by Gary Reinecke | Jun 17, 2021 | Disciplemaking |
There are really only three behaviors when it comes to following the Lord that Jesus emphasized with his disciples; love God, love your neighbor and make disciples. Nothing else is as important as these three things and as long as you are striving to do these things; you’re probably doing all right. However, these are also things we can develop. We have found that the area that most modern Christians need the most help in, and the one that is most evident, is the third category – making disciples. If the first wo are done well, making disciples will be an organic and integrated in our lives.
Making disciples is both much simpler and much more difficult than most think it will be. Discipleship is, essentially, the art of apprenticeship or coaching. It is journeying alongside someone, listening and asking questions for their self-discovery. Learning together as we go. And then it means, at some point, the disciples you make do the same thing for someone else. Meanwhile, you continue your disciple making journey and reproduce new disciples into the third and fourth generation. There are so many reasons this is the preferred method of raising up new Christians. Here are just a few:
- Individual coaching: Spiritual journeys will look vastly different for different people. Working intentionally with one individual or many allows the experience to cater to their needs and your abilities.
- We learn, grow and mature together: the process of discipling is intended to go both ways; while one person takes the role of the disciple maker, and the other of the disciple, both will learn and grow from the experience and from each other.
- Journeying with others: We have been created as communal beings. We were never meant to journey alone. We thrive on building strong relationships.
- We are stronger, wiser together: Many heads are better than one. Many hands make light work. These idioms are true! Alone, we only have our own skills and experiences to rely on. Teaming with another broadens our knowledge and increases ability!
- We are raising up future leaders: Next time we need to fill a position within our team, we know to look towards our disciples. We disciple to build the next generation of our community.
- Relationship to God: In John 21, Jesus tells Peter that if he loves Him, Peter will feed his sheep. Essentially, discipleship is feeding sheep. Loving and teaching God’s children is an extension of loving God.
We are getting closer and closer to launching the Disciple Coach Quiz. As we continue beta-testing the quiz we are receiving amazing feedback. Here is what other people are saying about the Disciple Coach Quiz…
“Gary Reinecke and the team from InFocus have created a crucial resource for leaders and churches who are serious about being with Jesus on His Mission. I highly recommend the Disciple Coach Quiz as a tool for shaping the future of your disciple making efforts. The five qualities it measures and the behavior it supports provide a solid foundation for helping people authentically follow Jesus.”
Steve Pike – President, Urban Islands Project
Disciple Coach Quiz
LAUNCH DATE
JULY 5, 2021
by Gary Reinecke | Jun 10, 2021 | Uncategorized |
How were you first taught to make disciples? Was it through inviting new friends to your church? Handing pamphlets out on corners? Sharing testimonies with strangers? If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone. For decades, this was how many Christians were taught to share the gospel and produce more followers of Christ. However, if you have tried any of these methods recently, you have likely been met with indifference or even animosity.
A couple of years ago we met our new neighbors and had them over for dinner. We had a wonderful time connecting which led to conversations dealing with their journey of faith. At no time did it seem odd to go there. They had been seeking relationship and we were first to extend an invitation. This led to multiple encounters over the next few years that allowed us to coach them to a next step on their spiritual journey simply by listening and asking questions. A skill-set that most Christians can develop.
We created the discipleship coach quiz because only about two percent of American Churches are growing through multiplication, while ninety-eight percent are not producing disciples for the next generation. Part of this problem is due to the fact that the Church is a little behind the times. We need to understand the cultural shift of a postmodern person. The postmodern generation doesn’t like to be told what to do and how they should do it; they value discovering these things on their own, in their own way.
In a previous blog we contrasted the spiritual journey of a modern vs. a postmodern person Essentially I asked: “WHAT’S DIFFERENT?” My answer, based on experience, observation, discussing the topic with others in the field and reading books on the topic: “THE STARTING POINT HAS CHANGED!”
- Instead of beginning with ‘Believing’ as the starting point – the initial point of contact is ‘Blessing’.
- When a person comes in contact with a Christian who heightens their curiosity for spiritual matters, that person might be interested in exploring a next step on their discipleship journey.
- That initial point of contact, which heightens curiosity and could lead to a potential next step, most naturally occurs in the Harvest!
So how do we reach the very people that are like the disciples Jesus tapped to follow Him? They are not going to magically appear in church. They are unlikely to seek out Biblical wisdom out of the blue. We need to meet them where they are at; outside of the walls of the church. Jesus didn’t go to the temples to find his first disciples; he met them on the shores of Galilee, in the middle of their workday. Disciple making doesn’t start in church “anymore”; it begins earlier, in the harvest. It begins in conversation and through true relationships. It starts by recognizing where not-yet Christians are on their spiritual journey and finding ways to join them.
