Way back in the 1980s, the IMB gave each missionary a quota of how many gospel tracts they needed to distribute each month. And by the end of the month, some missionaries in the Americas admitted to getting in their cars and throwing tracts out their window at the people waiting at bus stops.
It was the first drive-by pelting.
These missionaries carried no accountability other than to get rid of tracts. As a lawyer would say, they met the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law. But were these missionaries being held accountable to the activities that brought spiritual transformation?
What are you counting in your church? How do you count disciple-making? People who attend a Bible study? Tracts given away? Quarterlies distributed? Budget used up? We have trustees, financial committees, and watch closely over the money counters. Could you imagine if they were just counting the number of offering envelopes turned in each week? Silly, right? But is the same umph-with-wisdom being given to disciple-makers? What does accountability look like in your church?
Pastors occasionally connect with me about disciple-making efforts for their church. A pastor in Cincinnati told me he once fired his discipleship pastor because he wasn’t discipling anyone, among other things. A church planter in another state told me he was getting frustrated in his attempt to preach in hopes that his (so-so) sermons would be enough to disciple his congregation. Working together, I had him do an exercise that changed things around. He began to contrast his inability to disciple from the pulpit with the excellent work done by the small group leaders in his church. When discipling became a priority, the pastor wanted to work with those who could interact the best.
The size of the small group determines the need for accountability. When the participants can “hide” in the larger group, then they tend to stop growing toward maturity in the Lord.
Another leader who served as a discipleship strategist in another state called me. He was concerned for backsliding and occasional doctrinal error among some small groups that were developing their own Bible studies. With this leader, the key was to help him train small group leaders to hold their group participants accountable for what they volunteered to do, believe, say, decide, etc.
It’s truly all about making disciples. Accountability defines spiritual growth and multiplication. And it is far too often overlooked.
It’s time to hit the brakes and stop driving by real opportunities. People are seeking to grow in Christ and multiply themselves in the lives of others. Let’s stop trying shortcuts like tossing out tracts and get down to the hard work of disciple-making as workers in the harvest.
--Mark Snowden serves as director for the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association
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