Introduction

As we continue our discussion on changes in church culture, another crucial paradigm shift for churches to thrive is a shift from a consumer culture to a discipleship culture.  Churches with members who want what they want are destined to die if they do not change.  Churches with members who prioritize ministering to other church members and attenders are churches that will survive the difficulties that face churches today.  If people come to a church because they like the music or the style of the service, or because it is “how they like church,” it is likely a consumer-driven ministry.  Consumer-driven ministries often have a large constituency who travel in from other towns around the area, and sometimes even drive right by good, Gospel preaching churches, because they are looking for something specific.  At one church where I served all of the deacons lived in towns other than the one where the church was located, and I know of multiple members who drove past more than one doctrinally sound church in order to get to the one they attended.  This is often commonplace in a consumer-driven ministry.  Now I am not knocking those who go to church in a town other than where they live, I am just trying to get you to consider why you might be, and if you have legitimate reasons or are just feeding a consumer mentality.  In a discipleship-driven ministry, however, people come for the preaching, or for the community, or because they simply want to be more like Jesus, and they recognize that this church can help them get there.  The reasoning and focus are drastically different!  One is in it for what they want, while the other is in it for what God wants them to be!  Churches that will thrive will develop a culture of discipleship.

I should clarify what I mean when I mention a culture of discipleship.  I could write a whole article on this topic alone (and perhaps I will) but let me just point out a few characteristics of a church with a discipleship culture.  First, they sacrifice controlling for training.  Consumer-minded churches are all about control.  People who have been at the church for many years (stakeholders) rarely give up control.  These types of churches have the same people in the same roles for years and years—the same song leaders, same sound workers, same Sunday school teachers, and they rarely train up new people to take over.  A church with a discipleship culture emphasizes training over-controlling.  In a discipleship-minded church, people are not marked by their roles in the church as chairman of some committee or head of a certain ministry.  What defines them is not their role or their desire to control an area of ministry.  Instead, the “stakeholders” of the church are working themselves out of a job because they are training other people to take over.  This is how the church ought to work if we are doing discipleship well—we are training our replacements.  This should be commonplace if the great commission is truly our mission.  A discipleship culture values training over-controlling, so instead of grappling for areas of leadership or ownership, members are focusing on who they can train to replace them.  After all, nobody lasts forever and none of us are indispensable!

Second, a church with a discipleship culture focuses on involving younger believers.  Consumers do not want other people involved; stakeholders do not allow other people to have control.  Why?  Because someone might change what they like!  This becomes a point of conflict in many churches when it comes to the younger generation—they are simply not allowed to take ownership or responsibility for fear that they might change something a stakeholder holds dear.  The result is oftentimes that churches with a consumer mentality like that I am describing have driven all of the young people away.  In a discipleship culture, however, involving younger believers is viewed as essential.  Handing ministry over to the next generation is something that starts out early.  A discipleship culture recognizes that the younger generation is the future of the church, and if a church drives the young people away, they are driving away the future of the church.  Therefore, churches with a discipleship culture focus on mentoring the younger and giving them a “seat at the table” in the ministry.  Rather than making them “put in their time” before they can really get involved, churches with a discipleship culture mentor younger believers into new roles and positions and bring them alongside older believers, so that the younger and older generations can work together to accomplish their same mission.

Third, a church with a discipleship culture understands levels of discipleship.  You do not have to look like everyone else in a church with a discipleship culture.  They are not going to jump all over you on your first Sunday for not wearing a suit coat and tie.  They recognize that discipleship is a process, and every believer goes through the process in a different way.  Rather than forcing every new believer or joining member to fit the “cookie-cutter mold” of what other members think spirituality looks like, discipleship-driven churches meet people where they are and help them to get to where they need to be.  These types of churches will prioritize vital internal growth practices, like spiritual disciplines, long before they focus on externals like what one wears to church if that is an emphasis at all.  They major in the majors and do not get too worried about the minors.  These types of churches recognize a certain priority when it comes to discipleship, and they give God the time to work without forcing new or younger believers into a mold.

Final Thoughts

These are some characteristics of a church that rejects the consumer model and embraces a discipleship culture.  Churches that survive will emphasize discipleship over consumerism.  They will prioritize helping people love Jesus and become more like Him over forcing them into their mold of what they believe a Christian looks like.  These churches are often full of young people because rather than being viewed as people who have to put in their time before they can do anything, they are discipled and trained into ministry roles where they can effectively serve God according to their gifting.  Churches that embrace this type of ministry philosophy are poised for growth in the future.

Questions to ask of your church:

1) What does discipleship look like at your church?  Does your church emphasize authentic relationships or just managing programs?

2) Who are the disciple-makers in your church?  Are the older believers as excited about discipleship and personal growth as the younger believers?   

3) What does your church prioritize in discipleship?  Is your church willing to give people the time and space for the Holy Spirit to help them grow, or does your church force newcomers into their cardboard cutout of spirituality?   

4) Is your church more concerned about keeping church the way it has always been, or do you emphasize adjusting in ways that allow the church to meet people where they are at?   

5) Where are the young people at your church?  Are they serving and involved in leadership?  Or has the older generation chased them away?