Everyone has a different path. We shouldn’t impose a pathway… Everyone needs to create their own. We may have a few principles or milestones, but they are the author of their story. They create their own pathway.
We are getting closer and closer to launching the Disciple Coach Quiz. As we beta-test the quiz we are receiving amazing feedback. Here is what other people are saying about the Disciple Coach Quiz…
Gary and the InFocus team have put together a very helpful tool in the Disciple Coach Quiz. It only took a few minutes to complete and gave comprehensive feedback that was immediately helpful. The quiz helped me identify where I was weakest and the quiz report offered up quality questions to help me start down the road of growth in this area. A natural next step will be to pursue coaching in this growth area.
Daniel Bethel Director of Church Planting, Christar International , Malaga, Spain
Stay tune! We are excited as the we prepare for the launch of the Disciple Coach Quiz.
by Gary Reinecke | Jun 6, 2021 | Uncategorized |
One of the distinctions we are addressing in the Disciple Coach approach is to help engage Christians that really want to make disciples but for a number of reasons have been unable. “Tatum” (not her real name for a real person in our small group) came into our group as a curious, somewhat fearful and timid seeker. Following the experience of a painful divorce she decided to give God a try. What did she discover? That many of her friends noticed a change in her life they didn’t quite understand. What has she done? Honestly, she has had to make some hard choices about the relationships that were not contributing to her emotionally healthy spiritual growth. That was difficult and still is difficult for her to navigate. But for the curious one’s she is engaging in emotionally healthy discipleship conversations. How is she doing this? She is taking a coach-approach by listening carefully and asking questions to challenge, clarify and inspire her friends to take a step in their discipleship journey.
Tatum is the type of person we created the Disciple Coach Quiz for – to inspire the 98%. These are Christians who are looking for a way to use their gifts where God has placed them in life to help other people discover and follow Jesus so that they can make disciples. Our aim is not to have another thing for people to do or a program to follow, but to make several natural shifts that will enable each of you to make disciples who in turn make disciples.
Here are a couple of “best practices” to help you process your Disciple Coach Quiz results:
- Self-assessment: take the quiz and read your report and reflection questions.
- Pairs: consider working with another very new Christian (less than 6 months) and encourage each other to take steps to make progress in your disciple coach journey
- Triad: bring another yet-to-be Christian into the group and reflect on steps you can take individually as well as together to reproduce disciples into the 3rd and 4th generation
We are getting closer and closer to launching the Disciple Coach Quiz. As we beta-test the quiz we are receiving amazing feedback. Here is what other people are saying about the Disciple Coach Quiz…
by Gary Reinecke | Jun 4, 2021 | Uncategorized |
One of the distinctions we are addressing in the Disciple Coach approach is to help engage Christians that really want to make disciples but for a number of reasons have been unable. “Tatum” (not her real name for a real person in our small group) came into our group as a curious, somewhat fearful and timid seeker. Following the experience of a painful divorce she decided to give God a try. What did she discover? That many of her friends noticed a change in her life they didn’t quite understand. What has she done? Honestly, she has had to make some hard choices about the relationships that were not contributing to her emotionally healthy spiritual growth. That was difficult and still is difficult for her to navigate. But for the curious one’s she is engaging in emotionally healthy discipleship conversations. How is she doing this? She is taking a coach-approach by listening carefully and asking questions to challenge, clarify and inspire her friends to take a step in their discipleship journey.
Tatum is the type of person we created the Disciple Coach Quiz for – to inspire the 98%. These are Christians who are looking for a way to use their gifts where God has placed them in life to help other people discover and follow Jesus so that they can make disciples. Our aim is not to have another thing for people to do or a program to follow, but to make several natural shifts that will enable each of you to make disciples who in turn make disciples.
Here are a couple of “best practices” to help you process your Disciple Coach Quiz results:
- Self-assessment: take the quiz and read your report and reflection questions.
- Pairs: consider working with another Christian and encourage each other to take steps to make progress in your disciple coach journey
- Triad: bring another new Christian into the group and reflect on steps you can take together to reproduce disciples into the 3rd and 4th generation
We are getting closer and closer to launching the Disciple Coach Quiz. As we beta-test the quiz we are receiving amazing feedback. Here is what other people are saying about the Disciple Coach Quiz…
The mission of the Church is not simply reaching the lost, increasing Church attendance or teaching biblical information – or anything else. Our mission is to make fully-fledged reproducing disciples of Jesus. And this is true for each individual disciple. Disciple Making isn’t something we do; it’s everything we do.
