Simon Cox Blog: One-on-One with Daniel Im on Discipleship from a Systems Perspective

Wednesday, 6 September 2017

One-on-One with Daniel Im on Discipleship from a Systems Perspective

Five micro-shifts that lead to macro-change

I recently talked with my friend Daniel Im about his new book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry. We wrote the second edition of Planting Missional Churches together and we co-lead a ministry for church planters and multipliers called NewChurches.com. Daniel also serves as a Teaching Pastor at The Fellowship in Nashville, TN, and he is a regular contributor to The Exchange.

Ed: How can pastors utilize your new book to grow in their leadership?

Daniel: How do you get from here to there? From where your church is today to the vision that God has called you to? That’s the stuff of strategy.

Since the starting point for every church’s vision should be the Great Commission and Commandment, it makes sense to view your discipleship pathway as the strategy that’ll get you to the vision. After all, a discipleship pathway is the intentional route that you have set up in your church to develop and form missionary disciples for Kingdom impact.

Now, while your discipleship pathway will definitely move your church toward your vision, it’s really only half of the equation. The other half is your leadership pipeline, which is the process and structure you have put in place to equip leaders. The two go hand in hand—together, they are the framework for your church’s strategy. Let me explain.

Your discipleship pathway will form your church into missionary disciples, while your leadership pipeline will equip your church to live as missionary disciples. Your discipleship pathway will shape your people’s character, while your leadership pipeline will develop their competencies. Your discipleship pathway will transform hearts, while your leadership pipeline will train transforming ...