Making disciples was the Great Commission Jesus gave his followers before he returned to heaven, but are churches actually helping disciples in our churches to grow?
Recently, Lifeway Research conducted surveys of Protestant pastors and churchgoers to share findings about the state of discipleship in the U.S. today.
A practical way of thinking about local church discipleship is intentionally encouraging believers to follow Christ more closely. The survey of pastors gives us insight into how churches aim to develop healthy, mature Christians.
Many Approaches
Following Christ is multifaceted. We need to develop many spiritual skills in addition to thinking like Christ and loving like him.
We asked pastors about the approaches their churches use to disciple and encourage the spiritual development of adults in their congregations. Nine approaches were listed, and the typical pastor identifies more than four approaches used in their congregation. The five most common approaches used to disciple adults are sermons during weekly worship services (89%), adult Sunday school classes (69%), adult small group Bible studies (62%), women’s groups/classes (57%), and pastor-led teaching times such as Sunday evenings or Wednesday evenings (54%).
When asked to pick the one approach that is the most important discipling ministry for adults in their church, one-third said their weekly sermons, around one-third said small group Bible studies or Sunday school classes, and one-third were spread among the other options.
It is commendable that churches use multiple approaches to encourage the spiritual development of believers. There isn’t a single practice, discipline or group activity that by itself is effective at helping believers develop in every area.
Mixed Results
If success is measured by activity alone, most churches could be considered very effective at discipleship. But a disciple’s progress requires becoming more like Christ in many areas of life.
More than 8 in 10 pastors say their congregation is making significant progress in their spiritual development (84%). At first this total looks great, but only 22% strongly agree, while 62% somewhat agree with that statement.
In other words, it is very common to have examples of significant progress in individuals’ lives, but less than 1 in 4 churches wholeheartedly believe this type of progress exists across their entire congregation. Those with partial agreement could be disappointed with the extent of the transformation, how many are experiencing the development, or how often the progress is seen.
This is likely why only half of Protestant pastors (52%) are satisfied with the state of discipleship and spiritual formation in their church, including only 8% who strongly agree. Similarly, only 49% of pastors believe their church’s discipleship strategy is effective, including only 7% who strongly agree.
Room for Improvement
The discipleship survey also listed six church functions that resemble practices of the early church described in the Book of Acts. We asked Protestant pastors to rank them in order from what their church is best at to what needs the most improvement. On average, corporate worship was ranked best, followed by serving others, prayer, building community, discipleship and finally outreach and evangelism as the area most needing improvement. The function selected best by the fewest pastors was discipleship (11%).
The six church functions listed on the survey are all things that every church should be seeking to excel at in some form. But if we are honest, churches rarely deserve an outstanding rating for every one of these functions. Churches tend to gravitate toward doing a couple of things well. As resources, time and talent move in that direction, other types of ministry work often slip.
Ranking these was likely uncomfortable for some pastors. Church leaders often avoid evaluating their ministries, perhaps because of a desire not to offend, a perception that there isn’t time to devote to another area, or being content to be good enough. Case in point: When pastors were asked whether they regularly evaluate their discipleship progress in their congregation, only 29% say they do.
Another question listed those six church functions and six common ministries and asked pastors which three their church put the most time and effort into. Three in 4 include corporate worship (74%) in their top three. The next most common focuses— serving others (32%) and weekly small group Bible studies (32%)—were priorities at fewer than half as many churches. While there is no right or wrong answer to this question, there are implications for what is given more or less attention by a church.
Trailing those three, 30% of pastors say building community is a top-three focus, 28% choose prayer, 26% kids ministry and 24% discipleship. Fewer say outreach and evangelism (13%), student ministry (12%), and women’s ministry (11%). Far fewer place a top priority on men’s ministry (4%) and mentoring or micro groups (3%).
These 12 church functions and ministries overlap with each other. So, not selecting discipleship in the top three doesn’t mean a church fails to put time or effort into it. But with just 1 in 4 intentionally prioritizing it, it is not surprising that most pastors are disappointed with discipleship.
A Focus and a Plan
While we all likely hated the red pen our schoolteacher used to grade papers, their evaluation and corrections were necessary for us to improve. It also would be wise for leaders to take a red pen to their church’s discipleship efforts. It is too important to just let activities run their course. It’s not about assigning blame, but celebrating and improving.
More than 8 in 10 pastors say their church emphasizes the discipleship principles each believer should live out. But only 35% of pastors strongly agree these goals are clearly emphasized, and only half of pastors (52%) say their church has an intentional plan for discipling individuals in their congregation and encouraging their spiritual growth.
To create an intentional plan for growth, start with the end in mind by naming biblical outcomes that you want to be evident in the lives of disciples in your church. Once the goals are clear, seek to discover where disciples in your church are in their journey. Then design paths to encourage progress toward biblical outcomes.
A church’s discipleship approaches and activities will be most effective when the leaders and participants understand the biblical goals and are working together to reach those goals according to the established plan. Training can explain and encourage these goals among leaders who will then reinforce them with participants. Leaders will then be more likely to be aligned with this discipleship direction and celebrate the life changes they see.
Intentionality does not guarantee progress or future satisfaction with discipleship, but when leaders join together in this God-given mission with clarity, a focus on biblical outcomes and a clear plan, they are more likely to see people grow in Christlikeness and fulfill Jesus’ final instructions.