I frequently get asked about the process of making disciples. While I believe that we critically need to start making disciples, I get the sense that we are not ready to do so. There has to be some major dying to self done, by all, before this process can begin on any grand scale.

In factories, tooling up for production is always a death process!
This is when the leap of faith is taken and great expense is made
with no immediate return.

For the sake of brevity, I am going to simply list several areas I see where the tooling up of disciples must take place. Only then can we prepare to tool up our parishes so they can begin to make disciples. Strengthening our disciples must take place so that parishioners have visible models to aspire to become and imitate.

Who Needs to Die – The Death/Tooling that is required

  • All Disciples – Rising to the next level of sacrificial death where your time/calendar truly belongs to the Lord.
  • Leadership – Restoring our focus of the parish/diocese from the pursuit of money to the pursuit of a nuptial relationship with Jesus.
  • Leadership – Restoring the role of the Holy Spirit as THE director of the life and heart of the disciple of Jesus.
  • Leadership – Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead their lives and ministries.
  • Leadership – Letting go of the vision of Parish as “the ministry that everyone comes to participate in.” We must go out!
  • Parishioner/Disciple – Must work toward continuing to repent of their attempt to live their lives on their terms instead of God’s.
  • Parishioner/Disciple – Must choose to live out their Baptism by giving God every aspect of their life.  
  • Parishioner/Disciple – Must grow in their love for their Spouse and thus seek to spend their lives pleasing Him.
  • All – Must work on intentionally becoming a model of what a disciple is so that other young disciples can see what they must become.

We cannot give what we do not have. Therefore, our immediate process for tooling up must be to become the disciple Jesus needs us to be – one  that is all in and committed to His kingdom first before our own life and comfort on earth. When a disciple has moved to that place of authentic faith, the Spirit has someone to work with. He will do the rest. The question that lies before us is:

Are we really living for God’s Kingdom first?