DiscipleShift: Exponential 2013

 

 

Each year, the Exponential conference focuses on a theme and explores that theme at the conference and throughout the year leading up to it. They recently announced that the theme for the 2013 conference is DiscipleShift focusing on five crucial shifts the church must lead to make and deploy biblical disciples. Here's a summary of the shifts:

Shift 1: From Reaching to Making
We need to shift to a clear definition of “disciple,” and then ask if our church is making that kind of person. It’s not enough to reach people if we are not making biblical disciples.

Shift 2: From Teaching to Modeling
Discipleship begins with pastors and church leaders shifting their view of discipleship from classes toward a discipleship lifestyle. As leaders, we must intentionally model what it looks like to follow Jesus and lead others to do the same.

Shift 3: From Attending to Participating
Discipleship cannot simply be a program or a ministry we offer and people attend. We have to shift discipleship back to the center of our churches, making it the purpose of everything we do and let people know that discipleship is dependent on participating in the endless process of following Christ.

Shift 4: From Connecting to Transforming
Beyond just classes and sermons, discipleship must be based on friendship and time together. To cultivate the kind of disciples Jesus did, we have to shift our paradigm from activity and surface connections to deep, accountable relationships.

Shift 5: From Attracting to Deploying
Jesus was much more concerned with the 12 men He invested in than the thousands He taught. Shifting our scorecard from how many people we gather to how many disciples we deploy is essential.

This year, Exponential is April 22-25. If you're thinking about or planning to attend the conference, the deadline is coming up to get the best rate possible--$99 registrant/$29 spouse. After July 20, the rate goes up. So you might want to register in the next week or so. Go here to register.