Early in 2014, Robby Butler contacted Kent Smith and myself regarding an article he was researching for the magazine Frontier Missions on 4X4 Discipleship Movements. Both Kent and I responded. What we wrote illustrates some of the uniqueness of the LK10 Community. (In the article that Robby ended up writing, LK10 did received a brief mention. See here.)
Definition of a 4X4 Discipleship Movement
4×4 Movement Starts grow as the Holy Spirit leads disciple-makers in birthing four or more unrelated lineages of four or more generations of reproducing disciples, each training new disciples within days or weeks in loving obedience to Jesus. This training includes gathering new disciples to form churches which multiply through the disciples’ fruitful witness to their families and friends who are “far from God,” and to new “persons of peace.” Such “Movement Starts” can lead to full Church Planting Movements. See here.
Some models
As these modern movements have emerged, the Spirit is using a variety of “models” to start CPMs. Perhaps the majority of fruitful CPM models are adaptations of two major approaches: Training for Trainers (“T4T” – developed by Ying Kai) and Disciple-Making Movements (“DMM” – sometimes called the Discovery Bible Study model – “DBS” – taught widely by David Watson). There are other approaches God is using to start CPMs, but these two major models seem to be producing the majority of CPM results in the world.
John’s response to Robby’s request
Dear Robby,
You did ask for feedback so I’ll share with you a somewhat different perspective that my friend, Kent Smith, and I hold in common. It’s a perspective that we are seeking to live out in what we call the LK10 Community.
A summary of this different perspective might be expressed in the contrast between a program focus and a relationship focus.
Here are two examples that explain what I mean…
1. Implementing programs vs listening to the Spirit. If I start with the question of how Jesus made disciples, I find that it is actually quite different from what I’ve seen in many of the discipling movements today. These “movements” have reduced disciple making to a highly “effective” program with various lessons, manuals, steps, etc. “Simply follow the steps we’ve laid out for you (implement the program) as you work with your disciples. Teach this first. Then, this. Etc.” But, this is nothing like what Jesus did.
By contrast, we see Jesus’ “methodology” in passages like John 5:19. “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself (or on his own initiative); he can do only what he sees his Father doing.” (Jesus says something similar in Jn. 8:28-29; 12:49-50; 14:10-14; 15:14-15.) How did Jesus know what to do with his disciples? What to teach his disciples? In every case, the answer is is the same. See what the Father was doing. Hear what the Father was saying. He had no “cookie cutter” program that he applied in every situation with every disciple. Each situation was unique. Each disciple was unique. (Sort of like raising children.)
So, how would Jesus’ disciples make disciples? The answer is found here: “…everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Lk 6:40) In Jn. 14:16, Jesus said that he would ask the Father “and he will give you another Counselor (Paraclete = one called alongside to help). The word “another” in Greek implies “another one just like the other one”. In other words, the disciples were to have the same kind of relationship with the Spirit as they had had with Jesus for three years.
Implication for disciple making for us? In every situation, listen to the Spirit (just like Jesus did with his Father) and do what he says. We describe this as a radical commitment to Jesus’ theology of the Holy Spirit. (We listen to the Spirit who listens to Jesus (Jn 16:13) who listens to the Father.) Each situation is unique. Each disciple is unique. (Sort of like raising children.)
Does this mean that we never use “tools” or programs? Not at all. The difference is that we don’t start there. Rather, we start with listening to the Spirit. What happens if we start with programs, especially with younger believers, is that all the focus is on the program. I believe that we must have, as I think Jesus modeled, a relentless focus on listening to the Lord and teaching our disciples to do the same. This must be central to our teaching and our practice.
To summarize, if we are to make disciples the way Jesus did, we will listen to the Spirit in every case for our directions. And, then teach our disciples to do the same. In our view, traditional program centered disciple making is a major departure from the methodology of Jesus. In our LK10 Community, we say that our entire discipleship “program” can be expressed in nine words. “Listen, obey and teach others to do the same.”
2. Implementing a program vs spiritual parenting. One other area where we differ from many discipleship programs is in the nature of the relationship with those we disciple. Our understanding in Scripture is that the primary metaphor for church is family or household (1 Tim. 3:15 among other passages). So, making disciples is much more like raising children than it is about implementing a program. Another way of saying that Jesus discipled his followers is that he “fathered” them (see Jn. 14:9).
Paul understood this same “family perspective” as the key to making disciples. For instance, he tells the Thessalonians “we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children” (2:7) and “we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God…” (2:11, 12). So, the biblical picture of disciplers is one of spiritual moms and dads who love their children so much that they “delight to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well”. (2:8) (We always explain that we mean “parents” in the best sense of the word. Not those who seek to “lord it over” their spiritual children. But, those whose passion is to see their children grow up in the Lord.)
Relationships vs programs.
