Implementation: Evangelism, Discipleship, and Leadership Development
Overview
On this page, we explain how we implement our strategy—focusing on the church’s cyclical functions in evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development. What specific strategies do we use in each area?
5-5-5 Networks: Our Overarching Framework for Multiplying Disciples and Churches
Evangelism: (1) Praying for, Serving, and Sharing Lives with Non-Christians, (2) Evangelistic Presentations to Individuals and Groups, and (3) Inviting Non-Christians to Our House Churches
Discipleship: (1) Gatherings of the Church in Homes, (2) Ministry Coaching, and (3) Daily Encouragement
Leadership Development: (1) The Leadership Training Program and (2) Elder Meetings
We have not singled out, for example, the category of worship, for we believe that worship is the ultimate motivation for each of the preceding categories.
Detailed Explanation
5-5-5 Networks
A 5-5-5 Network is a reproducible model for multiplying believers and church communities through evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development. It is the main tool we use to cast vision with men and women.
Evangelism
Praying for, Serving, and Sharing Lives with Non-Christians
We developed a series of lessons called Reaching Our Networks for Christ, which we encourage people to implement within their own networks of relationships. Our strategy consists of (1) clarifying our motives, (2) identifying our networks, (3) praying for ourselves and others, (4) caring for others, and (5) sharing our faith (see #2 below). Loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves drive our evangelistic efforts (Matt. 22:37–40).
Evangelistic Presentations to Individuals and Groups
We prioritize scheduling evangelistic meetings with individuals. For those meetings, we print out copies of The Path to God, which is a lesson for facilitating conversation with others on how to know God. Scheduling a meeting with someone is as simple as asking, “Would you be willing to meet with me for 60 minutes so we can study the basic truths about the Christian faith?”
We also schedule meetings with groups of people (networks of family members and friends) to introduce people to God through Jesus Christ. Here is one approach to starting an evangelistic Bible study: (1) pray for guidance from God, (2) invite others (such as your neighbors, friends, and family members) to study The Path to God with you, (3) establish a time and place to meet (e.g., Saturday nights from 5 to 7 p.m. at your house or church building), (4) pass out copies of The Path to God at the first meeting, and (5) share a meal together each week before you study the lessons. After you study The Path to God, invite them to study The Discipleship Series with you. These are helpful strategies if your goal is to start house churches in neighborhoods. Another approach: teach and discuss these lessons with people in your church, community, or other settings (like a jail or prison) to equip them to lead studies of their own. In time, proactively coach them through steps (1) through (5) above.
Inviting Non-Christians to Our House Churches
We invite non-Christians to our private gatherings, where we explain the gospel at most meetings, not only through the Bible lessons but also as we explain the nature of the Lord’s Supper.
Discipleship
1. Gatherings of the Church in Homes
The early Christians gathered in homes, which provided them an ideal context to care for the less fortunate members of society (particularly through providing them a meal), and to evangelize non-Christians and to disciple Christians in more personalized ways (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2). In a document called Gathering in Homes: The Weekly Assembly of the Church, we explain our gatherings in more detail. On that web page, we also outline how we structure our gatherings, which typically last two and a half to three hours.
We gather:
to enjoy fellowship with God and one another—through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit.
to take Lord’s Supper in the context of a meal, with the bread and the cup as the bookends of our gatherings.
to explain and apply God’s Word in a more personalized setting.
to pray together, particularly as it relates to one another’s ministries and personal needs.
to minister to another’s physical and spiritual needs (through using our spiritual gifts and applying the Word of God to one another’s lives).
to share the gospel with the non-Christians who attend those gatherings.
to sing to God and speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
2. Ministry Coaching
We created a page called Ministry Coaching to facilitate giving or receiving ministry coaching with other Christians at least twice a month. You can use it as a married couple, with your adolescent or adult children, or in one-on-one conversations between two men or two women. The overarching purpose of this framework is to help Christians discuss, plan, and pray about how to advance Jesus’s Great Commission—to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19). This framework helps people share about (1) their relationship with God, (2) their relationships with others, (3) how they plan to evangelize those in their networks, and (4) how they plan to coach the Christians the Lord has called them to lead. The meeting concludes with (5) praying for one another.
3. Daily Encouragement
The author of Hebrews teaches us: “12 Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception” (Heb. 3:12–13). With passages like that in mind, we strive to stay connected with one another throughout the week—through one on one meetings, texts, and phone calls. “How can I pray for you?” is one of the simplest ways to facilitate mutual encouragement and prayer.
Leadership Development
The Leadership Training Program
The Leadership Training Program is an incubator for men and women to grow in their skills to evangelize, disciple, and develop leaders. We spend each two-hour meeting praying for one another and those in our networks, studying two or more chapters of the Bible, and studying other books that develop our ministry skills.
Elder Meetings
Elder meetings are both a core leadership function of churches and an opportunity for men to grow as leaders, given that we learn through planning to do God’s work, and through sharing and evaluating our ministry efforts. When we meet as elders, we follow this agenda:
Prayer
Leadership Training through Discussions of Books and Articles
Individual Updates and Feedback on One Another’s Ministries
Strategize and Align Resources
a. Evangelism
b. Discipleship
c. Leadership Development
d. Church Planting
e. Network Communication
Identify and Delegate Tasks to be Completed
Prayer