How To Overcome Challenges In The Disciple Making Process (Part 1)

As we continue our discussion with the San Antonio Baptist Association, the focus shifts to overcoming certain challenges that we may encounter in our disciple-making processes in local churches.

“Dr. Ogden from your experience, what are three challenges you see that can sabotage the disciple-making process in the churches you are engaged with right now?” “Well, that is a very good question, especially in light of what’s going on in culture now. But I would say, as I look back at my own life as a pastor and leader it was not always central to my focus that I was to be a disciple-maker.  I call this my “duh” moment.

I was pastoring a church in Silicon Valley. We decided we needed to have a mission statement for the church. This is the late 80’s/early 90’s and the church did not have one. So, I appointed a group of elders to meet with me to form one. It was kind of the blind leading the blind in terms of writing this mission statement. We had no idea what’s supposed to be included in it or what it’s supposed to look like when you’re done? We used so much paper we deforested much of Northern California, I think. We put one after another in front of the council of elders. Each time we put a statement in front of them, their response was kind of like ‘Ho Hum.’ After about a year and a half into the process, I think they just adopted something out of sheer exhaustion.

Then I had my “duh” moment. That was, ‘Oh! Jesus has done all the work for us. He’s given us the mission of every church, right.’ Now we might say it a little bit differently than “go and make disciples of all nations” and have a kind of clever way of communicating it, but every church mission should be basically a reflection of the Great Commission…”

Watch the video above for the full picture in overcoming these challenges we face!