Your Personalized Disciple Making Makeover
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You’re already doing real disciple-making work and you’re seeing life change, which is significant. If you clarify the definition and consistently turn Scripture into personal application, you’ll make your process far easier to repeat—and far easier for others to carry forward so you’re not the only one doing the discipling.
Quick Snapshot
You’re actively trying to make disciples, using Scripture through a Bible reading plan that moves through selected books, in a mostly discussion-based setting. Right now, application happens only occasionally, your definition of “disciple” still feels fuzzy, and disciple making mostly stays inside the meeting.
What's Working Well
You already have several important building blocks in place: you’re engaged in disciple making (not just talking about it), Scripture is present, and you can describe your steps clearly.
- You’re seeing real fruit in “life change,” which is a meaningful indicator.
- Your method clarity is strong enough that you could write down what you do.
- You have a consistent pattern of engaging Scripture through selected books of the Bible.
What May Be Challenging
The main constraints you described are that your process doesn’t consistently land in personal application, your definition of “disciple” isn’t yet simple and clear, and you don’t have a written plan with specific next steps and people in mind. You also shared that disciple making isn’t really happening outside meetings yet, replication hasn’t started, and reliance on the Holy Spirit is not a consistent part of the process.
- Discussion stays mostly general rather than helping each person make a clear personal response.
- Success is measured mainly by a general sense of life change, which can make it harder to aim the process and train others.
- With replication not happening yet, the load stays on you rather than multiplying through others.
Why It Matters
When the definition is clear and the group consistently turns Scripture into personal application, disciple making becomes easier to repeat and easier to pass on to others. That clarity also helps you move from “we hope people grow” to “we know what growth looks like,” which is a key step toward seeing disciples eventually disciple others.
— SEVEN SUCCESS STRATEGIES —
WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE?
Contrary to popular belief, the best measure of success is not multiplication because if you multiply immature disciples no one wins. The best measure of success is life change (transformation)—which oddly enough always results in healthy, big multiplication.
Making disciples is a “get to” not a “have to” or “should do.” It’s a natural result of being a mature believer. It’s the BE comes before DO principle. Healthy people do healthy things. Here’s your best measure of disciple-making success,
The disciple does the right things for the right reasons, navigates the unknowns of life, and makes disciples long after your influence fades.
The quickest pathway to success is to stop making makers and focus on making individual healthy followers. Jesus did not come to make makers, he helped individuals follow and then called them to make. And the most efficient way to do that is to implement the Seven Success Strategies!
You + The Seven
Every successful disciple making effort leverages three or more of seven success strategies. Highly successful disciple making systems leverage five to seven of the strategies. The more you implement, the greater your success—which means the disciples succeed! Your top success factors are The Fuel is God’s Word and Making Disciples is Done Intentionally. Based on our conversation, you can see (in red) your depth of implementation alongside each of the seven strategies.
The Fuel is God's Word
Disciples read the entire Bible, cover-to-cover being exposed to all scripture which is useful to guide, correct, direct and prepare them for good works.
The Definition is Simple
Disciple makers know exactly what it means to make a disciple, what the end product should be, and how to know when they have succeeded in making a well-made disciple.
The Process Relies on the Holy Spirit
Disciple makers embrace the truth that it is the Holy Spirit that sanctifies, renews, and transforms making space and helping disciples hear from Him.
The Focus is on Individuals
The process is focused on leading disciples individually even in groups helping them find and apply immediately useful, relevant truths that transform their lives.
The Goal is Application
Disciples makers embrace Jesus’ call to help disciples obey (apply) God’s truths to their decisions focusing on transformation not education.
The Process is Done Along the Way
Disciple makers model following Christ and make disciples inside and outside weekly meetings over the course of several years giving disciples time to fully mature.
Making Disciples is Done Intentionally
Disciple makers embrace disciple making as the primary work to reconcile the world, have a plan to make disciples, and set specific, measurable disciple making goals.
— ONE BITE AT A TIME —
HOW DOES STRATEGY BECOME SUCCESS?
Strategies are big objectives, big concepts, and the key to implementing them is to align what you “do” with the seven strategies. Your “dos” are your methods.
If you’re just getting started or are ready to try something new, you can implement all seven strategies right from the start. Just build your disciple making plan to incorporate them or adopt some proven methods that achieve the seven strategies.
But when you are already making disciples, implementing all seven strategies can feel overwhelming. In a church setting, moving too quickly can feel a bit too disruptive. Your leadership might not even be open to a total overhaul! So what do you do?
You figure out which two strategies could use the most makeover and focus your work on them.
As those two strategies become consistently present in your disciple making, then you pick another strategy to work on. Before you know it, you’ll see even more success than ever before!
You’ll find your top two makeover strategies (with some practical steps and “how tos”) below.
And we’ll help you pick your next next
strategies in the last section.
Your First Makeover Strategies
Based on what you shared, you’re actively making disciples and you have enough clarity on your steps to build something more repeatable. The two highest-leverage moves are to clarify a simple definition of a disciple and to shift your meeting from mostly general discussion toward consistent personal application. Together, these create a clear target (definition) and a reliable engine (application) so that progress is easier to recognize, reinforce, and eventually reproduce through others.
