Your Personalized Disciple Making Makeover
Tony Magaldi
You’re not starting from zero—you’re already discipling and you’ve built a clear set of steps. By sharpening your definition of a disciple and making application the normal weekly outcome, you’ll give your current process a clear target and a dependable way to produce visible life change, which is the groundwork for replication over time.
Quick Snapshot
You’re actively trying to make disciples and you already have a clear set of steps, but you’re not confident the approach is producing mature disciples yet. Right now Scripture engagement is mostly topical, application happens only occasionally, and your definition of what a disciple is feels fuzzy.
What's Working Well
You’re already in motion—actively discipling—and you’ve taken the important step of building a method you can describe clearly.
- You have a repeatable set of steps (method clarity is clear), which is a strong foundation for improvement.
- You’re paying attention to fruit (“are their lives changing?”), even if you don’t have clear indicators yet.
- Some disciple making is happening outside meetings, which can become a major multiplier over time.
What May Be Challenging
Based on what you shared, the biggest constraints aren’t effort—they’re clarity and consistency. With Scripture engagement mainly topical, application only happening occasionally, and no clear definition of “disciple,” it’s hard to aim everyone at the same target or know what “success” looks like.
- Without a simple definition, it’s difficult to set a plan with specific next steps.
- Without a consistent application emphasis, meetings can drift toward discussion rather than transformation.
- With low intentional reliance on the Holy Spirit, your process may lean on good conversations more than discernment and Spirit-led change.
Why It Matters
When disciple making is clear, Spirit-reliant, rooted in God’s Word, and consistently applied, it becomes easier to reproduce—and that’s where replication begins. Your low confidence is a signal that tightening the target (definition), the path (plan), and the weekly “next step” (application) will help you see more consistent life change over time.
— 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 discipling and you have clear steps, but low confidence, fuzzy definition, and inconsistent application are making it hard to see steady fruit or move toward replication. These two strategies were selected because they create the “target” and the “engine” for the rest of your disciple-making process: a simple definition gives everyone the same aim, and an application-centered approach turns Scripture into life change. Together, they make your current method more focused, measurable, and easier to reproduce in the next few meetings.
Clarify a Simple Definition and Target
Based on what you shared, you already have a clear method, but your definition of what a disciple is feels fuzzy—so it’s hard to know what you’re forming people toward or how to recognize progress.
- Write a one-sentence definition of a disciple that you can repeat every time you meet.
- List 3–5 observable markers you’d expect to see over time (not perfection—direction).
- Identify one “next step” for each person you’re discipling that fits the definition.
- End each meeting by naming how that week’s Scripture connects to your definition.
Make Application the Normal Weekly Outcome
Based on what you shared, you’re engaging Scripture but application only happens occasionally—so the group can drift into good discussion without clear next steps that lead to transformation.
- Choose one application question you will always ask (for example: “What is one specific decision this changes for you?”).
- Require one concrete application step per person before the meeting ends (keep it simple and realistic).
- Begin the next meeting by briefly revisiting what each person tried to apply (not an accountability-report loop—just encouragement and learning).
- If Scripture engagement stays topical for now, choose fewer passages and go deeper so application is clearer.
What Success Looks Like
- You can clearly define “disciple” in one sentence, and it guides what you do when you meet.
- Every meeting produces a clear, personal application step tied to Scripture.
- Your confidence rises because you can see consistent, repeatable signs of growth over time.
- At least one person begins taking early steps toward discipling someone else in a simple way.
Early Measurable Wins
- You share your one-sentence disciple definition at the start and end of each meeting.
- Each person leaves with one specific application step written down in their own words.
- You track 3–5 simple growth markers and identify one marker you’ll look for in the coming meetings.
- You schedule at least one “along-the-way” touchpoint (text, call, coffee, or a real-life follow-up) with each person between meetings.
— 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.
- Shift from mostly topical passages to a simple Bible reading plan so Scripture intake becomes more consistent over time.
- Build intentional reliance on the Holy Spirit into the process (space to listen, discern, and respond), not just general prayer.
- Increase individual focus by ensuring each person’s application is specific to their current decisions and relationships.
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!