Many of us are on the journey to being fully committed to the Mission of Jesus but we are unsure of the areas we still need to develop. This is where the Disciple Coach Quiz comes into play. Gary Reinecke and his team have developed a really useful questionnaire which gives you an overall Disciple Coach Score as well as some improvement keys to help you grow in your commitment to His Mission.
Even though I have been Making Disciples for a long time, the results of the quiz pointed out some areas I still need to work on and I have already created some action steps for myself.
Colin Noyes – Author As You Go, Makes Disciples, Making Disciples in a Postmodern Era & Making Disciples Coaching Guide with Storyboard
by Gary Reinecke | May 28, 2021 | Uncategorized |
How can people engage relationally?
If you view the disciple making process like a map – chances are the map you used in the 20th century is different than the map you use in the 21st century. The modern map began with ‘Believing’, followed by ‘Behaving’ and culminated with ‘Belonging’. In the post-Modern era the map looks more like this: “Belonging”, “Following” and “Serving”.
How can people engage in their disciple making journey?
How can people help others?
Special thanks to Sequoia Church, Nic Pope - Lead Pastor Used with permission
Jesus mastered the art of listening and asking questions to help people discover truth for themselves! Today, self-discovery is foundational to the disciple making process. This is why disciples have shifted from telling people (Modern) what they should believe to self-discovery (Post-Modern) using a coach-approach.
We are getting closer and closer to launching the Disciple Coach Quiz. As we beta-test the quiz we are receiving amazing feedback. “Our goal? To provide a tool that will help you and those you disciple progress through the three stages mentioned in a previous blog: beginning with being a disciple – shifting to a disciple maker – finally, adopting a coach-approach as you make disciples.” Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks to come!
Research suggests that about 2% of the churches in America are multiplying so I think it is fair to speculate that about 2% of Christians are making disciples, that are making disciples.
(Becoming A Level Five Multiplying Church Field Guide)
So, we created the Disciple Coach Quiz to inspire the 98%. These are Christians who are looking for a way to use their gifts where God has placed them in life to help other people discover and follow Jesus so that they can make disciples. Our aim is not to have another thing for people to do or a program to follow, but to make several natural shifts that will enable each of you to make disciples who in turn make disciples.
by Gary Reinecke | May 21, 2021 | Uncategorized |
As a disciple I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner in which he did all that he did.
Dallas Willard
Someone who is living out of a Basic Core that exhibits a love for God in Christ and a love for others that leads to making disciples.
Colin Noyes
A disciple coach helps their newest disciples by listening and asking questions to help them discern the voice of the Holy Spirit so that they can take the next step in their discipling making journey.
Gary Reinecke
Notice the nuanced progression:
- The disciple, by definition, is a student.
- The disciple shifts, ever so slight, when they become a disciple maker.
- The disciple maker shifts, by adopting a coach approach, to multiply disciples.
These three nuanced shifts are observable. You have probably experienced them in your own development. One way of looking at this is moving from a disciple who makes disciples by addition (one at a time) to a multiplier (exponential growth into the 3rd and 4th generation of disciples).
The vision fueling the disciple coach-approach is to engage Christians who are not currently making disciples, for whatever reason, to participate in the mission of Jesus. “How so?” By listening to the Holy Spirit, take the next step on their disciple making journey so that they can help people around them do the same.
We are getting closer and closer to launching the Disciple Coach Quiz. As we beta-test the quiz we are receiving amazing feedback. “Our goal? To provide a tool that will help you and those you disciple progress through the three stages mentioned above: beginning with being a disciple – shifting to a disciple maker – finally, adopting a coach-approach as you make disciples.” Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks to come!
by Gary Reinecke | May 10, 2021 | Disciplemaking, Uncategorized |
I’m reminded how dangerous or naive it is to make broad generalizations about the way Jesus made disciples. How can we really know?
Early in my seminary education I had a professor who lived-out the values of a disciple maker. He was an imposing figure (6’5″-ish) but Dr. William “Bill” Iverson (this is linked to my classmate’s blog – Dave Diaso) was a relational ninja who was always on the ready to engage students in the ministry of disciple making. What he lacked in methodology he made up for relationally; that is, he did not work a linear process but started where people were on their journey to discover and follow Jesus. During my first quarter in seminary “Bill” introduced me to Robert Coleman’s book, “The Master Plan of Evangelism”. In this small but profound book Coleman articulated Jesus’s strategy for making disciples. I saw the method to “Bill’s” madness from the pages of this book. It was a framework for disciple making. I remember taking all of the small group leader’s and apprentice leader in the church plant I was helping launch through this book together. It embedded the DNA of make disciples into our small groups at New Song Church.
