CREATING A CULTURE FOR MAKING DISCIPLES

Written By Joe Kellough

MARK W. PFEIFER

AUTHOR’S NOTE: If you are not familiar with the concept of 5D, please read this overview first: https://docdro.id/a72Z1Os

Before implementing the nuts and bolts of 5D in a local church, we must assure the environment of the church is adequate to support it.

If a church is built to entertain the saints instead of equipping them, the process of making disciples won't work.

Making a disciple takes patience, discipline and intentionality on a personal level.  Only people who are "saints (hagiōn // Eph.4:11)" can be equipped.  These are people who are passionately pursuing God and are set apart from the world.

To "equip (katartismon)" these dedicated saints means that leaders in the church must help align them, restore them and empower them for the work of ministry.

In short, we are called to help people find their place in the Body of Christ so the whole church can mature and reach its full potential.

Here's how Paul puts it in the next four verses:

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

A local church, therefore, must be as dedicated to reaching qualitative goals as it is reaching quantitative goals.

Churches described as being "an inch deep and a mile wide" may not have the necessary culture to make disciples and equip them for ministry as this passage indicates.

WHAT IS A CULTURE?

The word, culture comes from the Latin word that describes cultivating land for growing food.  Therefore, culture is a space that has been deliberately separated and prepared to bear fruit.

Creating a culture is described by Arnold J. Toynbee in Volume Two of His Twelve Volume classic, A Study of History as a "field of action."

This describes when two or more people share a common space and determine intuitively what is acceptable and unacceptable in that space with their fellowship.

Over time, these shared qualities create a cultivated space where all parties interact fruitfully.

USING ANCIENT ISRAEL AS A MODEL OF DISCIPLESHIP

Let’s turn our attention to ancient Israel as an example of how God created a culture in their midst.

What God give Israel transformed them from a group of slaves coming out of Egypt into a functioning nation that was the light to the world.

1. He gave them a moral Law that made them unique among other people.

2. He gave them a land with borders that distinguished them from other nations.

3. He gave them a shared common narrative that united them.

4. He gave them repeating rituals that reaffirmed them their uniqueness.

5. He gave them a common vocabulary and language to describe their uniqueness.

God created a distinctive alternative from the tribes on one extreme and empires that existed on the other extreme at that time.

He gave Israel the basis for becoming a constitutional nation-state, tasked with being an example to all the world. They were to model a Kingdom culture that would attract attention and create influence among the nations that surrounded them.

Isaiah saw this as the purpose and said,

1 Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the Lord will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

- Isaiah 60:1-3

THIS IS THE SAME MANDATE FOR THE CHURCH

The same mandate for Israel is also true for the church.

  • If our culture is no different than the world...

  • If we have no sacred times, sacred spaces and sacred activities...

  • If we have no boundaries on our codes of conduct...

  • If we lose all our rituals and traditions...

  • If our language and behavior is no different than the world around us...

...how can we be a unique people that emits an attractive light for people to follow who are lost in darkness and chaos?

Cultures are created when people are bound together by common narratives, rules of behavior, established boundaries, meaningful rituals and communal language.

In the church, this must be the environment in which saints are developed and equipped by the five-dimensional ministries of Jesus listed in Ephesians 4:11.

We believe that a local church must have a disciple-making culture in order to develop 5D Disciples!

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: These are notes from our first USCAL Regional Roundtable held in Hinesville, Georgia.  This is a dialogue on making disciples in general and 5D in particular:

WHAT KIND OF DISCIPLES ARE WE MAKING?

Here are some other highlights of our conversation at the Roundtable:

1. We must be an Apostolic People!  We accomplish this by making disciples who understand their mission.

2. We must be a Prophetic People! We accomplish this by making disciples who understand spiritual things.

3. We must be an Evangelistic People! We accomplish this by making disciples who attractive to people looking for answers.

4. We must be a Pastoral People! We accomplish this by making disciples who understand how to love others and connect with the Body of Christ.

