DISCIPLE MAKING
HELPING OTHERS ON THE JOURNEY
WHAT IS STEPS?
You’re here because you’re discipline someone or wanting to. STEPS exists to help you do that.
STEPS is a disciple making pathway developed by Pastor Chad of the Get Connected. Church that allows anyone to find where they are on their journey and move forward. For leaders, STEPS provides built in assessments and goals to track where people are and how much they are growing. Every person we encounter can be found somewhere on this path:
From the devout believer of another faith, to the oblivious-to-God pleasure seeker, to the cultural Christian with no spiritual rebirth, to the pew warmer at the local church, everyone is somewhere on this path: NOT CURIOUS, CURIOUS, BELIEVER, DISCIPLE, DISCIPLE MAKER, and LIFE LONG SERVANT. People will tell you where they are if you ask them!
OUR ETERNAL REALITY & EARTHLY EXPERIENCE
We know that our eternal reality is simple. There are those who are “in Christ” and those who are not. There are no STEPS when considering our eternal home.
But our earthly experience is full of grey areas, “in between”, and processes. We can see this process unfold in our own lives and in those portrayed in scripture. The disciples, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Cornelius, Saul of Tarsus, the Ethiopian Eunuch, and Timothy all illustrate an arc of growth. Each of them, being led by the Spirit, traveled down the pathway from curiosity to belief or from following to helping others follow.
MATURITY AS A PROCESS
As much as we would like for people to immediately become the LIFE LONG SERVANTS they can be, we also know that the Bible describes maturity as a process. Whether its the messy path from “milk to meat” (Hebrew 5:12-14, 1 Corinthians 3:1-2) or the image of a sunrise (Proverbs 4:18-19), growth often comes incrementally. Proverbs says “the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.” The dark night of skepticism can give way to the predawn glow of curiosity. The glimmering dawn of belief can lead to the rising sun of growth which eventually overwhelms the noon day sky in maturity. What a beautiful picture of a journey into Christ!
We know that people grow spiritually from the accomplished work of Christ and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. We also know that there are some important Growth Rhythms that help us grow as seen below.
A COMMON OBJECTION
A common objection to STEPS is that some of the steps seem unnecessary. When someone starts to follow Jesus they should immediately be taught to be a DISCIPLE, learning to feed self, and possibly even a DISCIPLE MAKER, reaching out to help others. We agree! STEPS doesn’t attempt to slow down or add steps to being the followers of Christ we are called to be. But the STEPS pathway is powerful in a descriptive sense. It allows people to find themselves with accuracy. We know of people who claim to be believers and show no evidence of spiritual rebirth. We know people who are believers and have no idea how to feed themselves spiritually. We know people who have been feeding themselves spiritually for years and have never been trained to feed others. STEPS allows people in these situations to find themselves and invites them to take the next steps towards Christ-likeness.
The goal is always to become more like Christ, not to “park” in any of the STEPS. As people become more like Jesus we know we will see more of the traits of the higher stages in their life.
HOW TO USE STEPS AS A LEADER
As we engage people around us in gospel conversations, our goal should be to quickly identify where people are on the STEPS and whether they are willing to take the next step forward. You can identify what STEPS people are in by asking them. Either by drawing the circles or just explaining it to them, ask them to tell you where they are and if they are interested in moving forward. There is also a more detailed assessment you can email to them. The results will be sent directly to you so you can get started helping them grow. Ideally, you will be confident enough to say “I can help you take the next step!”
Once someone agrees to start meeting for discipleship, this site will help you find resources that are specific to their STEPS. Just return to the HOME PAGE and get started or see how our meetings are recommended.