Discipleshift, Coach or Star Athlete?

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always,

Ephesians 4:11–13 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Ephesians 4:11-13

It tells us that the goal of a church leader (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) is to equip people for works of service or ministry so that the body of Christ can be built up. Why? So that we all reach unity and spiritual maturity.

It tells us to be a coach, not a star athlete.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 114). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

A leader’s job is to guide and equip the saints so that the entire church becomes a mature community in which disciples flourish. It involves releasing the ministry and gifts of all believers. It’s about creating a place where everybody learns to be a minister by growing, serving, and making disciples themselves.

Some church leaders see their role as similar to that of a star athlete. They want to excel and lead the team by their own personal achievements.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 114). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

The key concept behind this shift is to shift from informing people to equipping them.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 114). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

If a pastor said to you, “The primary function of my job is to impart knowledge,” how would you answer him or help clarify that statement?

Well, that statement could be interpreted different ways. If he’s talking about imparting the knowledge of Christ, of the Word, of experiencing truth, that’s one thing. A pastor is a teacher and should be imparting knowledge. In fact, the words pastor and teacher in are used without a definite article between them, which leads many to believe it’s the same office. However you want to interpret the two words, they’re certainly closely related. A pastor should be a teacher.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 114). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Yet a Pastor’s primary job is to shepherd the sheep.

Pastor’s primary job is to shepherd the sheep.

This means to lead them in the way of truth. You lead them by example, not just by imparting knowledge. You let them see the knowledge incarnate. An example goes a lot farther than a mere explanation. Hopefully, people see the example of Christ in your life. Of course, we all fall short of the example Christ sets before us. Nevertheless, that is what we aspire to be, just as Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

ESV). Now, that’s pretty strong language, and it certainly puts us as leaders on the spot. But for good or ill, we are an example to people who follow us.

Now, that’s pretty strong language, and it certainly puts us as leaders on the spot. But for good or ill, we are an example to people who follow us.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 114). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

If something happened to the pastor, me, what would happen to the church?

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (pp. 114-115). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

If a church emphasizes the wrong things and then uses the wrong methodologies to reach its goals, the result will not be fruitful, mature disciples.

It’s about shifting the spotlight from the pastor as the star player to the pastor as the head coach.

So take a moment to consider: professional athlete or coach? What kind of spiritual leader are you?

As a professional athlete, you have all eyes on you, watching you perform. You entertain. You inspire. The pressure is on you.

As a coach, you empower other people to work together as a team. Your role is to equip, nurture, exhort, and train. You release and deploy other people to do the boots-on-the-ground work of disciple making.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (pp. 115-116). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 115). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Sometimes when people hear me say this, they immediately jump three steps down the line and think I’m criticizing their Sunday services.

They think I’m opposed to having solid, dynamic Bible teaching from the pulpit. But I’m not. In our Relational Discipleship network of churches, we don’t downplay the need for a quality Bible-based message at the weekend service. We believe that the sermon is important and has a purpose. We believe it is important to regularly and thoroughly teach the Bible to our people. Good things can happen in large-group settings that can’t happen in small ones, and when we come to church each weekend, it’s exciting to see large numbers of people committed to the same thing. It enables us to see that we are part of a bigger movement. When we listen to a gifted Bible teacher, we come away inspired, encouraged, and ready for action. But we do not depend on the weekend service to do the primary work of what we’re seeking to accomplish as a church. Jesus didn’t use the methodology of preaching to the crowds as his core means of making disciples, so why should we? One of the obvious factors that limits a weekend service’s effectiveness is that a sermon happens only once a week. Many Christians attend church fewer than two times a month.27

Can you imagine trying to teach algebra to a university student if he were one of eighty students in your classroom and he showed up for class only every other week?

If we place the bulk of our resources into the weekend services, is it any wonder that so many Christians today don’t have a biblical worldview? Especially when they are being fed the world’s way of seeing things every day on television, in movies, and from friends. So as important as the sermon and the weekend service are, we don’t pour all (or even the bulk) of our resources into that one component. Consider a church that has an attractional focus and uses methodology focused on inspiration. In this church, a leader will typically focus on doing biblical evangelism by designing church services that attract people. Helping people make decisions for Christ is the primary goal for these church leaders, and it is assumed that discipleship will naturally happen through church attendance or participation in one of the church’s programs.

We cannot think that the Sunday morning service is the ultimate work of the church.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (pp. 116-117). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

THE LEADERSHIP OF JESUS

Simply put, Jesus was the master disciple maker. Jesus’ lifestyle first and foremost reflected a close relationship with his Father.

As we just described, beyond that, he was personally connected to the twelve disciples, and he had a more intimate relationship with three of them. He discipled them by allowing them to see him making tough decisions, to see how he responded to hurting people or to enemies as well. He asked them to pray with him when he was grieved to the point of death (). While we need to be careful in assuming that we should do everything Jesus did, much of what he did serves as an example to us.

Christlikeness is the goal of discipleship, and looking at Jesus’ life helps us better understand what it means to be a mature believer.

Before Jesus focused on doing something, he focused on being in relationship with God and with his disciples.

A friend just returned from the Middle East. While there, he met with an Arab Christian pastor who is keenly committed to discipleship. Since his goal is to follow Jesus’ method of discipleship, he has created a church that emphasizes different relational environments for discipleship. He has created a church in which people are discipled publicly and from house to house (). Good thing, because a young woman and her mother just gave their lives to Christ out of a Muslim and Bedouin background. When the Muslims heard of their conversion, they threatened to burn down the church building and harm the church leaders if she ever attended a public gathering there. Tough stuff! But because the church is effective at making disciples from house to house, their exclusion from the public gathering of the church will not be a huge barrier to their growth.

What would happen to most churches in North America today if people could meet only in houses, not publicly?

This question helps us to see how much we rely on programs instead of discipleship through personal relationships.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 118). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 118). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

The third shift that churches need to make is to foster a culture of personalized discipleship.

It’s a change from program-based, informational environments to hands-on training in relational environments.

It’s a shift from program to purpose, and it begins by asking the question, What is the true role of the church?

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 134). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

What do you think the main role of the church is?

The key difference between biblical relational environments and mere social gatherings is a focus on the Word and the intentionality behind the gathering.

A small group must display the following characteristics.

It should be;

Bible-centered

intentionally directing people to the goal of spiritual maturity

a place where people can honestly talk about their lives and work out what it means to follow Jesus.

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 135). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

What would need to change for small groups to mirror this?

Even though Jesus preached to crowds, sometimes numbering in the thousands, that wasn’t his primary disciple-making method. If you read the Gospels carefully, he’s spending most of his time with a small handful of people, his disciples. That’s where the great teaching comes through. And this method increases, particularly in the third and last year of his ministry. That’s where he invests heavily.

What would it look like for us to focus as heavily on small group discipleship?

Putman, Jim. DiscipleShift (Exponential Series) (p. 137). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

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