Make the Definition Simple and Shared
Based on what you shared, your disciple-making steps feel clear, but your definition of what a disciple is (and what “success” looks like) still feels fuzzy, which makes it harder to aim your conversations and harder for others to replicate what you do.
- Write a one-sentence definition of a disciple that you can say the same way every time.
- Add 3–5 “we’ll know it’s working when…” indicators that match your definition (simple, observable, and realistic).
- Use your definition at the start of each meeting for a few meetings so the group is aligned on the target.
- When discussion drifts, use the definition to re-aim the conversation back toward the intended outcome.
Turn Discussion into Clear Personal Application
Based on what you shared, Scripture is present and conversation is happening, but people leave with clear application only occasionally, so the process can stay informative rather than consistently life-shaping.
- End every meeting with one specific application question each person answers for themselves.
- Require a “one next step” statement that is simple, concrete, and doable.
- Begin the next meeting by asking what happened with each person’s prior next step (briefly and naturally, not as a report loop).
- Keep application tied directly to the passage or reading plan so it stays Scripture-led rather than opinion-led.
What Success Looks Like
- You can state a simple, one-sentence definition of a disciple, and it guides what you do in meetings.
- Most participants regularly leave with a clear personal application step from Scripture.
- Your meetings become more consistently focused on helping individuals respond, not just sharing general insights.
- Over time, you start seeing early signs of replication as others begin taking simple disciple-making initiative with someone else.
Early Measurable Wins
- A written one-sentence definition of “disciple,” plus 3–5 simple indicators of progress.
- Each meeting ends with every person naming one clear personal application step.
- At the start of each meeting, you ask one brief follow-up question that reconnects to the prior application.
- You can clearly explain your disciple-making process in 60 seconds using the same words each time.
— THE BIG FIVE —
HOW WILL YOU
MEASURE SUCCESS?
Most of the methods we research have one of five focuses and naturally measure success based on that focus. We call them the Big Five.
- Education (Success = Participation and Knowledge)
- Assimilation (Success = They Stay and Look Like Us)
- Behavior Modification (Success = They Fix Their Problems)
- Multiplication (Success = They Get Others Involved)
- Leadership Development (Success = They Lead Something)
The Church has been doing the Big Five for, well, forever. We do them because that is what we know. We do them because they are easy and easy to measure. Done well, they will result in some spiritual growth but normally the Big Five just produces “dos.”
The problem is the Big Five only work for 20% of all believers because all five are actually the outcomes of transformation, not the cause.
Whether you adopt or design an overall plan, your best bet is to pick a method focused on discovering and applying all of the truths in God’s Word that measures effectiveness by transformation. Something like,
The disciple does the right things for the right reasons, navigates the unknowns of life, and makes disciples long after your influence fades.
Don’t settle for anything less because when they get transformed, they will be smart, be a part of the body, fix their stuff, make disciples, and lead! Remember, healthy followers do healthy things—naturally.
The team at Sustainable Discipleship uses the
highly Predictable PathwayTM to measure success.
You can learn more below
Ideas + Resources for You
The ideas and resources on this page have been curated based on your Makeover answers and, like your previous “how to” ideas, are based on the Sustainable Discipleship Method—a model that’s fueling a global disciple-making movement.
Our single-minded goal is to share what God has shared with us. But let’s be clear—there are many ways to make disciples. Whether you are evaluating methods or designing your own, we hope these customized ideas help. But definitely check out the Makeover Meetups!
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Future Strategies to Consider
Once you get your first two makeover strategies going, you’re ready to work strengthen the rest. Based on your makeover answers, here a few next steps that will increase each disciple’s transformation.
- Strengthen “The Process Relies on the Holy Spirit” by intentionally making space for listening and responding to Him, not just learning concepts.
- Strengthen “The Process is Done Along the Way” by adding simple, intentional follow-up between meetings tied to each person’s application.
- Over time, shift your Bible reading plan from selected books toward cover-to-cover whole-Bible engagement.
Seven Success Strategies ➞ How To Methods
The Fuel is God’s Word
The Goal is Application
God designed us from creation to understand the Bible. Brain Powered Bible reveals a reading method that will have folks engaged cover-to-cover, getting immediate value working with God’s learning design rather than against it. It’s like Bill Nye the Science guy meets the Bible!
The Definition is Simple
Making Disciples is Done Intentionally
Even if you are designing your own disciple making model, the proven “how tos” in this book may give you ideas that will supercharge your disciple making. The principles and methods have fueled thousands of disciple making efforts for individuals and churches.
Disciple Making Focuses on Individuals
Making Disciples is Done Along the Way
This free ebook introduces the Predictable Pathway. It’s fourteen, highly predictable steps that every believer takes as they mature. The beauty of the pathway is that you can know exactly where someone is and know exactly what to give them to get to the next step. It’s the simplest way to measure success and boost transformation.
Makeover Midday Meetups
Want to talk about your makeover plan? Join us (and others!) for a one-hour Makeover Meetup the first Tuesday of each month at noon.
- Want to go over your makeover report with a team member?
- Want to be greater at the one thing God called you to do?
- Are you an independent maker who needs a tribe?
- Just want to talk disciple making?
- Looking to get tips and tricks before you change things?
- Trying to get leadership buy in for something new?
- Need to avoid disrupting what's already working?
Makeover Meetups are for you! One of our experienced team members will be there to help you with whatever you’re working on—not to pitch you! See you there!
