9/11/2021 by Larry Barker
Cars have a dashboard with gauges that keep you informed on oil pressure, water temperature, fuel level, and other important data. What does a discipleship dashboard look like and how can you gauge your progress from the first encounter you have with someone who is far from God? Should our approach be 100% organic or should there be more intentionality involved in the process? Spiritual endeavors require the Holy Spirit’s presence and direction. Prayer is not an optional component in the making of disciples. You must be obedient in doing what God guides you to do and then ask God to do what you cannot do.
Steve Pike in his book New Wave – Discovering the 21st Century Church builds metrics based on Luke 19:10 where Jesus makes it clear that His mission was to seek and to save that which is lost. Everything Jesus did as God incarnate can fit into one of these two categories. He was either deliberately connecting with people who were lost (seeking) like Zacchaeus and the woman at the well or He was deliberately helping followers (saving) to grow in grace and truth like the twelve disciples, Mary, and her sister Martha. Jesus said He had come to do the Father’s work and that was helping people find and follow Him.
Steve gives us excellent dashboard metrics and gauges that help us to track progress. This is not so we can count the numbers, but instead to focus on doing what Jesus called us to do; making disciples. How do we get the 99 sheep who have already been found to focus on seeking the one lost sheep? Too often we bypass the awareness, connections, and relationship stages to jump right into spiritual conversations. No trust has been built because they do not know us and are unsure of our motivation. It can sound more like a sales pitch where you need to seal the deal rather than the love of Christ compelling you to share the gospel.
Our discipleship metrics dashboard requires us to look at the following gauges. First is the Awareness Gauge: How many people in the last week have you made aware of you/the church in a positive way? This is the hardest metric to measure because it is hard to get a “real” number but strive to track it anyway. Then you need to be watching your Connections Gauge: In the last week, how many from the awareness category do you know by name, they know your name, and you are praying for them on a regular basis? You have learned their names, remembered their names and you are praying for them by name!
Now, as the Holy Spirit directs you, be watching the Relationships Gauge: How many from the connections category do you know their story, they know you know their story, and you connect with them on a regular basis (at least every 2-3 weeks)? Because you know “Richard’s” name you have a cup of coffee together! Because you know “Betty’s” name you go shopping together! Because you know the neighbor’s name and story you invited them over for dinner. The Spiritual Conversations Gauge asks this: How many from the relationships category know that you know Jesus and know you want them to know and/or grow in Jesus?
A great metric for all of us is: How many spiritual conversations did I have in the last month built off of awareness, connections, and relationships. The more you are making lost people aware of you, the more you are connecting with them by praying for them, the more you are building relationships with them, the more spiritual conversations you will have with them. They will not be as awkward or contrived but the natural flow of life because you cared enough to get to know them for who they are and remained engaged with them. These four gauges lead us into the other six gauges on the discipleship metrics dashboard.
The Belong Gauge: How many from the spiritual conversations category are you gathering together regularly in community? The Believe Gauge: How many from the belong category have made a public profession of faith? The Engage Gauge: How many from the believe category are engaged in the everyday life of the community of believers? The Grow Gauge: How many from the engage category are intentionally seeking to mature in their walk with Jesus? The Minister Gauge: How many from the grow category have found a place of regular ministry and service in the community of disciples?
Then the most often overlooked gauge, The Multiply Gauge: How many from the minister category have become activated disciple-makers by making people aware of them in a positive way, praying for people by name, cultivating redemptive relationships, enjoying spiritual conversations, inviting outsiders to belong, helping belongers believe, enabling believers to engage, encouraging the engagers to grow, challenging the growers to minister, and inspiring those ministering to multiply? This is why in missions we talk about Go, Disciple, Plant, and Repeat. Are we seeing discipleship occur to the fourth generation (II Timothy 2:2)?
Thanks again to my friend Steve Pike for his building a dashboard that enables us to gauge whether or not what we are doing is what Jesus called us to do: Making Disciples!