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Life in Christ is a journey. We are headed somewhere, a destination of eternal life in the new heavens and new earth. However, as followers of Jesus, our journey isn’t about the destination alone but the type of people we become along the way.

If you are here, I trust that you long to grow spiritually or that you’re a church leader who desires to see your congregation grow closer to Jesus. To help you on that journey of growth, I want to introduce you to the concept of a discipleship pathway.

A discipleship pathway is not a new program to add to your church calendar or a short-term study to walk through and then forget as you move on to the next thing. Instead, it is a strategy to structure your life or church ministries to encourage spiritual growth.

When you read about Jesus’s ministry in the Gospels, you see him operating through prayer, trust in the Father, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, Jesus still had a strategy. He preached to and served the masses but focused on a few. He called them, trained them, sent them to do ministry, trained them some more, and finally commissioned them to make disciples in the world with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus called, trained, and sent, as the training deepened with time. The disciples responded, learned, served, and shared, as responsibility increased with time. That is a discipleship pathway.

My strategy involves five core steps: Commune, gather, connect, serve, and disciple. To grow spiritually, followers of Jesus commune with God, building their relationship with him through a commitment to time in Scripture and prayer; regularly gather for worship with other followers of Jesus to experience God together; connect in fellowship through a small group dedicated to Scripture, prayer, fellowship, and encouragement; serve needs by using their spiritual gifts and resources to practically show the love of God to others; and finally disciple others as they evangelize those without Christ and spiritually mentor others who follow Jesus.

Commune. Gather. Connect. Serve. Disciple.

If you want to learn how to develop this or a similar pathway in your life or church, you can download the free guide from Ozark Hill’s Discipleship Pathway Workshop by clicking here. I have also written a 12-week Bible study for individuals or groups called The Journey, which includes this pathway as a strategy for continued spiritual growth throughout life as you help others know and grow in Jesus as well. You can find The Journey on Amazon by clicking here.

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