Roundabouts seem to be a popular new option in my area. One reason might be because they are cheaper than traffic signals. But I still have flashbacks of being stuck in a Dubai roundabout that had multiple lanes. The fast paced flow of traffic and being in a foreign place impeded my ability to maneuver to the outside lane to exit. Before I knew it, I was being sucked back into the middle. Roundabouts are designed to keep traffic moving but they are not the destination.
The Way I See It…Church life creates plenty of roundabouts (activity) without pointing to a destination (making disciples).
Here are 5 ways to create easy exits off the roundabouts in your church.
- Create a target – You can’t reach your destination if you don’t know where you are going. What is a disciple of Christ? What do you expect a follower of Christ to know, to be, and to do? If you haven’t answered these questions, it’s a good place to start.
- Design a map – Just like your navigational system on your phone or car, create a step-by-step process for a new believer to follow. If you were writing a next step manual for a new follower of Christ in your church, what would you ask them to commit to weekly? Monthly? Where would you tell them to go next?
- Cut down on confusion – The more options a church offers, the more confusing the pathway becomes for a new believer. Simplify things in your church. If your map has 4 steps, communicate everything you do as a church in the language of those 4 steps.
- Build bridges – Once you have created the map with a step-by-step process, make it easier for a Christ follower to move from one step to the next. What is the bridge that will naturally carry them from one step to the other?
- Send them out quickly – We sometimes want new believers to have all their theology worked out, and be polished in their character and speech before giving them a chance to practice and share their faith. Turn them loose earlier than later. Jesus did this. In Matthew 10, Jesus chooses the 12 apostles and in verse 5, he sends them out with instructions. It was part of Jesus’ discipleship plan to have the disciples practice before they knew everything.
Having activities (programs) in church doesn’t mean disciples are being made. Having an intentional path for Christ followers to move through is the right way to reproduce disciples.
Interested in knowing more about how to create a pathway for believers? Let’s talk.
Keith Durham 