I’m using Coleman’s framework to “reverse engineer” (meaning to compare and contrast to find the correlation) the 5 habits of a Disciple Coach. As you study the 5 habits see how they fit into the way Jesus made disciples according to Coleman.
Here are a underlying principles that consistently determined what Jesus’ action would be in any given situation as he made disciples:
- Selection – men were His method
- Association – He stayed with them
- Consecration – He required obedience
- Impartation – He gave Himself away
- Demonstration – He showed them how to live
- Delegation – He assigned them work
- Supervision – He kept check on them
- Reproduction – He expected them to reproduce
Robert Coleman’s – “The Master Plan of Evangelism”
Here are the 5 Disciple Coach Habits and how they correlate with Coleman’s 8 disciple making principles:
- Missional Values – CLICK HERE
- Consecration – He required obedience
- Delegation – He assigned them work
- Active Prayer – CLICK HERE
- Selection – men were His method
- Relational Connection – CLICK HERE
- Association – He stayed with them
- Impartation – He gave Himself away
- Disciple making Cycle – CLICK HERE
- Reproduction – He expected them to reproduce
- Strategic Partnerships – CLICK HERE
- Demonstration – He showed them how to live
- Supervision – He kept check on them
The Disciple Coach Quiz is designed to help you establish a baseline of where you are today. Secondly, for those you are discipling.
Each Disciple Coach Habit has a corresponding Coaching Guide. The guides are broken down into the following categories:
-
- Key Outcomes – Best practices for you to identify with as a disciple coach.
- Example – Read about ways to put the habit into practice.
- Reflection Questions – Discover new insights.
- Action Application – Apply the habit in your ministry as a disciple coach.
- Resource – Dig deeper to understand the habit.
- Challenge – Take the next step on your journey to reinforce the habit.
The Disciple Coach Quiz provides a baseline (strengths and weaknesses) and the coaching guide is designed for you to identify real actions you can take in the areas of desired growth. It also serves as a tool for you to ask those your are discipling to assess themselves and for you to coach them in their development.
We are in the final stretch of beta-testing the Disciple Coach Quiz and it will be ready any day now.
Thank you to those who are providing feedback as we get ready to launch.
Recommended book on the principles of disciple making
by Gary Reinecke | May 3, 2021 | Disciplemaking |
As we approach the launch of of the Disciple Coach Quiz in a few weeks, we thought it might be helpful to explain the best ways to use the quiz to support your work as a Disciple Coach.
In his work as a regional leader supporting pastors and church planters to increase the health of their disciple making ministries, Glenn has invited leaders to take the quiz for their own awareness to accelerate their work as disciple makers. That is a good first step. Here are the three applications to gain the most from the Disciple Coach Quiz
What are the best ways to use the Disciple Coach Quiz?
- Good – take the quiz yourself!
- Like we mentioned above; this is an excellent first step. It will help you focus on the habit you need to develop to continue your journey. Awareness is a powerful exercise.
- Better – ask 1-3 of your most committed disciple makers to take the quiz!
- This builds on the previous application but now you are expanding your circle of influence so that you can more strategically support the disciple coaches you are coaching. You might want to function like a peer-to-peer learning community to share insights you are discovering along the way. You might want to consider meeting periodically to reinforce the learnings along the way and facilitate those conversations using a coach approach.
- Best – from the group above, ask the most engaged disciple makers to share the quiz with people in their network!
- Invite them to do the same thing that you did with them. For the Disciple Coach it is natural to coach (listen and ask questions) of people they are supporting on their discipleship journey. The best kinds of people for this level of involvement are small group leaders, outward focused ministry teams and entrepreneurial types who are relationally connected to people far from God.
We are in the final stretch of beta-testing the Disciple Coach Quiz. It will be ready any day now. Would you consider taking it and giving us feedback on whether this is a helpful resource for you and those you are coaching on their discipleship journey?
by Gary Reinecke | May 1, 2021 | Disciplemaking |
One thing I’ve observed over the last three decades is that there are many resources available to make disciples.
I asked my friend Glenn (who serves in a regional role in a network of churches who are bent on making disciples, developing leaders and planting new churches) what church leaders need to move their disciplemaking efforts forward. What I should tell you about Glenn is that he is not a pastor. Glenn is a former businessman with a heart for helping churches become attractive communities where people, who are far from God, connect with Him. This is important because when we discussed what the churches really need in his region, he was coming from the perspective of a highly engaged leader in his church, who is struggling through the challenge of making disciples in the Harvest and then resourcing pastors and church planters to empower their people.
