This article is the second in a series of articles on Church-Planting and Disciple-Making Movements. In our first article, we explored the history and core characteristics of these multiplying movements (MMs for shore). In today’s article, I’d like to overview and analyze the first main strategy that movement leaders emphasize.
Non Negotiable Strategies
What are the essential strategies, methods, and practices that are necessary to launch a movement? Because advocates of MMs believe that they have recaptured the missionary methods of Jesus and his apostles, each element that they have identified as strategic to a movement is considered non-negotiable. “If something is truly strategic, then without it in place the plan will fail… Being a disciple who makes disciples, prayer, engagement, Persons of Peace, Discovery Groups, establishing churches, and leadership development are all strategic. If you remove any of these elements, you won’t have a movement, period.”[1]
Each strategy that leaders have identified as integral to movements will be explained and evaluated in this and other future articles. But today, we’ll begin with the foundational strategy: disciples who make disciples.
Disciples Who Make Disciples
Being a disciple who makes disciples is the foundation for each element and strategy of multiplying movements. The Watsons note, “Disciple-making and church-planting don’t begin with a strategy; they begin with me. Am I the person God called me to be? Until I change and become someone who loves God with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength, why would I expect God to use me?”[2]
Differing Definitions of a Disciple
Sounds good, right? But what exactly is a disciple? Practitioners offer different definitions based on divergent theological beliefs about faith and conversion. For example, according to Steve Addison, disciples are those who decisively turn from their old way of life, place their faith in Christ, obey Jesus’ teachings, depend on God’s Spirit, and commit themselves to God’s mission.[3] If we interpret this definition as graciously as possible, Addison seems to be arguing that obedience to Christ springs from genuine repentance and faith in Christ. However, it’s not explicitly clear how Addison views the relationship between obedience and faith. This lack of clarity, as we’ll see below, is no trivial matter.
Another major movement advocate and leader, Jerry Trousdale, argues for a historically evangelical understanding of the doctrines of faith and conversion. This is encouraging. Trousdale affirms the Reformed solas and rejects common “cheap grace” deviations from the gospel (ex. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, the Prosperity Gospel, and the Therapeutic Gospel). [4] Trousdale notes that saving faith is characterized by knowledge, assent, and trust.[5] Faith alone, however, is not a faith devoid of the fruit of new desires and submission to Christ. “Sola gratia and sola fide should lead us to delight in God’s law, to obey all that Jesus commanded, and to live a life full of love and good works. True faith implies nothing less. And that is precisely what too many churches are not teaching.”[6] Sadly, however, the practices and methods that he argues for undermine his stated beliefs.
Unlike Addison and Trousdale, the Watsons articulate a definition of faith that disturbingly deviates from historic evangelical theology. They define faith as continual obedience to the commands of Christ in every situation or circumstance, regardless of the consequences.[7] A disciple is therefore defined as someone “who embraces and obeys all the teachings of Jesus and endeavors by word and deed to make more disciples.”[8] Based on their own statements, it appears that they equate faith with obedience. This conflation undergirds the Obedience-Based Discipleship (OBD) model of ministry that they deem as essential for MMs.
Obedience-Based Discipleship
The OBD model for church planting is the heart and soul of MMs. Practitioners believe that churches must shift from “knowledge-based discipleship” to emphasize obedience to Jesus’ commands above all else. The basis for this emphasis is taken from Christ’s command to “teach them to obey all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20). According to Trousdale, “Obedience is the essence of discipleship and is central to the gospel that Jesus taught. If we aren’t teaching people to obey everything that Jesus commanded, we aren’t proclaiming the Gospel that He preached.”[9]The Watsons believe that obedience is not only the essence of discipleship but also the means by which people experience God’s grace. “Every time we open God’s Word, He invites us into relationship. We call His invitation ‘grace’ because we can’t do anything to deserve it. Obedience is how we accept His invitation.”[10]
In short, obedience, not faith, is the sine qua non of discipleship.
Obedience Before Faith?
Using the OBD model of ministry, disciple-makers encourage unbelievers to obey the commands of Scripture even if they have not yet professed faith in Christ. Unlike traditional missionary methods, which emphasize gospel proclamation and a response of repentance and faith, MM practitioners encourage unbelievers to learn to obey before they believe. According to OBD advocates, obedience precedes conversion. Unbelievers who attend Discovery Bible Studies are exhorted to obey what they are learning from God’s Word even if they are undecided about the gospel. Weekly accountability questions are designed to test their resolve and commitment to put God’s Word into action.
An Evaluation
What we do ultimately flows out of who we are. Ministry for Christ should flow out a disciple’s abiding fellowship with Christ. The importance of disciples making disciples is unequivocally biblical. MM advocates do well to emphasize the importance of being and not just doing. Sadly, however, MM teachers greatly err in their theology and practice of discipleship.
Gospel Compromise
By equating faith with obedience, advocates like the Watsons are unintentionally compromising the very essence of the gospel. Kelbe wisely notes,
“Obedience-based discipleship ultimately undermines the core protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone. Obedience is already a part of indigenous works-based religions. Therefore, Christianity must strive to emphasize the Gospel of justification by faith alone, which in turn leads to obedience… By stressing obedience, disciple-making movements risk making Christianity another works-based religion for disciples who are taught that obedience is the essence of faith.”[11]
Reversing the Gospel Order
Not all practitioners would affirm the Watsons’ conflation of obedience with faith. However, by emphasizing obedience before faith, they undermine the true nature of both and reverse the gospel order. Obedience is not mere outward conformity to the standards or commands of Scripture. Rather, it is a submissive, faith-filled response to who God is and what He has revealed in His Word. True obedience can only come from a heart that is regenerate. In Romans 1:5, Paul refers to this obedience as an obedience that springs from faith. An unregenerate man, according to Romans 8:7, can’t obey from the heart; therefore, his “obedience,” regardless of how sincere it might be, is unprofitable.
