What are the eight causes of this discipleship malaise?[1]
Ogden identifies eight factors that contribute to the church=s failure at disciple making:
1. Pastors are diverted from their primary calling to equip
the saints for the work of ministry.
2. We have tried to make disciples through programs.
3. We have reduced the Christian life to the eternal benefits we get from Jesus rather than living as students for Jesus.
4. We have made discipleship for super-Christians, not ordinary believers.
5. Leaders have been unwilling to call people to the terms of discipleship that Jesus laid out.
6. We fail to perceive the church as a community that God is forming where participation is not optional.
7. Most churches have no clear, public pathway or sequential process toward mature discipleship.
8. Most Christians have never been personally discipled by
another person who intentionally invests themselves to help someone grow to
spiritual maturity.
[1]All concepts and quotes in this section are derived from Ogden, Transforming Discipleship, 40-56.