Glenn and me discussed the question at length. We agreed that the pastors did not need another book. Just for fun I googled “disciple making books” and found 78,800,000 results.
Two observations we made:
- Focus on Implementation: we observed that the missing piece for leaders we are serving is taking action.
- Self-discovery is Critical: we also observed that most leaders in ministry are trained to speak and communicate knowledge. Unique to this time is the need to listen – truly listen. We believe there is a need to shift to an approach based on self-discovery (listening and asking questions). This is why we have described the disciple maker as a Disciple Coach – a person that comes alongside people to help them discover the next step they sense God wants them to take on their discipleship journey.
This changed our focus from creating content to helping leaders identify areas disciple makers need support to accelerate their efforts into the second, third and fourth generation! This is precisely why we have worked hard at understanding the habits of a Disciple Coach. Jesus conveyed knowledge (in word and deed) in conjunction with authentic relationship – as he empowered His disciples! We simply wanted to understand the nature of the support He provided. That helped us refocus our energy from content to support. I like the term “content agnostic” to describe the approach we used. The way you make disciples needs to fit you and your ministry. That is not what the habits are intended to accomplish. We focused on the best ways to support the work a disciple needs to be fruitful.
See our previous blogs under each of the 5 Disciple Coach Habits:
- Missional Values – CLICK HERE
- Active Prayer – CLICK HERE
- Relational Connection – CLICK HERE
- Disciple making Cycle – CLICK HERE
- Strategic Partnerships – CLICK HERE
Our journey to support the work of disciple makers, has led us to develop an online quiz.
We are committed to help pastors, church planters and missionaries (like Glenn) assess the kind of support they need. Over the course of the next few blogs I will be sharing the various aspects of the quiz and the report you will receive explaining your quiz results:
- Score Breakdown – graph of your current strengths and weaknesses as a Disciple Coach (see image above)
- Key Areas – a brief explanation of the area you need to focus, linked to a coaching guide to help you develop this area
- Book a free call – you will be invited to schedule a no-obligation, free 25-minute Zoom call with me.
Would you consider taking the quiz and providing feedback for us? We are curious if what we have developed will be of help to you and those you are partnering with to make disciples. I look forward to sharing the various applications of the quiz leading up to the launch later this month.
by Gary Reinecke | Apr 23, 2021 | Disciplemaking |
One of the things I’ve observed over the last 30+ years there are infinite ways to make disciples.
You are only limited by your imagination. From organic to highly programmatic. New approaches are being developed as you read this blog.
I am focusing on the absolute minimum support a discipler or disciplemaker requires to make disciples. Specifically if the discipler has adopted a coach approach because the people the disciple coach is engaging with have aborted absolute Truth, are highly individualistic and secular. I have been addressing the bare essentials a disciple coach needs to sustain their ministry in the previous blogs.
Here are the first four habits of a disciple coach:
- Missional Values
- Active Prayer
- Relational Connections
- Disciplemaking Cycle
The fifth and final habit is Strategic Partnerships.
Partnerships that support disciplemaking relationships are multi-faceted and keep the disciple coach on-mission:
- Partnership with God
- Partnership with those the disciple coach has engaged with on their spiritual journey
- Partnerships with trusted mentors
It would be easy to focus on any of these to the exclusion of the other two or to focus on two and miss the third. Best case scenario is to have all three going on to some degree but that can’t always be the case – but is optimum. Here is a simple example.
As a disciple coach you and I are doing life in community of a small group of other disciple coaches who are on-mission loving God, loving their neighbor and making disciples. Partnerships within the group encourage and support the three values. When a disciple takes the next step on their spiritual journey to find and follow Jesus – it is celebrated! This might take the form of an act of service, a generous gift of one’s resources or taking a step of faith to pray for the very first time. Whatever it is – the group synergistically supports the work of the disciple coach.
The other Strategic Partnerships the disciple coach nurtures is with not-yet Christians. Right now, during varying degrees of lock-down around the country and the globe – developing new relationships is complicated. The situation solicits creative ideas. A church planter that I work with has launched a virtual Youth Alpha. This has provided an opportunity to form small pods of young people to emerge where redemptive relationships are being formed that will growth as the church transitions to in-person gatherings. Whatever the needs, the Lord instills creative ideas in the minds and hearts if disciple coaches – even during the most challenging times.
This completes the list. I am sure you have some thought of what else a disciple coach needs to support the work of making disciples. Would you please e-mail me your thoughts or enter your ideas un the “reply box” below.