5. We must be a Teaching People! We accomplish this by making disciples who love and cherish the scripture.

WHAT PROBLEMS DOES 5D SOLVE?

If the purpose and success of any given church and/or business is solving problems, here are the problems 5D can address and help solve:

1. The problem of believing your life has no value and purpose.  The Apostolic Dimension helps people become missional, filling life with meaning.

2. The problem of feeling an inner void.  The Prophetic Dimension help people become spiritual, able to hear the voice of God and sense His presence.

3. The problem of not having influence.  The Evangelistic Dimension helps people become attractional with the best, most positive stories to share, starting with the Gospel.

4. The problem of being alone.  The Pastoral Dimension helps people become more familial and connect to others in the same spiritual family.

5. The problem of feeling confused and stagnant.  The Teaching Dimension helps people see the world through a Biblical lens.

IMAGINE HOW MANY WAYS 5D CAN EXPAND

Imagine what it would look like if we were truly able to create…

  • 5 Dimensional churches

  • 5 Dimensional leaders

  • 5 Dimensional businesses

  • 5 Dimensional families

  • 5 Dimensional individual

Each one being equally influenced with a Missional Dimension, Spiritual Dimension, Attractional Dimension, Familial Dimension and Intellectual Dimension!

CHRISTLIKENESS: CHRIST DEFUSED LIKE A PRISM INTO FIVE DIMENSIONS THAT SINGULARLY RECONSTITUTED IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS

Like a prism, the five-fold ministry defuse the single light of Jesus into five parts.  These five individual spectrums merge back into singularity in the life of each individual saint that aligns them in Christlikeness.

THE DISCIPLE-MAKING TRACK

The group decided these procedures might represent the disciple-making track in a local church:

1. Identify what a disciple looks like.  Make a list of characteristics.

2. Build personal relationships with people during the disciple-making process. Disciples aren't necessarily made in church services, classroom or in a volunteer capacity.  They are made by proximity to other human beings who deliberately and intentionally bring them along.

3. Let people know that they have a cross to carry.  It's s deeper death to self that we're ultimately after.  When a person hits a wall (and they will) it's the opportunity to die a deeper death.  There is only one way through the wall and that's under it.  Dig a grave and voluntarily die a deeper death to selfish desires.  Willingly accept your cross and let it kill you, expecting nothing in return.  That's when faith becomes a seed that dies and resurrects into greater fruitfulness.  The word "saints" in Ephesians 4:12 indicates a person who is passionately driven to live such a separated life unto the Lord.

4. Create structured leadership in the church who are examples of what you want people to become.  These leaders will become representatives of what you want younger Christians to see and immolate.  It only takes about 5% of the people in your church to change a culture if they are committed to being one of these saints.

HERE'S WHAT THE JOURNEY OF 5D OVER TIME MAY LOOK LIKE:

1. The Missional Journey - to become a Missional Person

  • Paint the picture of what we want to be

  • How to engage the world with a mission

  • You never just GO - you are SENT.  There's a big difference!

  • EXAMPLE: Paul

2. The Spiritual Journey - to become a Spiritual Person

  • Become aware of God's voice

  • Develop a love for scripture

  • Learn to worship passionately

  • Employ all the spiritual disciplines

  • Live a holy life

  • EXAMPLE: Joseph in the OT

3. The Attractional Journey - to become an Attractional Person

  • Learn to share your story

  • Develop people skills

  • Make a friend and bring a friend to church each week

  • EXAMPLE: Andrew

4. The Familial Journey - to become a Familial Person

  • Graft into the local church

  • Volunteer and make yourself useful

  • Join a life group and connect with others

  • EXAMPLE: Aquilla and Priscilla

5. The Intellectual Journey - to become an Intellectual Person

  • Read books on a variety of subjects

  • Identify uplifting podcasts

  • Enroll in a School of Ministry

  • Take notes and share them on social media

  • EXAMPLE: The Bereans

Joe Kellough
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