Our Purpose
Making Disciples who make Disciples
Making disciples was a priority for Jesus. It was one of the first things he did in his public ministry – calling disciples. He spent much of his last week before his crucifixion with the 12 in the upper room. When he appeared after his resurrection, it was to his disciples (the 12 and the wider 120 who believed). His last command was to his disciples to go and make other disciples.
These words are not only Jesus’ instructions to his original disciples. They are the words that birthed the church, and extend to all his disciples. At Dapto Anglican we are in the business of “making disciples who make disciples”.
Disciples are people who follow Jesus and imitate his life. They live how Jesus lived. We summarise the life of Jesus in our Discipleship Triangle. Disciples practice behaviours in one of four directions. We have distilled discipleship into four components: In, Out, Up and Core.
How do we make disciples?
IN are practices like belonging, pastoral care, welcoming and integration. Just as Jesus made time to be with and nurture his disciples, so we must do the same with each other.
OUT are our mission practices, where we enact, share, and talk about Jesus love. Jesus was on mission, he sent the 12 and the 72 on mission, and he sends us out in the world, just as father sent him.
UP are practices like prayer, bible study, attending church, and private devotions. Just as Jesus withdrew to spend time with God, so we must prioritise spending time with and listening to God.
CORE is less about specific actions, and more about our identity and centre. Disciples trust their master, and believe that in following his way they will find life. They put God first, love him with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. We are in Christ, and express our identity following him.
In – belonging to God’s family.
Out – sharing Jesus in a lost and broken world.
Up – engaging with God.
Core – centred and growing in Jesus.
How do we make disciples who make other disciples?
After three years of public ministry, Jesus has only 120 odd followers (Acts 1:15). Numerically you might say that was not a great success. But those first disciples made others, who made others, who made others, who changed the world.
At Dapto Anglican we are committed to equipping our people to go out into their workplaces and social clubs to be disciples-makers for Jesus.
The literature informs us that there are (usually) four stages in the process of a person converting from one belief system to another. Our missional pathway is informed by this research.
This may sound like our mission pathway is a product of the social sciences, not scripture. Think about Ruth’s conversion story, or Paul’s. Both fit the above four ‘stages’ very neatly. God is God, and he can and does call whom he wills, and how. We affirm this. But at the same time, it is our responsibility to be intentional about having a mission pathway that is relevant to our context. We aim to walk alongside our neighbours, “becoming all things to all people so that by all possible means [we] might save some.”
DISRUPTION
In order for a person to abandon one set of beliefs, and consider another, they need to enter into disruption. Disruption can take many forms. It might be suffering or loss, life stage changes, moving, or joining new friendship networks. God can bring all sorts of circumstances into people’s lives so they become open to new ways of seeing things.
ADVOCATE
A person in disruption needs an advocate, a spiritual tour guide who can walk alongside them through disruption, and lead them towards new life. Being an advocate involves listening, asking lots of questions, hospitality and generosity, and sharing your life with another.
CONNECT
When one person shares their beliefs with another, it is but one opinion. It turns out, conversions are much more likely when a person in disruption engages and connects with a group of people. We intentionally build community or a body around those we are trying to reach.
COMMIT
Sociologically speaking, when a person who has been in disruption, meets an advocate who is part of a community, and then that new community becomes the primary source of friendship – of social influence – then people make a verbal formal commitment to new faith.