To encourage someone to outwardly do Christian things in the hopes that they might eventually become converted is to place the proverbial cart before the horse. The gospel must first be proclaimed. Unbelievers must repent and believe before they can be discipled to live a life of submission and obedience to Christ. To encourage someone to demonstrate the evidence of regeneration before showing them their need for it distorts the biblical order. Far too often, this distortion leads unbelievers to embrace a works-based veneer of Christianity that falls short of saving faith.
Discipleship before Conversion?
MM leaders often claim that Christ “discipled” people to faith by emphasizing obedience before understanding, faith, and conversion. Trousdale notes,
“The church today is preaching to produce conversion; then teaching to increase knowledge; then giving periodic attention, usually in sermons, to encourage converts to obey what they have learned. Jesus’ strategy was different… what Jesus did with the Twelve is just the opposite: He discipled them to conversion. He selected the Twelve and spent more than three years with them. They went where He went, asking questions, watching what He did, doing it with Him, and then doing it by themselves, being coached and mentored to be obedient disciples. Then one day, He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). All those years, Jesus was revealing Himself to the Twelve. He brought them from the point of not knowing Him to the point where they discovered who He really was and were ready to follow Him anywhere, even to die for Him. This is the model of disciple-making that Jesus gave us.”[12]
Not so Fast…
Did Jesus actually “disciple” His early followers to obey before they believed? Does Jesus intend His church to follow a “obedience before faith” method of disciple-making? Based on a clear reading of the Gospels, it appears that MM advocates have either misunderstood or misrepresented Jesus’ example. Christ’s first message after His baptism and wilderness testing was to “repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). John the Baptist, as well as Jesus first four followers, professed faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God (John 1:29-34; 43-51). The disciples struggled at times to trust Christ, but this struggle is not surprising given where they were in redemptive history. Jesus had not yet died and risen again. The Holy Spirit had not been given. There was a great deal of confusion about the nature and mission of the Messiah. When Jesus did rise from the dead, He gave them a fuller understanding of God’s redemptive purposes from the Scriptures and commissioned them to preach the gospel (Luke 24:44-47). The apostles rightly understood this commission and began preaching the necessity of repentance and faith in Christ (see Acts 2:14-41; 3:11-26; 4:8-11; 7:1-54; etc).
As Chad Vegas with Radius International notes, “We never see a command, nor a pattern, from our Lord, not his Apostles, where unbelievers are discipled through regular obedience until they finally have sufficient trust in Christ to be baptized. Rather, the consistent method is the proclamation of the doctrine of the gospel. The proper response is faith and repentance, followed by baptism and teaching toward maturity in Christ.”[13]
Discipleship Over Doctrine?
MM advocates have rejected what they perceive as an overemphasis on knowledge in traditional or proclamational models of church ministry. They claim that an emphasis on knowledge and doctrine leads to nominalism and consumer-based Christianity. They point to things like sermons, Sunday School classes, Bible studies, and seminary training as hindrances to the Great Commission and the kind of obedience-based discipleship that Jesus taught and modeled. “When institutions that promote branded Christianity begin to plant the Gospel, make obedient disciples of Christ, and forget their own pet doctrines and practices, we will see the Great Commission fulfilled in a generation.”[14]
Should churches forget about doctrinal distinctives and focus instead on making obedient disciples? Should the pursuit of doctrinal depth and obedient living be pitted against each other? Knowledge and obedience are distinct, of course, but not inseparable. The Bible makes it clear that both are necessary for life and godliness.[15] To promote one at the expense of the other is to present an imbalanced view of the Christian life that is opposite of what is found and taught in the New Testament.
[1] David Watson and Paul Watson, Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Faith (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014), 61. It is important to note here that the Watsons are not uninfluential or secondary leaders in the multiplying movement world. Their teachings have shaped many of the key resources that are being used to train churches and mission organizations in multiplying movement strategies.
[2] Watson and Watson, 78.
[3] Steve Addison, The Rise and Fall of Movements: A Roadmap for Leaders (100Movements Publishing, 2019), 33-34.
[4] Jerry Trousdale and Glenn Sunshine, The Kingdom Unleashed: How Jesus’ 1st-Century Values Are Transforming Thousands of Cultures and Awakening His Church (Murfreesboro, TN: DMM Library, 2018), 115-117.
[5] Trousdale and Sunshine, 106-107.
[6] Trousdale and Sunshine, 115.
[7] Watson and Watson, Contagious Disciple Making, 15.
[8] Watson and Watson, 47.
[9] Trousdale and Sunshine, The Kingdom Unleashed, 105-106.
[10] Watson and Watson, Contagious Disciple Making, 156.
[11] Robert Kelbe, “Disciple-Making Movements,” Gentle Reformation (blog), June 29, 2021, https://gentlereformation.com/2021/06/29/disciple-making-movements.
[12] Trousdale, Miraculous Movements, 101.
[13] Chad Vegas, “A Brief Guide to DMM: Defining and Evaluating the Ideas Impacting Missions Today” (Radius International, June 2018), https://radiusinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/A-Brief-Guide-to-DMM-Defining-and-Evaluating-the-Ideas-Impacting-Missions-Today-with-cover.pdf, 6.
[14] Watson and Watson, Contagious Disciple Making, 27. The Watsons use the term “branded” to refer to churches that adhere to historic, systematic doctrinal distinctives and beliefs.
[15] According to I John, knowledge, love, and obedience are the hallmark characteristics of the Christian’s life.
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