With a program focus, it’s possible to see rapid multiplication into multiple generations in weeks a relatively short period of time. But, often the long term fruit isn’t so good. With a relationship focus (parents raising children) it’s often quite messy and it takes a lot longer. But, if done well, one generation passes on the DNA to the next and the long term fruit is excellent.
Good reading along this line… When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community (Hellerman). And, House Church and Mission: The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity (Gehring)
So, Robby, I don’t know if this is the kind of feedback you were looking for. And, I would hasten to say that I haven’t studied the 4×4 movements the way you have. Maybe they aren’t program dependent. Maybe they train the trainers to be spiritual parents. Or, maybe this is the same kind of thinking that produced the megachurch movement. Lots of great structure. Lots of great curricula. Lots of dynamic leaders. Producing large numbers quickly.
But, is it really the way Jesus did it? And, will the fruit last?
Glad to talk more about this if you want.
John White
Kent’s response to Robby’s request
Dear Robby and John,
Thanks for including me in this conversation. I really appreciate the humility on display as fellow learners in what God is doing in our time. Robby, I am delighted to make your acquaintance and as a long time teacher of Missions appreciate the great contribution to the Kingdom that Mission Frontiers has made over the years.
What follows here are a few thoughts that express both my affirmation and reservation about 4X4 and similar movements.
What is evident from your examples and many others through history is that when God is at work in a particular place and time we sometimes see movements where multiplication is happening fairly quickly across generations and through multiple relational networks. This is to be celebrated!
While this is the case, it is also axiomatic that “What gets measured gets attention.” If we accept this as true, we will want to be very thoughtful about what we go about measuring, to be sure that this is, in fact, what most deserves our attention.
Here is where some of my major questions come in for approaches like 4X4. I don’t think anyone committed to the Kingdom should object to healthy discipleship that is flowing rapidly through four or more generations, across four of more family lines. This is good news wherever it may be happening!
The potential problem lies in what we are measuring—what has our attention. And I would suggest that as soon as begin to think, in effect, that the health of a movement can be assessed by rapid growth along 4 lines and 4 generations, we are in danger of measuring the wrong thing.
I understand that those who advocate for this would be the first to add—“Of course we assume, and understand that healthy discipleship lines are the ones that we would count.” To be sure, rapid growth that produces syncretists, or materialists, or jaded, disillusioned believers, for example, may be a net loss for God’s Kingdom.
It would seem the case that “healthy discipleship” is precisely what cannot be assumed. Why do we not have the “9F” movement (for evident fruits of the Spirit) or the “2G” movement (for people manifestly embodying the two greatest commandments)? Are we really measuring for what matters most?
One place this all becomes abundantly clear is in the lives of committed Kingdom workers. Having studied spiritual nurture over four decades and trained missionaries full time for nearly 25 years, I have seen my share of mission movements, healthy and not so healthy.
What I know, first hand, is that measurements of missionaries and their work that weigh criteria other than attending to, and following Jesus steadily and faithfully lead to broken movements and missionaries. When young leaders are pressed to produce along criteria other than faithfulness to the Lord, their attention is mis-directed, with results that are often devastating for them and their work.
To be sure, we can plant and water as the Lord leads, but it is still God who gives the increase. My own spiritual lineage traces back, in part, to an elderly woman in the early 20th century who took notice of a small, dirty girl named Mabel in her Memphis neighborhood. She befriended Mabel, introducing her to the Lord and his people over several years. Then Mabel’s family moved away, and as far as we know, she never had contact again with her Memphis friend.
When Mabel grew up and found her life falling apart, though, she remembered those years and decided to follow Jesus. Over her lifetime she and her husband planted over a dozen churches, and raised a dozen children who became powerful witnesses of Jesus. Today we can trace tens of thousands of believers, powerful ministries, and Kingdom leaders to the influence of little Mabel.
My point is this: the elderly sister in Memphis could have decided to spend her time on the basis of, “Who/what in my life has the potential to produce a rapid 4T movement?” In that case, though, I doubt she would have invited Mabel in for cookies.
Well, what I had started as a brief comment seems to keep growing. To conclude, it seems to me we are on more solid ground to focus on what we know has God’s attention, namely a bride comprised of people from all the families of humanity. This is why we are focused on “doing our part to see a vibrant family of Jesus in close reach, culturally and geographically of everyone.”
As John said, we are still in the middle of learning what this takes, but what we are measuring, beginning with a vibrant family of Jesus, seems to me a helpful picture of what has God’s attention and should, therefore, have ours.
Again, I appreciate so much your work and the spirit with which you have engaged us in this—it is clear to me that we are on the same team!
Grace and Peace,
Kent Smith
P.S. If you’d be interested, I offer a more extended Biblical case for what I have mentioned in the journal Missio Dei here: http://missiodeijournal.com/article.php?issue=md-4-1&author=md-4-1-smith
Other similarities and differences between LK10 and discipleship movements
Of course, we are all committed to fulfilling the Great Commission through developing church planting movements. But, significant differences emerge when you look at how we go about this. (Before going further, I want to be clear that, even though we have a different approach, we rejoice that God is using these other models in significant ways.) Note: the blue text quotes below comes from here.
