Deeper Discipleship

By Mark Elliott

April 2009

Have you ever experienced one of those seemingly innocent sidebar comments in the midst of a broader conversation that later became the very focal point? That happened to me as I was visiting with Curt Liesveld, a member of New Covenant in Lincoln. I was talking to him about the Strengths Finder material at Omaha’s Gallup University where he works. In case you are not familiar with Strengths Finder, it measures 34 talent areas with the premise that we are at our best when we invest in the areas where we are strongest—most gifted by God. 
We were discussing how churches are using Strengths Finder to develop leaders. At one point I asked him, from his national and interdenominational experience, “Is there anyone you know who has a good leadership development system?” His quick reply was, “Bethel Seminary [St. Paul, MN], Mosaic Church [CA], and Catholics [particularly in New Jersey].” Knowing that the initial work on Strengths Finder was done in the corporate world, I asked, “Are the Catholics able to do it because of their hierarchical corporate type structure?”  His even quicker reply has become the focal point of our time together: “No, it’s because they are desperate.”  We continued our conversation, but his response continues to reverberate in my mind along with some follow-up questions—not about why Catholics are focusing on leadership development but about what is happening among Southern Baptists.

My questions are under-girded by the reality that in most churches, genuine life transformation is the exception rather than the norm; that few churches have more committed mature leaders than they have places for them to serve, that a necessary ingredient for a healthy growing church is healthy growing leaders and only a small percentage of SBC churches are growing. And, all these things are true in spite of the fact that we have more and better discipleship materials, Bible colleges, and seminaries than ever before. 

Two key follow-up questions I am wrestling with are: When will we get desperate enough to change what we are doing? And, what would an intentional, pro-active leadership development (hear: deep discipleship) system look like for a church, an association, a state convention, or a national organization? I have been around long enough to know that if we keep doing the same thing over and over while at the same time we expect different results, then we are going to be continually disappointed.

I would challenge you to honestly evaluate what is happening in your sphere of influence as it relates to the development of quality Christian leaders. Then I would encourage you to come up with your own set of questions. And at some point, I am praying that we can engage one another in a conversation that takes us through dialogue and debate to developing and implementing a process that can positively impact our disciple making. After all, isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

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