Letting God's Word Teach

“Roughly half of all US churches did not add one person through conversion last year,” shared Richard Williams, Regional Vice President with City Team DMM (Discipleship Making Movements).  Obviously, something is wrong.  DMM focuses on making disciples and planting churches through finding a person of peace with whom to work.   The emphasis was on the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to transform people, families, and communities.  It is not about religious conversions, but bringing people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Discovery Bible studies (DBS) is at the core of the movement.

“We often expect people to accept our culture (or commit cultural suicide) before they can accept our Jesus.  … We must not transmit the gospel of the church but the gospel of Jesus Christ,” shared Williams through a power point.  DMM does not require degrees, credentials, or past leadership skills to lead a Bible study but uses willing people to reach into their sphere of influence.  It disciples to conversion and starts with creation, not Christ, to build a strong foundation.  The groups meet wherever it is convenient for those interested.

The group facilitator (the person of peace), not necessarily a Christian, looks at a passage of Scripture with the group.  Each person restates the passage in their own words.  Then they formulate “I will …” statements to obey what they learned in the passage.  These must be concrete and measureable so they can know if they applied what they learned. They share what they have learned with others.   Williams stressed “Teaching obedience produces mature disciples rather than knowledgeable converts.”  They are learning to be obedient to God’s Word and not just to a particular teacher.  Groups grow through multiplication, not addition, as each member grows to a point where they can start their own group.

Massive prayer support is needed behind the scenes, and spiritual warfare is common as we reach out to unreached people.  Williams also stressed the importance of reaching families rather than aiming at one family member.

Mallory, a summer intern, said she learned that you don’t have to know everything about the Bible to be a disciple, and bringing a person to church isn’t often as effective as going into their culture area.  It was a new idea to her to let the lost lead Bible studies.

 

Emily, another intern, found it freeing that she did not need to rely on time frames.  “It is about how the Spirit works in that person.  I’m impatient.  It is however the Spirit leads, which takes the load off my shoulders.”  Another point that stuck out to her was to not be religiously obnoxious.

It amazed Emily how much she is learning already. “This is real stuff.  God is real.  This is part of why I am here.”  Both young women feel the techniques they learned for studying God’s Word can be applied in their own devotional time.  Emily said, “I’ve been a fan of God, not a follower.”  She wants to start applying what she learns.

For more information on DMM, contact Richard Williams at 610.872.6865 or through e-mail at rwilliams@cityteam.org.