- 4X4 Movements. This means at least four lineages of four or more generations of reproducing disciples. In LK10, every Regional Coordinator represents a lineage (or family line). We currently (5/2016) have at least one Coordinator in eight states and five countries. Several of these lineages represent four or more generations.
- Leaders or sources of inspiration. As mentioned above, the leaders of the two major models of 4X4 Movements are Ying Kai and David Watson. In the LK10 Community we appreciate Roland Allen (The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church) and John Eldredge (Waking the Dead, etc.) for many of our underlying values. Allen teaches us that “expansion” is the work of the Spirit and not through manmade programs. Eldredge teaches us the centrality of the heart and the importance of an “intimate conversational relationship with Jesus”. This is contrary to the “gospel of knowledge and duty” that permeates many of our churches.
What we read in the New Testament is no anxious appeal to Christians to spread the Gospel, but a note here and there which suggest how the Gospel was being spread abroad.. for centuries the Christian Church continued to expand by its own inherent grace, and threw up an unceasing supply of missionaries without any direct exhortation… This then is what I mean by spontaneous expansion. I mean the expansion which follows the unexhorted and unorganized activity of individual members of the Church explaining to others the Gospel which they have found for themselves; I mean the expansion which follows the irresistible attraction of the Christian Church for men who see its ordered life, and are drawn to it by desire to discover the secret of a life which they instinctively desire to share; I mean also the expansion of the Church by the addition of new churches… I know not how it may appear to others, but to me this unexhorted; unorganized, spontaneous expansion has a charm far beyond that of our modern highly organized missions. Roland Allen, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, p. 6,7.
- “DMM focuses on disciples engaging the lost to find “households of peace””. In LK10, we seek to find “houses of peace” with both the lost and with current followers of Jesus. We especially believe that the 65 million Americans who were once part of a church but who are now “Done” with church as they have known it are a fertile field for church planting even though, in one sense, many of them may not be “lost”. We train both Pauline (Paul – apostle to the Gentiles) and Petrine (Peter – apostle to the Jews (ie, followers of Yahweh)). For more on this go here.
- “DMM focuses on disciples engaging the lost to find “households of peace” and beginning a discovery group – an inductive group Bible study process from Creation to Christ to discover truth.” In LK10, we do not begin with inductive Bible study. (Interesting to note, that Jesus does not instruct His disciples to start an inductive Bible study when they enter a house of peace. Lk. 10:7-9.) We start by teaching people how to pay attention to their own heart, the hearts of the others in the group and the heart of Jesus. See our Church 101 Course. We believe Bible study will occur as a result of listening to Jesus and at His direction. In addition, we have a very specific understanding of what a “house of peace” means. For more on this, go here.
- “While they are on the journey toward coming to Christ (a several month process), they are encouraged to share the Bible stories with other family and friends and to start discovery groups with them.” In LK10, we don’t encourage them to share with family and friends. Instead, we encourage them to listen to Jesus and do what He directs. Sharing with others may come from this but it’s not the starting place.
- Fervent Prayer: Perhaps it is the desperation of facing an overwhelming task in often hostile areas that drives the CPM catalysts and emerging local believers and leaders to pray more fervently than they ever have before. They pray in faith expecting God to fulfill his Word. This is central to LK10 as well. We place a special focus on the 10:2b Prayer.
- God-sized Vision: These movements seem to arise as God gives a vision for reaching entire people groups, even regions and nations. This end-vision is a God-sized picture that grips the hearts of the believers to attempt great things for God. This is true for LK10 also. We encourage every Regional Coordinator to listen to the Lord of the harvest for a “crazy goal” (only God could do it!) for their region. The LK10 Vision is “to fulfill the Great Commission by seeing a vibrant family of Jesus in easy access of every person in every region and people group.
- “CPMs are leadership multiplication movements. T4T and DMM heavily incorporate mentoring and coaching elements. Mentoring deals with character and capacity of leaders. Coaching is to perfect skills.” This is similar to the LK10 Mission which is to “connect and equip emerging house church leaders around the world.” In addition to mentoring and coaching we also emphasize “connecting”. We believe learning takes place best in community. So, we help leaders build relationships of mutual support through our Leader Teams.
- Churches planting churches rapidly. One element of CPMs are that churches are planting churches that are planting churches. In LK10, don’t see this concept in Scripture. Rather, we see that, for Jesus, the key to a church planting movement was the multiplication of apostolic church planters. (Compare Mt 10 with Lk 10.) While we are happy if a church helps to start another church, we don’t stress this. Rather, we focus on multiplying (10:2b Prayer) the number of apostles.