Welcome to Mobilize the Church! I’ve decided to transfer our newsletter to this new platform to make it easier to connect with our subscribers and friends. I also thought it might provide a nice opportunity to reintroduce the ministry, reflect on the last 18 months, and share more about the problem we are all facing. By the way, if you haven’t already subscribed, you can do that here…
What is Mobilize the Church?
Jesus said in John 4:35, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest”. I’ve opened my eyes and looked at the landscape of our post-pandemic, post-presidential election, post-Christian society and seen an increasing harvest. Jesus continued with his harvest analogy in Luke 10:2 when he said to his disciples, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”. We need to mobilize more workers and at its core, Mobilize is (you guessed it!) a mobilization ministry.
“Mobilize the Church partners with network leaders and pastors to mobilize a growing wave of disciple makers, pioneer leaders, and church planters.”
Specifically, we help mobilize more disciple makers (the primary calling for all followers of Jesus) and pioneer leaders (missionary-minded disciples called to reach a specific group of people) and church planters, we serve denominations, districts, networks, local pastors, and community leaders in fulfilling that mission.
The problem we are all facing
Mobilize the Church was originally launched as a partnership between Groundswell and 1000 Churches in November 2023 to help solve a problem frequently expressed by network leaders and local pastors that often exclaim, “We have the desire to plant churches, the systems to plant churches, the resources to plant churches, the locations for new church plants, and we’re ready to network and train new church planters. There’s only one problem…WHERE ARE ALL THE CHURCH PLANTERS?” This shortage of church planters is the fruit of a deeper problem.
“We will not answer the church-planting question until we dig into an even more pressing question, “WHERE ARE ALL THE DISCIPLE MAKERS?”
I believe we lack a pipeline for church planting because we haven’t mobilized people to make disciples. There is no intentional pipeline. A few years ago, Barna discovered that only 1% of pastors think the church is doing “well at discipling new and young believers”. In the West, most followers of Jesus aren’t intentionally discipling others. This needs to change.
In 2015 after ten years of church planting, God spoke to me very clearly during a season of burnout. I had become obsessed with church planting and church growth and God said, “Jon, the Great Commission is not to plant churches or grow churches. The Great Commission is to go and make disciples”. I firmly believe that when we build a groundswell of disciple makers, and keep our focus on the primary calling for every follower of Jesus, then pioneer leaders and church planters will naturally emerge.
What is a Disciple Maker?
There has been a tragic separation of the Great Commission into two halves. I pray we can integrate them back together as one continual process of disciple making. The first group of people are in the “evangelism” camp and read Matthew 28 as a one-word commission. GO! The second group of people are in the “discipleship” camp and also read Matthew 28 as a one-word commission. TEACH! Biblical disciple making must include both.
“A disciple maker is a person who builds a relationship with someone and helps them learn how to trust and follow Jesus.”
Disciple making starts with “go” and continues with the words “baptize” and “teach them to obey”. Disciple making is not merely what happens when a person commits to follow Jesus. Instead, we disciple people toward conversion, disciple them to obedience, and finally, we disciple them to mobilization. Disciple making starts with go and continues to move people toward maturity in Christ. We must mobilize more disciple makers.
What is a Pioneer Leader?
If the primary calling for every person is to make disciples, we believe God has wired a subset of those people with a more specific calling. If we took 100 disciple makers and put them in a room, there might be 10-20 of them that fall into the category of “pioneer leader”.
“A pioneer leader is a missionary disciple called to find creative ways to engage and reach a group of people uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the established church.”
Shouldn’t all disciple makers be missionary minded? Yes, but there are some people who have been given a specific calling to reach not only an individual, but a GROUP of people. It might be their neighborhood, the local gym, a coffee shop, drug addicts, single mothers, artists, or athletes. The opportunities are endless! These pioneer leaders are “dreamers that do”, and they find creative ways to make an impact. They are on the front lines of starting new outreach ministries, non-profits, fresh expressions, and discovery groups, and many may emerge as local churches. By the way, if you want to learn more, click here to pick up a copy of “Pioneers”.
Let’s Stay in Touch
The problem we are all facing is a shortage of workers. Does your organization or church have a desire to mobilize more workers for the growing harvest? Do you want to plant new churches and reach your region for Jesus, but lack a pipeline to get the job done?
We come alongside pastors through a guided process that helps them build a discipleship pathway, mobilize disciple makers, build a pioneer pipeline, and then mobilize pioneer leaders. We currently offer this process via online courses and group cohorts that not only provide live training, but also create a sense of community among pastors and leaders.
“I recently saw a small “Intel inside” sticker on a computer and thought it was a good analogy for Mobilize. Consider the vision of your church or network for mobilization and imagine if it was “powered by Mobilize”. Perhaps we can help.
If you are interested in learning more about a possible partnership please reply to this e-mail and we can set up a 30-minute phone call.