, but many church's are not making disciples. Some churches may refer to their attendees as disciples or simply label any christian a disciple. But the majority of them are not reproducing their faith in other peoples lives, who will then reproduce their faith in a like manner. Breen writes: "effective discipleship builds the church, not the other way around." I have observed many christian make disciples of church participation or church attendance rather than disciples of Jesus Christ. This really bothers me. I want the Western church to be powerful in the ways that matter to God. Consequently I'm really excited to be studying this book, so that I can be a part of building this discipling culture.
Building A Discipling Culture
By: Mike Breen and the 3DM Team
Part 1: Understanding Discipleship
Chapter 3: What It Means To Learn
Breen categorizes the process of discipleship into three arenas: classrooms, apprenticeships, and immersion. He admits that all are necessary, but makes a crucial observation to the way Western church's regard them. We tend to overvalue classroom experience while undervaluing the apprenticeship and immersion. Breen notes: "knowing I have a broken carburetor and need a new one isn't the same as knowing how to put a new one in!" Experientially speaking Breen & the 3DM Team lay it out plain and simple. They clearly link each of the three categories to one another showing their readers how new abilities gained through one must be complemented and further developed by the others in order to create disciples. More than this they show that with out all discipleship isn't actually happening.
Here is a basic breakdown on Breen and the 3DM Team's teaching. Classroom experience alone, makes a head strong student. One who knows but doesn't know how to fit that experience into real life. Apprenticing (Luke 11:1-2), will give the time and investment needed to become skilled at handling this new "classroom knowledge," while learning what can only be gained through experience. Finally immersion, often overlooked is the glue of it all, this is the authenticity, friendship, love, realness and such we often overlook when approaching discipleship with intentionality. Immersion cultivates one's character (of the heart) in addition to the skills a disciple now posses. Without immersion a disciple will never attain the character of one who disciples. This is somewhat Similar to saying that you are a christian without ever knowing God. Classroom learning, apprenticeships, and immersion must all be intentionally sought out in a well rounded discipleship. We see Jesus doing this when he takes the 12, teaches them, lives with them, loves them, eats with them, answers their questions etc... Before they know it three years have passed by and they through intentional learning, apprenticing, and complete immersion in the life of Jesus are sent out by Jesus to do the same.
Some of you may know the name Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He is known for his unyielding intellect and extensive teachings on discipleship. In a newly published biography written by Eric Metaxas (highly recommended, I read this last winter and spring) The following is said of Bonhoeffer by Otto Dudzus, one of Bonhoeffer's disciples. "Whatever he had and whatever he was, he made that accessible to others. The great treasure he possessed was the cultivated, elegant highly educated, open-minded home of his parents, to which he introduced us. The open evenings [his house was open for his disciples and family to come, eat, play music and sing together, discuss, laugh, tell stories on Friday nights] which took place every week had such an atmosphere that they became a piece of home for us, as well." Bonhoeffer was well know by his love, he left no separation between his family life and Christian life. Now he wasn't married either, and I personally think that affected how much he could pour into others, but aside from how much time we have Bonhoeffer exemplified discipleship.
Building A Discipling Culture
By: Mike Breen and the 3DM Team
Part 1: Understanding Discipleship
Chapter 4: Building A Discipling Culture
Two main points really stick out in this chapter. The fist: that three things are necessary for building a discipling culture: a discipleship vehicle, people need access to your life, and a discipling language. The second is this: information must be followed by imitation, only then can a disciple implement innovation.
In the list of three things necessary for building a disciple culture the first: "a discipleship vehicle" is a simple way of describing the format or order by which people will gather together, learn, and associate. The second: a need for people to have access to your life is surprisingly direct. People need to see you, your habits, your behavior, your life. This isn't so much about making a lot of changes to your schedule, all though you should be willing to do this if need be, its much more about allowing your disciples to come along for the ride. Literally --- invite them to the store with you, to study, workout, or wash clothes with you. The third item: "a discipling language," is all about communication of knowledge of what it is to disciple. This is where the information => imitation => Innovation model fits. This really is a vast subject and is covered in more detail in parts 2 and 3 of this book. But it is my impression that at the very core it is good for disciples to imitate their mentors behaviors (the ones which reflect Christ likeness) in order to learn in safety the essence of what shapes godly character: in turn they too will grow in truth and eventually adapt the way they personally apply or convey that truth in and through their lives.
Building A Discipling Culture
By: Mike Breen and the 3DM Team
Part 2: Lifeshapes: Our Discipling Language
Chapter 5: Language Creates Culture
Chapter 5 communicates the importance of language and what it does for a culture's communication and the creating of community.
"Sociologists say that language creates culture. Now, language is the way that we communicate, verbally and nonverbally. In the book Essentials of Sociology, the authors write: A common language is often the most obvious outward sign that people share a common culture."
