Article
Disciple-Making Needs a Destination and Direction
Without a clear picture of the kind of disciple we want to be making, it can be easy to see our people end up in the wrong place.

Have you ever ended up in the wrong location? Navigation woes can be quite frustrating! Several years ago, my wife and I were driving up to visit her family in Delaware for Christmas. After driving all day, we decided to stop in Washington D.C. for the night before continuing our journey up I-95 the next day. While having dinner at a local restaurant near the White House, I had this idea to go see the national Christmas tree after dinner. As a kid, I grew up hearing about the lighting of the national Christmas tree, but I had never seen it personally. Based on where the restaurant was located, I had a sense that we were within walking distance to the national Christmas tree, so I asked my wife to look up directions while I paid the bill.
After dinner, we set out on our walk to see the national Christmas tree with my wife navigating. When the GPS told us to turn right, we turned right. When it told us to cross the street, we crossed the street. After walking over a mile in freezing cold temperatures, my wife looks at me with a puzzled face and sheepishly says, “The GPS says we are here.” I looked around to see empty sidewalks surrounded by office buildings with no green space or national Christmas tree to be found. We had definitely ended up in the wrong place! As I looked at her phone to check the map, that’s when we noticed the mistake. My wife had accidentally navigated us to the national parks office responsible for finding the national Christmas tree and not the tree itself. We had followed the directions accurately, but we still ended up in the wrong place. Why? Because we had the wrong destination from the beginning.
A Clear Picture
Disciple-making in the local church can feel the same way. Without a clear picture of the kind of disciple we want to be making, it can be easy to see our people end up in the wrong place. Our churches can be busy with activity while not producing genuine, Christ-like disciples.
The destination clarifies what kind of disciple you want to be producing, and the direction clarifies how you will help them get there. You need a clear picture (biblical disciple) combined with a clear process (discipleship pathway).
A Key Question for Disciple-Making
Here’s a key question to help you determine the destination: What do you want your people to become?
If a church member gave you 2 to 3 years of their life, and they did everything you asked them to do, would they be more like Jesus? What would you want to be true about their life and mission? What spiritual practices would you want them to embrace and embody? Leaders need to provide clarity on the destination they desire for the people they are shepherding. You must begin with the end in mind.
Once you have clarity on the spiritual destination, then you can reverse engineer a plan to help your people reach that destination. This is where direction comes into play. Direction answers the “how” question. How will your people be developed as disciples? What are you asking your people to do, and where are you asking your people to go? Remember, a biblical disciple is the desired outcome of your discipleship pathway.
Building a disciple-making culture requires having a clear picture of the kind of disciple you want to produce paired with a clear discipleship pathway.