When was the last time you went to a Followership Conference?
In his podcast, Napkin Scribbles, my friend Len Sweet made a statement in a January 2022 episode on discipleship that was quite eye opening.
“We have lived in a culture for the past 30 years that has had an absolute fetish for leadership. How many leadership conferences have you been to, dozens? Ever been to a followership conference?”
The biblical label that identifies who we truly are is disciple, which means student or follower. The point Len is making is that first and foremost we are followers of Jesus. The Gospels have many references when Jesus said to someone, “follow me.” He didn’t say join me in an immersive leadership experience.
Now I know what you are thinking, God calls us to be leaders as well. That is true, but not everyone has been gifted with the tools and temperament to be a leader. But, we have all been called to follow. How is the church supposed to build up followers?
Here are three ideas to move you forward as you become a follower-led church.
#1 Help people to understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
A recent Barna Research report of US Christians identified data around discipleship in christian churches. 39% of US Christians are not involved in any discipleship activity either as a disciple or as a disciple maker. This is the largest percentage category, compared to 28% that identified themselves as disciples. When asked why they aren’t involved in becoming a disciple, 38% stated that they simply hadn’t thought about it.
The number one reason people aren’t pursuing a discipleship journey with Jesus through their local church is because it just hasn’t come up. Now I know you pastors out there are preaching on following Jesus, obeying his commands, and being servants for him. But obviously, 4 in 10 aren’t connecting this message with their life. How do we make that connection?
In my opinion we have to share the invitation to discipleship with our people in a way they can understand it and apply it to their lives. And we have to present the opportunity to our people in more than just a sermon. If you want more people to engage and take action, you have to give them a way to connect with the invitation and opt-in themselves.
#2 Invite your congregation to become followers, to make a real commitment to Jesus.
Over the past 50 years, many of our churches have lowered the bar on expectations for their people. We made the process for joining the church streamlined and somewhat simple to complete. Unfortunately, we were creating “members” and not disciples. Because that’s what the metrics required, that’s what the Bishop’s office needed, our numbers for the year, hopefully with a slight increase in the net membership.
My entire career, I have heard the laments of pastors complaining about the lack of involvement by their congregation. “We need more volunteers, we need more children’s Sunday School teachers, we need more…” The 20-30% of your congregation that is involved with serving and volunteering are most likely extroverts that self-selected themselves for the job at hand. It didn’t matter that that particular job wasn’t their passion or a strength, they were a willing and warm body.
How do you create more engagement in the local church? Simply raise the bar for your people and invite them to follow Jesus. You will be surprised how many more people will respond and the vitality of your congregation will exponentially increase!
#3 Guide your followers to accessing and following their disciple making journey.
Our responsibility as followers of Jesus is to build relationships with people that we will love into a relationship with Jesus too. Much like in the recovery community, our discipleship journey and growth should ultimately lead us into the role of disciple making. And quite honestly, most followers of Jesus don’t feel prepared to make disciples or even influence others.
In a proactive disciple making process, Disciple Making Guides play an integral role in developing, encouraging, and holding accountable disciples that are on their journey. Guides build relationships with “disciples-in-training” to help them not only navigate their journey, but find their path in the first place. And if your process is healthy and vital, your disciples will grow into guides and Disciple Makers.
If you're ready to explore how to build a culture of Jesus followers in your church, let us know. ChurchCMO is committed to guiding churches in their journey to proactively build more disciples. It’s not a cookie cutter or magic bullet solution, we want to help customize a process that fits your church and sets you on a path to vitality and growth in your congregation! Click the link below to schedule a free conversation.
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PS - If you are looking for help getting started, check out our eBooklet, Disciple Maker, for some more details and ideas about how to be proactive in your disciple making.