When Young Disciples Lead the Way
What it means for everyone to be involved in disciple-making movements.
It’s not at all uncommon in our church context for a non-believer—or someone who has just come to faith—to become one of our most fruitful evangelists. Often, these individuals are excited to share what they’re discovering about Jesus, inviting others to come and see for themselves.
Because they haven’t yet internalized the cultural taboo against faith-sharing or the cynicism that sometimes grows with time, they become surprisingly effective at bringing others into the conversation. This pattern is one of the underlying drivers of discipleship movements.
What Are Discipleship Movements?
I was on a call this week and referenced the existence of vibrant discipleship movements around the globe. For me, this is the water I swim in daily—but I was reminded that, for many Christians, the idea of a discipleship movement is still foreign. Despite having global experience as a Christian, the person I was speaking with had never even heard the term.
At their core, discipleship movements are simply a modern expression of the fast-moving, disciple-making ministry of the first-century church. They grow from a deep commitment to the Great Commission and the belief that every follower of Jesus is called to be and make disciples.
The Essential Principle: Everyone Gets Involved Early
While there are different kinds of disciple-making or church-planting movements, they all tend to share one essential principle: every believer should begin producing disciples with whatever knowledge they currently have.
It’s understandable that a young disciple may feel inadequate with the amount of knowledge they have and unable to answer many questions. It’s also understandable that a church may not want to say to this young disciple, “go influence others.” However, the encouragement is simply that disciples live into the truth they have attained (Philippians 3:16). If they have encountered the love, grace, kindness and goodness of Jesus, they should be confident and encouraged to share that enthusiastically with others.
Encouraging and empowering disciples to multiply early will produce real and immediate fruit in the lives of those around them. It will also meaningfully assist their spiritual maturation as they can experience sharing the Gospel with others.
In our context at LIFT Church, we’ve embraced this deeply. We believe everyone should begin discipling others as early as possible. One of the most effective ways to stunt someone’s growth in Christ is to keep them from sharing their learning. Conversely, one of the most powerful ways to foster maturity is to give people responsibility for the spiritual vitality of others.
In fact, until someone has a demonstrated history of fruitful multiplication, they cannot be considered a mature disciple.
So, how do we empower young disciples to multiply while ensuring theological clarity and health?
Here’s how:
They don’t disciple alone. They are part of a network of churches and disciples, including more experienced leaders, providing accountability, wisdom, and support.
They are being discipled themselves. This guards against pride and individualistic formation by keeping them submitted within a healthy community.
They learn more by teaching. As they help others, they are forced to internalize and articulate their own understanding of the gospel in meaningful, contextualized ways.
They focus on the essentials. Without getting bogged down in theological rabbit trails, the emphasis stays on the basics of faith and obedience.
There is still structure. Though it may look different than a traditional church, we still have elders, pastors, and people responsible for the spiritual health of the community.
Tools That Help: Devotions and Living Sent
At LIFT Church, we equip students to begin discipling others as soon as possible. To help them along the way, we use two primary tools:
Daily Devotions – A daily practice of studying scripture to hear from God and respond.
Living Sent – A simple, practical guide that helps walk someone from skepticism about Jesus to receiving Him as Lord and learning how to help others do the same.
We’ve seen countless stories of people coming to faith and making disciples through these tools. They’re not flashy, but they’re effective.
The simple question is: who are you discipling?
The Church as Jesus Designed It
Discipleship movements aren’t a modern trend. They’re how Jesus designed the church to function: every believer living as a disciple-maker.
If you’re looking to start multiplying disciples, I’d encourage you to grab a copy of Living Sent: Discovering Jesus and begin working through it with a group of non-believers or new believers. Don’t wait until you feel “ready”—just begin.