Yesterday I suggested that the various ministries necessary to keep a church running don’t need to compete with discipleship and disciple-making: just make the ministry teams disciple-making teams as well!

Here are a few suggestions stimulate your thinking on how to make that happen:

• The first key is intentionality. Good things can happen if we’re intentional about it. If the ministry wants to see its members growing in discipleship in addition to providing the service the team is responsible for, the team will seek out or figure out means.
• Second, although I said yesterday that the team leader needed to be the disciple-making leader also, that’s not quite true. If necessary, the ministry team leader can allow a more skilled disciple-making leader on the team to lead that effort.
• Everyone in the church, and, therefore, all ministry team members should know how to have daily time with God. Then ministry team meetings should include time for folks to share what God is telling them. Including sharing in team meetings provides an incentive to keep up the practice!
• The ministry team could decide to complete a discipleship tool like the 2:7 Series or Every Man a Warrior (if all team members are men). People tend to stick to their discipleship training better if they are already part of an existing group (like the ministry team).
• As an example of combining ministry with disciple-making, consider the New Commandment Ministries model. They’re now calling it “Meeting to Meet Needs” and they help churches form teams of men for long-term ministry to widows, single moms, and fatherless children.

Here’s the verse I included yesterday – it speaks of intentionality “on the way.”

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently…, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6.6, 7, ESV)

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, ESV)