Daniel Edmonds said over the years as he’s visited with churches, when they ask how to get a disciple-making movement started, he says this: “Start small. Do it right. Build it strong.”
“It’s been a driving idea in my life,” said Edmonds, director of the office of Sunday School and discipleship at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “Ultimately, it’s what Jesus did.”
That’s Edmonds’ main recommendation in his new book, which bears the same name as his mantra: Start Small. Do It Right. Build It Strong.
He suggests that individuals and churches look to Jesus as their sole guide for how disciple making should look, even if it doesn’t look like what they’re used to. He pointed to the story in Luke 5 of Jesus getting in the boat with Peter.
“He looks at Peter and says, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down the net for a catch,’” Edmonds said. “Peter responds by basically saying, ‘We’ve never done it that way before, but because You said so, we’ll do it.’ And they got a huge catch.”
Life-changing moment
Edmonds said when he decided to gear his ministry toward encouraging people to listen to Jesus rather than “we’ve never done it that way before,” it was a “life-changing moment” for him.
Churches often tend to stick with their tradition or “mimic a model rather than the master,” Edmonds said.
In the pages of his book, he leads people down a path anchored by four invitations from Jesus — come and see, be with Me, follow Me and abide in Me.
He also walks readers through the benefits of different group sizes — large-group worship gatherings where people can “come and see,” medium-sized group meetings modeled after the 12 disciples and small-group gatherings modeled after the relationship Peter, James and John had with Jesus.
And then he talks about the intimate group — God and the individual, the personal relationship where a person “abides” in Him. The smallest group is the most powerful and the essential starting point.
“We should create gatherings where people can come and see Jesus, but the real change takes place in the ‘be with me,’” Edmonds said. “They can come and see Jesus and respond to him as Messiah, but they become disciples when He calls those He wants to be with Him so He can send them.”
Needed resource
Mark Gainey, founder and executive director of Incite Ministries, which published Edmonds’ book, said he’s been “waiting for this book for years.”
“It’s a great resource and guide for those of us who serve in normal-sized, established churches,” said Gainey, who also serves as pastor of Fultondale First Baptist Church. “It’s so helpful in thinking through our current approach and how we can use what we have to be a church who makes disciples who make disciples.”
He said the way Jesus started is the way His followers today should start, and Edmonds “does a great job laying that out in this book.”
“I’m so thankful for Daniel and his influence on my life and his willingness to write down what God has taught him,” Gainey said.
Edmonds’ book is available through Amazon here.
Share with others: