What’s your role as a leader at Step seven ministries?
Spiritual growth realized in discipleship is the goal... for yourself and others.
You are called to reach unbelievers and introduce them to Christ. But, the end goal, according to the command of Jesus, is making disciples. A disciple is a willing follower and student, and goes way beyond simply believing. If you want to know that you are being successful as a “Christian”, you have to somehow measure your success at making disciples. (Matthew 7:15-20)
Every man, woman, and child in our church, groups, and sober-living homes is at one of these three stages of spiritual growth:
1) Need to mature and are not maturing.
2) Need to mature and have stalled.
3) Need to mature and are maturing.
*Notice that we all need to mature. This is not a typo.
*If we are not careful we can allow the first two groups of people to discourage us and cause us to believe we are not doing what God has called us to do as a ministry and community. If you haven’t personally experienced this then you probably haven’t taken Jesus’ command to make disciples seriously yet.
The following principles, when understood, can bring a sense of clarity and focus to both your own discipleship process and your purpose as a disciple maker:
1) Growth is possible, and God wants to mature all believers. No one is left out of this plan. If someone is not growing spiritually, there is a reason. Either they haven’t been discipled, or they haven’t responded to the opportunities they’ve been given to grow.
2) People are responsible for their spiritual growth. Again, each believer holds the ultimate responsibility for their own spiritual growth. You are responsible to lead within a ministry that shepherds them, encourages them, and instructs and teaches them. This should be a freeing principle, because it keeps you responsible for what only you can do while releasing you of the burden of not being able to do what you can’t do. You are responsible for creating environments that help people grow, and are conducive to their faith and sobriety.
3) Growth occurs best in community. Spiritual growth occurs best when people are in committed, healthy, and intentional relationships with other believers wanting to mature. Iron sharpens iron just like disciples make disciples. This is the method Jesus uses to create disciples. As much as you can, you need to help people want to spend time with others who want to grow and are growing spiritually.
4) Developing a person’s desire for spiritual growth is the key. When a person gets excited about his or her personal walk with Christ, they will want to get to know Christ better. The more they know Christ, the more they will want to be like Him. The more people want to be like Christ, the more likely they will be to assume ownership of their spiritual growth. How can you motivate others’ desire to grow? It can be done by sharing how your own life has gotten better through your own Christ-centered spiritual growth. By sharing stories of others who have grown. By helping people understand their potential and that they are forgiven. By continually talking about the need for spiritual growth and maturity in group settings.
5) The goal of the teacher/leader of spiritual growth should be to enable people to achieve spiritual growth rather than hinder it. Our goal as spiritual leaders should be to introduce people to the real Christ, teach them the truths of faith and what has been taught to us, and then release them to serve, mature, and grow in their spiritual life.