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Disciples Are Not Made In Class

For a couple of years, we called our disciple-making groups CORE groups. Robby Gallaty and Replicate ministries call theirs D-Groups. Everyone has their own nomenclature and reasons for it, but most of these groups share some things in common: small, same-gender, weekly groups whose purpose is to help their members grow into the image of Christ.

We formed a disciple-making strategy team, worked through and prayed through a great deal of material, and finally came down to "What are we going to call these groups?" There were many suggestions, but I can't remember one except DLT. I remember one team member who said, "Well, let's call them doing life together groups. That's what disciple-making is. That's what it takes."

That's how we got there. DLT groups are small groups of 3-5 people of the same gender who want to grow into the image of Christ together. They meet weekly, read and interact over scripture together, pray together, hold one another accountable together, encourage one another together, and do life together.

We do this because Jesus commanded, "Follow me." Yes, he commanded us to teach all His commands, but he didn't just teach that in the temple, synagogue, or mountainside to a massive crowd of hungry people. He taught three men among 12 men and about 120 other men and women as they lived together for about three years. 

We teach His Word in the crowds in public worship gatherings, we teach it and apply it in Connnect Groups on Sunday mornings, and we teach it and apply it in EQUIP classes that focus on informing people about Jesus, but we must also do this in life together. 

So many churches have spent so much time trying to get people to come to "church" and do that more than once a month that they've lost sight of what they're here for. They're here to make disciples of Jesus, and that requires far, far more than coming to "church" a couple of times a month. It takes doing life together for the purpose of becoming like Christ. 

If you don't want to do life together with other Christians, you don't want to be a disciple of Jesus. You want something, but it's not to be Jesus's disciple. If all you want is to come to "church," be in an in-depth Bible study, and then go home, you need a realignment of your heart. And, of course, a realignment of our hearts is what disciple-making is all about.

 

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