{"id":751776,"date":"2021-07-22T05:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=751776"},"modified":"2021-07-21T07:11:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T12:11:02","slug":"an-operating-system-for-making-disciples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/an-operating-system-for-making-disciples\/","title":{"rendered":"An \u201cOperating System\u201d for Making Disciples"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Friday morning, the Lead Pastor of a young, thriving church sits at Chick-fil-a with his men\u2019s group. As he looks around the table, he notices two things: 1) only half the guys in his group are present, and 2) of the ones there, only half came prepared.\u00a0<\/span>And this is the Lead Pastor\u2019s group!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0His conclusion: \u201cIf this is our primary discipleship process, we\u2019re in trouble.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a common sentiment I hear from church leaders. What they\u2019re doing is working. They\u2019re growing \u2026 more people, more events, more money, more groups \u2026 but they struggle where many churches struggle \u2026 helping their people become all-in leaders and disciple-makers, not just disciples.<\/span><\/p>\n

What these churches need isn\u2019t a whole new model when it comes to discipleship and community, but they might need an updated operating system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think about it this way: every year, Apple comes out with a new version of the iPhone and a new operating system. Most Apple users don\u2019t get a brand-new phone every year, but they do update their current phone to the new operating system. Why? Because it improves the performance of their phone and all their apps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Radical Mentoring is an operating system for making disciples.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Ok, great, but what does that mean? What does this new operating system \u201cdo?\u201d What new features and improvements will it bring to my church? Here are four ways small group mentoring can \u201cupgrade\u201d your current discipleship process:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Safe Space for Vulnerability. <\/b>Having everyone share their full, no-holding-back faith story, starting with the mentor, creates a safe space for vulnerability and accountability that puts relationship ahead of content.<\/span> This empowers the group to go further, faster and leads to conversations that matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Authentic Community.<\/b> By focusing on stories, mentoring groups create an environment for people to be real, encourage each other, and drive relationships deep.<\/span>\u00a0Of the 450+ people surveyed after their mentoring season, 95% said they experienced authentic community in their group, and 88% described their group\u2019s relationships as \u201cvery deep\u201d or \u201cdeep.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. More Capable Leaders.<\/b> Every church needs more leaders, and they need the leaders they have to grow. <\/span>Spending intentional time covering important topics under the guidance of a mentor will increase anyone\u2019s leadership capacity.<\/span> And it allows churches to identify people who never felt able or qualified to lead, give them assurance that they can, and\u00a0mobilize them into service.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Increased Intentionality<\/b>. When our involvement is optional, when we can go or not go, take it or leave it, then our hearts won\u2019t be in it. In a mentoring group, mentees have to apply and then sign a covenant, saying they\u2019ll show up on time, every time, having read a book and completed their homework assignments. This level of intentionality leads to growth and change and will spill over into other aspects of a mentee\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Small group mentoring works best as an extension of your current discipleship model. The people who graduate from a mentoring group have spent nine to twelve months learning from an older, wiser mentor and developing deep, authentic relationships with a group of people. They not only become better spouses, parents, friends, and Jesus-followers, they go back into their small groups, Bible studies, and church-wide events and improve the quality of these activities, bringing the authenticity and intentionality they learned during their mentoring season.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lead Pastor I mentioned at the top? Small group mentoring has become the foundation of their church\u2019s discipleship process. Here\u2019s how they look at it now\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

101: Events \u2013<\/b>\u00a0periodic events (i.e., men\u2019s hike, women\u2019s gathering, etc.) aimed to inspire people and encourage them to take a next step and serve or get into a group.<\/span><\/p>\n

201: LifeGroups \u2013<\/b>\u00a0weekly small groups aimed to help people \u201clearn about God, pray, eat, laugh, and share life\u201d with others in their church community<\/span><\/p>\n

301: Mentoring Groups \u2013<\/b>\u00a0high commitment groups that meet for 3 hours, once a month, for 9 months, aimed to \u201cyield a deeper walk with God and a biblical perspective on many aspects of life\u201d under the guidance of older, wiser co-mentors.<\/span><\/p>\n

That same pastor had this to say about how it\u2019s worked, \u201c<\/span>Radical Mentoring is the\u00a0best thing we have done\u00a0because it is helping us make more mature followers of Christ\u2026it gives<\/span><\/i> people tools to be lifelong disciple-makers.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen this work at <\/span>churches of all shapes and sizes<\/span><\/a>, and we\u2019d love to help you explore how small group mentoring can enhance your church\u2019s discipleship system. And the best part,\u00a0<\/span>our entire resource library<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is available to you for free. When you\u00a0<\/span>go here to get access<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019ll receive everything you need to launch\u00a0<\/span>Radical Mentoring<\/span><\/a>\u00a0groups for men or\u00a0<\/span>Known Collective<\/span><\/a>\u00a0groups for women, including our coaching and guidance.\u00a0<\/span>Learn more here.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One Friday morning, the Lead Pastor of a young, thriving church sits at Chick-fil-a with his men\u2019s group. As he looks around the table, he notices two things: 1) only half the guys in his group are present, and 2) of the ones there, only half came prepared.\u00a0And this is the Lead Pastor\u2019s group!\u00a0His conclusion:…","protected":false},"author":9031,"featured_media":751778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,175,177,178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-751776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-grow","category-lead","category-membership-and-assimilation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAn \u201cOperating System\u201d for Making Disciples | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Small group mentoring works best as an extension of your current discipleship model. 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