Table Of ContentMAKING
DISCIPLES
ACROSS
CULTURES
Missional Principles for a Diverse World
Charles A. Davis
InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
ivpress.com
[email protected]
©2015 by Charles A. Davis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press.
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®
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible ,
copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by
permission.
While the stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information may have been changed to
protect the privacy of individuals.
Cover design: Cindy Kiple
Interior design: Beth McGill
Images: Abstract painting: © soleg/Fotolia
Color brush strokes: © Jesse Kunerth/Fotoli
Sound mixer board: © Grosescu Alberto/Dreamstime.com
ISBN 978-0-8308-9716-2 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-3690-1 (print)
To all those men and women who
courageously and sacrificially cross cultural boundaries
to make disciples of Jesus—apostles all!
Contents
Preface / 9
Introduction: My Journey as Disciple and Disciple Maker / 13
1 What Is a Disciple Anyway? / 29
2 Disciples Let God Lead from the Invisible World / 43
3 Disciples Hear and Obey / 60
4 Disciples Develop Relational Interdependence / 76
5 Disciples Do What Love Requires / 93
6 Disciples Make Disciples / 110
7 Leaders Equip Disciples for Ministry / 126
8 Disciples Live an Undivided Life / 143
9 Disciples Engage in Personal and Cultural Transformation / 159
10 Disciples Keep the End in Mind / 175
11 Disciples Organize Flexibly and Purposefully / 190
12 Glimpses of a Disciple-Making Community / 207
Study Questions / 217
Notes / 225
Index / 234
Praise for Making Disciples Across Cultures / 236
About the Author / 238
More Titles from InterVarsity Press / 239
Preface
T
he Evangelical Alliance Mission
(TEAM) is associated with
approximately twenty-five hundred churches in North America
and thousands more in thirty-five countries around the globe. Some
of these churches are brimming with spiritual vigor and growth,
sending out workers near and far to carry the good news. Many, sadly,
seem to be retreating from global involvement. Some have stopped
growing altogether.
In late 2010 and early 2011, TEAM leadership spent many hours in
prayer, fasting and discussion, asking God for clarity on what we
might contribute toward renewal, health and global vision in the
churches with which God has given us influence. As we prayed, we
began to dig down to the level of our assumptions about the church,
discipleship and mission. We began to question the models and
methods with which we had been operating for decades. As a result
of this prayer-soaked process, God revealed to us ten sets of cultural
assumptions which were underneath the disciple-making models or
methods used by many, if not most, of the churches with which
TEAM is associated.
In 2011, through a series of apparently disconnected events, about
thirty TEAM leaders and workers in Europe gathered to hear three
days of lectures by Alan Hirsch. In preparation for the lectures we read
his book The Forgotten Ways.1
10 Making Disciples Across Cultures
The first afternoon, Hirsch described the need to go down to the
level of assumptions, just as we had done, if we wanted to see the
fundamental changes necessary for the church of Jesus Christ to grow
and thrive. Those of us in leadership who had been asking God for
clarity on what needed to be changed were amazed.
It was almost as if our leadership team and Hirsch had been
working on two ends of the same puzzle. He was working to bring
renewal to the church in the West, examining theological assumptions
about the church, discipleship and mission. We were working with
churches worldwide, examining cultural assumptions that influence
our notion of the church, discipleship and mission.
As the puzzle came together, a compelling picture emerged, ulti-
mately resulting in this book.
Then we became increasingly aware of many others who were being
led in the same direction, not only in the church in the West, but
around the globe. From China to England, new disciple-making
methods were emerging, built on different assumptions about the
church and disciple making.
Many years ago, I began to realize that when we see a confluence
of factors which cannot be explained through human reason, we may
well be seeing the hand of God actively directing our affairs. As one
colleague said, “There is only one Shepherd, and his sheep hear his
voice. If we are hearing the Shepherd say something to us, then it is
reasonable to expect that he is saying it to other sheep as well.”2
This book explores ten universal principles of disciple making, fo-
cusing on the theological and cultural assumptions that invisibly shape
how those principles become reality in a wide variety of cultures.
These thoughts are a work in progress. If Jesus is driving this process
forward, we will find many others who have heard the Shepherd
speaking to them on the same subject, and we will be able to learn from
one another. If these thoughts resonate with you, we would love to
work together, led by the Holy Spirit.
