Last year, around this time, I participated in the 4th Lausanne Congress in Seoul, Korea. Originally, the Congress was established to harness missionary efforts around the world to evangelize and complete the mission Jesus set out to accomplish. You can read more about my experience in this blog post: With Sincere Gratitude… It was a privilege to be a participant in this “by-invitation-only” event. My takeaways are shared in this blog: Three Highlights from Lausanne 2024. A year on, and I wonder if the Church, the body of Christ, is making real strides towards fulfilling the Great Commission:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 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
How are you tracking your disciples, who are making disciples?
The Great Commission isn’t just a suggestion; it’s the defining mission of the Church. This leads to the crucial principle: You track what matters.
I coach leaders who take disciple-making seriously. These leaders track the development of disciple-making movements in their ministries. They have discipleship trees to show the expansion and growth from one generation to the next. Others work with apps like Waha. No matter the method, the point is: you track what matters.
It makes me wonder what business the church is in.
This isn’t about running the Church like a secular corporation, but about recognizing the vital “business” it is in—the business of people transformation and Kingdom expansion. The metrics we track should reflect the health and growth of discipleship, not just attendance or budget.
One of the hardest things in local church ministry and missions is to keep the main thing, the main thing! It doesn’t matter if you serve in a co-vocational ministry, restricted-access context, or a local church; keeping the main thing the main thing is challenging.
What gets in the way of disciple-making?
- Finances: The necessary time spent on financial spreadsheets and fundraising can easily overshadow the time needed for personal, intentional discipleship. We must constantly remind ourselves that money is a means to a much greater end—the multiplication of disciples.
- Facilities: The model of ministry often dictates the focus. When a building (a prevailing church model) is the central gathering point, its maintenance and programs can consume energy, time, and resources. Conversely, a network of organic, micro-churches shifts the focus from property to people.
- Ministry Busyness: In the Apostle Paul’s letters (addressing issues of worship in 1 Corinthians and identity in Christ in Ephesians), the early church was constantly dealing with relational and doctrinal distractions. If Paul, the ultimate church planter, faced this, our challenge is compounded across 2,000 years of cultural drift and complexity.
It’s truly ironic that with all the resources available today—technology, education, communication—we still struggle to keep disciple-making as the primary mission.
✅ How to Keep Disciple Making the Main Thing: A Relational Approach
The shift is often simple in concept but challenging in execution. It requires moving from a ministry-as-event model to a ministry-as-relationship model. Here are five steps to make disciple-making the main thing:
- Identify what to track: Move beyond counting attendees or dollars and start tracking spiritual generations (disciples who are making disciples, and their disciples).
- Communicate what you are tracking: Make the importance of spiritual lineage a core relational value of the ministry. It gives purpose and direction.
- Invite your team to participate: This is the key relational step. Discipleship is not a solo act; it requires shared vulnerability, accountability, and partnership across all levels of leadership.
- Track it! Use simple or sophisticated tools (like discipleship trees) to visually celebrate the multiplication.
- Review, assess, and modify: This is a cycle of relational health check. Are we truly investing in people who are capable and committed to investing in others?
The Relational Reward
When you begin to track disciples who are making disciples, the benefits are profoundly relational and spiritual:
- Energizes people: Leaders and participants move from being program consumers to mission contributors.
- Priorities change: The focus naturally shifts from maintaining structures to multiplying relationships.
- Resources are redirected: Funds and time are allocated to training, mentoring, and relational development rather than just maintenance and events.
That’s a great idea! Presenting the information on the practical metrics for Disciple-Making Movements (DMM) in a table will make it much clearer and easier to reference.
Here is the requested table outlining the DMM metrics:
Practical Metrics for Disciple-Making Movements (DMM)
| Metric Category | Specific Metrics to Track | Why It Matters (Relational Impact) |
| Generational Growth | Generations Reached: The highest number of sequential spiritual generations produced in a movement. | Measures multiplication and sustained effort beyond the initial group, indicating reproductive health. |
| New Believers & Baptisms | Number of new believers who are baptized and immediately integrated into a discipleship group. | Measures obedience to Christ’s command and the first key step of relational integration/discipleship. |
| Group Formation | New Groups Started: The number of new reproducible small groups or house churches started within a given timeframe. | Measures expansion and capacity for others to lead, shepherd, and host the movement. |
| Leadership Development | New Leaders Emerging: The number of individuals in one generation who successfully start and lead the next generation. | Measures the effectiveness of leadership training and the empowerment of new believers. |
| Obedience/Health | Obedience Metrics: Tracking adherence to specific “Commands of Christ,” such as sharing one’s testimony, starting a new group, or consistent prayer. | Focuses the team on obedience (Matthew 28:20) as the primary indicator of discipleship, not just knowledge. |
| Worship/Gathering | Worshiping Gatherings: The number of gatherings that demonstrate the 7-10 essential elements of a healthy, reproducible church or group. | Ensures new groups are fully functioning, healthy expressions of the Body of Christ, ready to reproduce. |
Photo by Marissa Grootes on Unsplash
