Digital Discipleship
Imagine onboarding a new team member into your organization. How successful would she be if you introduced her to a handful of people, showed her to her desk, and then left her all alone? Perhaps she would try to mirror the efforts of other teammates. Perhaps she would fold her hands and do nothing. Perhaps she would make some attempt to do work in the ways she thought best. This scenario conveys a lack of formal training, or onboarding, and it will lead to a host of problems. You can imagine!
In the world of churches, the term used for onboarding or teaching a person of faith is called “discipleship,” which is a structured approach to spiritual growth that also proactively connects individuals to one another. A formalized training system, or a discipleship pathway, proves integral to the development of church attendees into mature, biblically literate, and equipped leaders. The key to this component of organizational leadership is that it occurs best in the context of relationships. Does your organization have such a clear system in place? And is the expectation known that everyone should be continually growing and learning?
A formalized system for discipleship (training for growth) comes with great benefits:
• Increasing engagement
• Developing teams and building unity
• Helping to identify, equip, and provide opportunities for new leaders
Spiritual growth happens most effectively in the context of disciplining relationships, just as on-the-job training is most effective through team members’ investment. We don’t sit someone in front of a computer to learn spiritual growth practices, nor do you rely solely on computer-based learning to prepare employees with all the knowledge, skills, and mindset they need to succeed in their roles. What would you say is the single-most effective means of producing a well-trained individual? Comprehensive development occurs through relationships, as some skills are more “caught” by continual observation than “taught.” Here are components that you can establish, implement, and communicate in your organization to establish an effective pathway to discipleship.
• Pair new members with seasoned believers to facilitate growth
• Expect senior leaders and staff to participate in discipling others
• Ensure that your leaders are well-trained and possess resources to be successful
• Create a communication portal to you (or your designees) to discuss progress and provide accountability
• Regularly evaluate and adjust the discipleship process to ensure it meets the needs of your organization
Sadly, only 39% of Christians are involved in any form of discipleship. Agreeing to someone else, perhaps a stranger, coming alongside you to discuss Scripture, pray with you, speak candidly about life, challenge your thinking…that can be intimidating! People also blame the busyness of life while others minimize the need for such development. Compounding that percentage is the fact that over half of U.S. pastors in a recent survey list disciple-making a top skill they need to invest in. If the captain of the ship doesn’t actively demonstrate or promote discipleship, the rest of the crew will struggle to see their need for it. And isn’t disciple-making The Main Thing for people of faith?
Pastors must prioritize this soul-on-soul mentorship and, to help them, they can implement digital discipleship as a resource, alongside the human-to-human relationships that cannot be replaced. There are some amazing discipleship tools available online so people can easily incorporate them into their daily lives. While the message remains the same, the delivery methods have been adapted. Digital discipleship isn’t going anywhere, and churches that want to grow should strategically invest in it. Without a digital delivery system for your discipleship strategy that goes with your people seven days a week, your strategy is less than ideal. Make a change!