As we were led to define and champion the kind of disciple God is building up for our specific mission and context, we became more unified around our mission and passionate about our people. It’s been an invaluable process for our team and church!

You can only disciple insomuch as who you are as a church. The process of developing a picture of our Dream Disciple was not only clarifying for our leadership but captured the essence of our congregation that created a collective hope that was attainable not just aspirational.

We have operated for decades with vague spiritual aspirations for our congregation. But naming our Dream Disciple was a game-changer in that it helped us to define specific outcomes for individuals to embody as followers of Jesus. These new measures will help us in mobilizing our congregation to address the unique spiritual needs of our community.

By naming the dream disciple, we have experienced members who are able to say, “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” There is a growing sensitivity to the Holy Spirit coupled with an increased intentionality in equipping others.

While in the military I learned a useful phrase when learning how to hit a target: “Aim small, miss small.” By naming our Dream Disciples I have learned what the bullseye is for making disciples in my community! Most importantly, my church knows what to aim for when it comes to making and multiplying Christ followers. 

We all want to be great disciples of Jesus and make more disciples for Jesus, but we weren’t doing great at either- mostly because we could never quite figure out how to measure discipleship. The process of discovering our dream disciple roles was like finally seeing a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Not only do we know where we’re going, but we’ll know when we have arrived.

It’s been a game changer to have shared language around the kind of disciple we are seeking to be and reproduce. Having the clarity around the kind of disciple we’re developing has our whole team pulling in the same direction. I also feel more empowered since we have created a reproducible disciplining pattern. If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, a repeatable pattern has been established that those I’m discipling will continue.