Your Personalized Disciple Making Makeover

First Church of Whoville

Created for Doug Burrier
You’re not starting from zero—Scripture engagement is already present, and you’ve already seen some replication. The makeover is about turning those promising signs into a clear, shared pathway that multiple ministries can carry together with less disruption. If you clarify the method and make disciple making intentional in a way leaders can model, your church can move from informal outcomes to consistent, repeatable disciple making that builds confidence and momentum.

Quick Snapshot

Overall Disciple-Making Strength
0 / 35 · Early
Your church has real disciple-making activity happening, but it’s mostly informal and varies by ministry. You’re using Scripture through a consistent Bible reading plan moving through selected books of the Bible, yet most groups lean toward general discussion with mixed follow-through into personal application. Because priorities are mixed and senior leader modeling is limited, it makes sense that confidence in the outcomes is currently low.

What's Working Well

You already have several important building blocks in place, including Scripture engagement and early signs of multiplication (a few have gone on to disciple others). – Some replication is already happening. – Scripture is present through a consistent Bible reading plan in selected books. – There is at least some attempt to measure success (even if partial).

What May Be Challenging

Right now, the biggest headwinds are clarity and consistency across the church: no shared method, mostly general discussion rather than individual application, and different ministries doing different things. With limited senior leader modeling and a high concern about disruption, it’s hard to unify the church around a simple, repeatable approach. – No clear, shared disciple-making method across ministries. – Application is mixed and tends to stay general rather than personal. – High disruption concern slows alignment and shared implementation.

Why It Matters

When disciple making remains informal and varies by ministry, multiplication usually depends on a few strong individuals rather than becoming the normal pathway for the whole church. A unified, simple process—anchored in a Bible reading plan and centered on personal application—gives leaders a shared “way” to lead people, makes outcomes easier to recognize, and reduces the sense of disruption because expectations become clear and consistent.

— 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 The Process is Done Along the Way. 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

Partially Implemented

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

Not A Consistent Focus

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

Not A Consistent Focus

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

Not A Consistent Focus

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

Partially Implemented

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

Partially Implemented

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

Not A Consistent Focus

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, disciple making is happening but it’s mostly informal, varies across ministries, and leaves you with low confidence in outcomes. The highest-leverage move is to create a clear, shared approach that leaders can model without feeling like you’re “replacing everything.” That’s why these two strategies were selected: they work together by giving your church a simple definition of what you’re aiming for, and then making disciple making intentional rather than accidental. Together, they reduce confusion, improve consistency across ministries, and make it easier to see real fruit.

Clarify a Simple, Shared Definition and Method

Based on what you shared, the lack of a clear, shared disciple-making method (and only partial clarity on the definition) is a primary reason ministries are doing different things and outcomes feel uncertain. A simple, shared definition and method doesn’t need to be complex—it needs to be clear enough that leaders can repeat it the same way, and flexible enough to be used across ministries without major disruption. Practical helps: – Draft a one-sentence definition of a “disciple” your whole leadership team can affirm (clear enough to evaluate, simple enough to repeat). – Draft a simple, repeatable meeting flow that fits your discussion culture but adds personal application (for example: Bible reading plan check-in, one key truth, one personal application, one relational next step). – Build the method around your existing Bible reading plan moving through selected books so you’re not starting from scratch. – Create a short leader guide (one page) that explains the definition, the meeting flow, and what “good” looks like. – Ask a small set of 3–4 leaders from different ministries to test it in real groups and give feedback for clarity.

Make Disciple Making Intentional Church-Wide

Based on what you shared, disciple making is happening informally, but intentionality is not a consistent focus and leadership priorities are mixed—which makes alignment difficult. The goal here is not to force uniformity overnight, but to establish clear, shared expectations so disciple making becomes the normal path across ministries without triggering unnecessary disruption. Practical helps: – Align leaders on one near-term “win” goal everyone can agree on (for example: each ministry leads one group using the shared method). – Choose a small pilot lane (3–4 leaders) and publicly name it as a “test and learn” step to lower disruption concerns. – Define one or two simple scorecards that measure outcomes without turning into reporting pressure (for example: % of groups using the method; # of people taking a personal application step). – Ask senior leaders to model the method visibly in one setting (even if limited at first) so others can copy it. – Set a clear expectation that ministries can keep their distinctives, but disciple making uses the same definition and basic method.

What Success Looks Like

– Most ministries are using one shared disciple-making definition and a simple, repeatable method. – Group time consistently produces personal application steps, not only general discussion. – More people are discipling others, and replication is no longer limited to “a few.” – Leadership confidence rises because outcomes are clearer and more consistent across ministries.

Early Measurable Wins

– Publish a one-page disciple-making definition and simple method that leaders can immediately use. – Pilot the method with 3–4 leaders across different ministries and gather feedback on clarity. – Add a consistent personal application moment to every pilot gathering and track whether each person leaves with one specific application step. – Identify one visible senior leader modeling moment (using the method) to reduce uncertainty and normalize adoption.

— 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!

print your makeover report

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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 adding a simple, consistent practice of listening and responding during application planning. – Strengthen The Focus is on Individuals by training leaders to move from general discussion to “what does this mean for you this week?” – Strengthen The Goal is Application by consistently ending groups with one clear decision-level application step per person.

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!

Welcome to your

Disciple Making Makeover

Your Makeover Webpage is permanent. You may want to save a bookmark so you can revisit or share with your staff or fellow disciple makers.

You can also print a version if you want a pdf or actual paper to mark up. There’s a print button in the last section!

If you have questions or encounter a problem, feel free to reach out to us by email. We do our best to answer the same business day!

You're Important to Us!

We’ve trained this model with thousands of tests to do exactly what we do in a live Makeover. We’d love to know…

How helpful was your makeover?

We understand that sometimes things just don’t go as expected. If your makeover didn’t meet your expectations, we’ll meet with you personally. And if we can’t make it right—we’ll refund your investment!