Establishing a distinct language for your discipling culture will insure that communication happens on a shared level of understanding. Below is a list of the cultural language that Mike Breen and the 3DM Team have developed for their discipling culture. Notice that though the shapes are simple and seem somewhat corny at first, they do a profound job of communicating exactly what they are intended to.
- Hexagon: Prayer
- Lean to pray: The Lord's Prayer.
- Relationship: with the father.
- The Trinity: see how God uses the Holy Spirit to shape us.
- Triangle: deeper and Balanced Relationships
- Our Life with God.
- Life within the church.
- Life with people who don't know Jesus yet.
- Simi-Circle: Rhythms of Life
- Rest
- To much and you will be lazy, ineffective, and unbalanced
- Work
- To much and you will be tired, ineffective, and unbalanced
- Square: Multiplying Disciples
- Lean the process of:
- Being discipled
- Growing in your faith
- Making disciples
- Living out your faith
- Pentagon: Personal Calling
- Lean the Fivefold Ministries found in Ephesians 4.
- Find out how God has shaped and purposed you.
- Heptagon: Common Life And Health
- Learn to:
- Live in
- Participate
- Contribute to your spiritual family
- Octagon: Mission Through People of Peace
- Learn to step out into bold mission by identifying People of Peace and helping them live in the spiritual breakthrough God has prepared for them.
- Lean what the Gospel is and a simple and clear articulation of it that can be shared with People of Peace.
Building A Discipling Culture
By: Mike Breen and the 3DM Team
Part 2: Lifeshapes: Our Discipling Language
Chapter 6: Continuous Breakthrough
Chapter 6 asks the question, what is it that makes us more like Jesus and less like the world (John 3:30). Breen points out that our growth in Christ can be measured or observed over time. We are either taking advantage of the time that we have been given or throwing it away. In the greek there are two words for time, the first is chronos which means successive or sequential time, the second is "kairos" meaning an event, an opportunity - a moment in time when perhaps everthing changes because it is the right time. A kairos moment is when the eternal God breaks into your circumstances with an event that gathers some loose ends of our lives and knots them together in his hands." Here we find that chronos time stands still.
Kairos moments can be as big as your wedding day, or as small as a date night with your spouse, they can be good, or bad. The only defining factor is that it's a moment when growth is possible. In order to recognize kairos moments, see them as opportunities of growth, and then act on them we must do the following: observe, reflect, discuss, plan, account, and act.
At the very center of a kairos moment is our heart. That is why it is so important to cultivate an understanding of how these moments shape us. Growth in and through them can be broken into two parts with three sub portions each. The first part is to "repent" here we observe the moment and our behaviors, reflect on our actions and the cause of this moment, and then discuss it through discipleship with one another and with the Lord. The second part is to "believe" here we plan for future situations like the one we are in now, take account for our actions, and for preventing or preserving them in the future, and act on our gained knowledge.
It is important to understand what true repentance and belief are. The greek words metanoia (repent) and pistis (believe) are only processes not singular moments in time. To repent is to experience a change of heart and to believe is to think to be true. These words can not be defined as having once been experience in a moment of time. True repentance and belief in and through Jesus Christ will always continue to shape and mold us to his image. In Mark 1:15 Jesus gives us this circle of action saying that "the time has come, the kingdom of God is near Repent and believe the good news." In our lives this process is defined by our willingness live in repentance and belief. If we will live in the kairos moments of today, we will be shaped by Jesus in our hearts, resulting in our growth in the likeness of Christ. This is how we are conformed to his image.
Here are biblical examples of Jesus and His disciples employing this circle of repentance and belief. These examples were provided in the book and I found them very useful!
- The Epileptic (Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29)
- The epileptic seizure (kairos)
- Unbelieving and perverse generation! (observe and reflect)
- Lord, why couldn't we drive it out? (discuss)
- This kind can only come out by prayer (plan)
- Mustard seed principle (account/act)
- Forgiving Wrongs (Matthew 18:15-20: Matthew 18:21-35)
- A wrong is done, a resentment remembered (kairos)
- If your brother sins, go to him (observe and reflect)
- Lord, how many times? (discuss)
- Therefore, forgive your brother from the heart (plan, account, act)
- A Mother's Request for Status (Matthew 20:20-28)
- Coming to Jesus with request (kairos)
- When other disciples hear this they are indignant (observe and reflect)
- Jesus calls them together for teaching and discussion (discuss)
- Not so with you! (plan)
- Whoever wants to be first must be a slave to all (account and act)
- The Rich Young Man (Matthew 19:16-29)
- Conversation (kairos)
- When the disciples hear, they are astonished (observe and reflect)
- Who can be saved? (reflect)
- We left everything; what will there be for us? (discuss)
- If you leave house, family, fields (plan, account, act)
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