Making disciples the Jesus way

While serving as lead pastor at a dying church in Oklahoma City, Craig Etheredge began a journey into disciple-making the way Jesus did it.

“Our church had been struggling,” Etheredge said. “God dealt with me that I had not really studied the life of Jesus chronologically, nor had I seen His life as the model for my life and ministry. After spending about a two-year, in-depth study of the life of Jesus, we began to implement some of these strategies we see in His life.”

Over the following two years, the church saw people growing spiritually and learning to reproduce themselves. God moved in their inner-city church as kids and students were coming to faith in Jesus and transforming the neighborhood. The church expanded, planting churches locally and internationally.

In 2007, when Etheredge became lead pastor at CrossCreek Church in Colleyville, Texas, he brought the successful strategy with him.

He began with a handful of men, discipling them and helping them to reproduce. Women’s groups were added. As the groups multiplied, disciples emerged to lead larger areas of ministry.

Today, through a “Grow Series” with intentional disciple-making groups, CrossCreek Church has seen disciples make disciples out to 10 generations. This has resulted in the steady growth and expansion of the church. The average weekly worship attendance is currently around 1,800.

The Grow Series, supported by four books, leads group participants on a pathway starting with Explore: A 21-Day Journey to Knowing Jesus, which is based on the Gospel of John. Then, participants learn how to Walk With God, Reach Your World and Invest In A Few.

CrossCreek Network has planted 26 disciple-making churches with hubs in the United States, Canada, West Africa, Zambia and Cambodia.

“There is no shortcut to healthy multiplication,” Etheredge said. “The process requires long-term investment in people. Taking time to grow your people and help them reproduce is essential to having a long-lasting movement.”

His way still works

“Jesus is the master disciple maker,” Etheredge said. “He has a clear and deliberate path that He wants us to follow in ministry.”

Etheredge said most churches do not have a plan for their people to be discipled by another person in such a way that it prepares them to multiply themselves.

“Modern ministries offer their people a menu of programs,” he said. “Instead, we need to offer them a map. A clear ministry pathway that moves them from being a seeker to a multiplier.”

Jesus’ disciple-making plan was intentional, relational and missional

Jesus trained His men to do three things: walk with God, reach their world and invest in a few.

He chose a few men to pour His life into. He was investing in them personally.

“The goal is that your people love Jesus and multiply their life,” Etheredge said. “Without multiplication there is no movement.

“His approach transforms lives. His way is radically different from what most churches are doing now. His way still works if we follow it.”

Ten years ago, Etheredge and Glenn Underhill started a ministry called DiscipleFIRST, a training and equipping ministry. DiscipleFIRST leaders have trained more than 2,000 pastors a year through in-person training events and equipped more than 40,000 leaders.

Irene A. Harkleroad, a freelance writer living in Carefree, is a member of Black Mountain Baptist Church, Cave Creek.