Once you establish a baseline, you can assess ways to grow and improve. Essentially, you’ll gain a sense of the necessary resources for helping you on your journey to become the best possible disciple maker. That is the ultimate goal for developing this tool—to help each person in his or her journey make disciples as Jesus made disciples who then made disciples.

The online assessment offers five basic levels that are not as much theological in orientation (Kingdom, church, etc.,) as they are practical and measurable. This is an important point. We’re not saying our model is taught in Scripture. Rather, it’s a model that we find to be in step with what the Bible teaches. The distinction is important.

The authors of this blog intended readers of this content to take The Disciple Maker Assessment. Take the Disciple Maker Assessment here at no cost.

We have followed the general outline that aligns with Scripture, but our assessment tool is more descriptive of what we find practically in the lives of disciple makers today. We think you’ll find it helpful and biblical, but we would not bind it on others as God’s standard. Again, this is not to say that our model lacks theological support—far from it. A deeper analysis shows that our model has much in common with the disciple-making practices described in the Bible and by Jesus Himself, as the discipleship scholar Robert Coleman laid out many years ago in his seminal work, The Master Plan of Evangelism.

The goal of this assessment tool is to help you determine your personal level of maturity and competency in being used by God to effectively build up others in their relationship with Christ, and to develop their own ability to do this with others. This is what the Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to do when he wrote: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim. 2:2). This is commonly called the process of making disciples who make disciples.

The assessment tool measures your level of effectiveness in making disciples. Once you understand where you currently are in this lifelong process, you can intentionally grow in ways to improve your effectiveness on this journey. Our goal is to help each person become a better disciple maker throughout his or her life.

Take this assessment for free here.

Stay tuned for more from our eBook, Becoming a Disciple Maker, which you can download free here.

Written by Bobby Harrington and Greg Wiens

Bobby Harrington is the Executive Director of Discipleship.org, a national platform, conference, and ministry that advocates for Jesus’ style of disciple making. He is the founding and lead pastor of Harpeth Christian Church (by the Harpeth River, just outside of Nashville, TN). He has a Doctor of Ministry degree in consulting and has spent years as a coach to church planters and senior pastors. He is the author of several books on discipleship, including DiscipleShift (with Jim Putman and Robert Coleman) and The Disciple Maker’s Handbook (with Josh Patrick).

Greg Wiens has been assessing leaders and organizations for over 35 years. He has worked with a gamut of organizations ranging in size and interest from Fortune 100 companies and public schools, to small non-profits and churches. He has pastored and planted churches as well as founded a number of organizations. He currently leads two missionally focused organizations: Healthy Growing Churches and Healthy Growing Leaders committed to engaging churches and leaders to multiply. Greg has co-authored two books: Dying to Restart and Daring to Disciple.

Source: Why Develop a Disciple Maker Assessment Like This?

The post Why Develop a Disciple Maker Assessment Like This? appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Bobby Harrington:

I love sports.

In high school I played on five different teams—football, hockey, wrestling, rugby, and badminton. Yes, badminton! (I grew up in Canada after all). And we did something at the start of every season, on every team.

We had our level of skill assessed.

It showed us what we needed to work on and how we could get better. It always helped. At the end of a season, I even made it to the semi-finals in football one year and to the final championship in badminton another year because assessments helped me (and my teams) to get better!

I love disciple making, however, more than I love sports.

Years ago, I made the decision to trust and follow Jesus. He is my Lord, the focus of my life. I want to form my life around him; become more like him.

Jesus was a disciple maker.

It was the focus on his public ministry for over three years. And then he gave us his final command and he commissioned us to make disciples like he did. So I want to follow him.

I want to excel at making disciples.

In 1 Corinthians 9:23-25 the apostle Paul describes his effect to share the blessings of the gospel with others. He gives us a sports metaphor: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

Get more content like this in person at the 2017 National Disciple Making Forum. 

This is one of the largest gatherings of disciple makers in North America with 65+ workshops, 15+ speakers, and 10+ tracks. Join us to learn practical ways to make disciples of Jesus this November 9-10 (Thursday-Friday). Register for the 2017 National Disciple Making Forum here.

Look at that last sentence again in light of disciple making efforts – we share the blessings of the gospel with others “to get a crown that will last forever.” Helping people to trust and follow Jesus ends up being like a victory crown in eternity. The strenuous efforts of athletics are a metaphor for our service to others as disciple makers.

Sports are great, but disciple making is better.

As skills are needed in athletics – so are skills needed in disciple making. Assessments help. This is why discipleship.org partnered with the Exponential Network to create a free online personal disciple maker assessment. It will take you 20 minutes and show your level of skill as a disciple maker. The assessment will then help you create a development plan. It will help you to get better.

When life ends we will meet Jesus, the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Part of the great victory for many who are inspired by Jesus and Paul will be him saying to us: “well done! You followed my final command, you shared the blessings of the gospel, and you helped make disciples. Come, share in your master’s happiness.”

I encourage you to take the assessment by clicking here. It will help you get ready for that great day!

Written by Bobby Harrington

Bobby Harrington is the Executive Director of Discipleship.org, a national platform, conference, and ministry that advocates for Jesus’ style of disciple making. He is the founding and lead pastor of Harpeth Christian Church (by the Harpeth River, just outside of Nashville, TN). He has a Doctor of Ministry degree in consulting and has spent years as a coach to church planters and senior pastors. He is the author of several books on discipleship, including DiscipleShift (with Jim Putman and Robert Coleman) and The Disciple Maker’s Handbook (with Josh Patrick).

Image Credit:Abigail Keenan

Source: Our Free Assessment and Victories in Disciple Making

The post Our Free Assessment and Victories in Disciple Making appeared first on Passion for Planting.