Zach Zehnder has a straightforward answer: define your discipleship targets.
In a recent webinar for church leaders, Zach Zehnder, pastor and founder of Red Letter Living, shared a practical framework for measuring and achieving success in churchwide discipleship. He rooted his approach in a deep understanding of the challenges facing modern Christian communities and a passion to help churches follow Jesus's call more effectively. Here’s a brief overview of Zach’s “discipleship target” framework.
Zach began the webinar by highlighting a striking disconnect: while many Americans self-identify as Christians, only a small segment of self-proclaimed Christians are practicing Christians. This gap reveals a crucial insight: despite abundant information about discipleship, there’s widespread confusion about how to follow Jesus practically. As Zach put it, “American churches have created many believers but very few followers.”
The church's discipleship problem is not due to a lack of information, but a lack of clear direction. Churches are excellent at introducing people to the concept of faith, but sometimes they struggle to guide them into an intentional journey of discipleship.
What’s often missing in church discipleship strategies? According to Zach, it’s clear, measurable targets. As he said, “You measure what’s important in life.”
These targets provide a comprehensive blueprint for spiritual growth that goes beyond simple church attendance or theological knowledge.
While Zach said he uses the targets of being, forgiving, serving, giving, and going in his ministry, he also mentioned he empowers church leaders to tailor discipleship targets to their needs. Whatever your targets, he recommended that they adhere to three critical criteria:
Zach suggested maintaining approximately five targets—enough to be comprehensive, but not so many that they become overwhelming. To ensure these targets are effective, they should be paired with measurable metrics that are tracked consistently over time. Finally, regularly repeating these targets within the church community helps embed them in the hearts and minds of members.
The webinar concluded with a powerful reminder: God deserves more than an unidentified, unintentional, and confused representation of discipleship. Success comes from commitment to truly following Jesus, supported by clear targets and intentional measurement. With discipleship targets that follow a few basic principles, ministry leaders can be on their way to measuring and achieving discipleship success.
Want to dive deeper into these concepts? Watch the full webinar for detailed examples, additional resource recommendations, and an exclusive Q&A with Zach. Click here to access the webinar recording.
Disclaimer: This blog was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice. If you find content that is inaccurate or otherwise needs to be reviewed, please email webinars@rightnowmedia.org.
When you picture your ideal neighborhood, what do you see? Maybe you see the neighborhood where you already live. Or perhaps Mr. Rogers himself welcomes you with a song to a fictitious place where you’ll always belong.
But what ultimately makes a good neighborhood? It’s not a trick question: Good neighbors.
We’ve all been helped by neighbors and probably thought to ourselves, “I want to be more like that.” Jesus himself said the greatest commandment in the Old Testament is to love God and our neighbor (Matthew 22:35–40)—even telling a story to illustrate what being a good neighbor looks like and to whom we must be neighborly (Luke 10:25–37). Given this principle, Christians should be the best neighbors—hospitable, thoughtful, and sacrificial.
And the most neighborly thing we can do as Christians is share how neighborly Jesus has been to us—how he welcomed us when we were strangers.
Christians often lament the lack of opportunities to share our faith with others. But most of us have the perfect place to have meaningful conversations about Jesus—our neighborhood. Here are four principles to consider as you make disciples in your neighborhood:
To have conversations about Jesus with your neighbors, you have to be around your neighbors.
When we cram our schedules with more extracurricular activities, dinner parties, soccer practices, and happy hours, we spend less time at home and little time around our neighbors, even though we physically live next to them—we are proximate to but not present with them. But presence is different than proximity.
Instead of treating your neighborhood like a pit stop or merely as a place where you sleep, how can you commit to being present in your neighborhood?
Maybe there’s an activity you participate in that happens in someone else’s neighborhood—a practice at a local field or a barbeque at a friend’s house. Consider hosting that activity in your neighborhood. Maybe you feel stretched thin by the number of commitments outside your home. Think about cutting one activity and redeeming that time during the week to walk around your neighborhood, sit on your front porch, or spend time in public spaces around your home.
Most people prefer to be asked to do something rather than to do the asking. It’s nice to feel wanted. But the popular phrase, “Good things come to those who wait,” may not be a great discipleship strategy in your neighborhood.
When Jesus “moved into [our] neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message®)—coming from heaven to live on earth with us—he didn’t wait for us to ask him to come. He pursued us first. And as his followers, we should likewise pursue others. Regardless of how fearful you are of what your neighbors might say or how they may treat you moving forward, initiating kindness with them can open the door to deeper spiritual conversations that may otherwise remain shut.
Don’t wait for neighbors to come to you. Go to your neighbors. Instead of wanting a better relationship with your neighbors, take steps to develop a better relationship with them. Bake some treats and walk over to their house. Knock on their door, asking if there are any projects they need help with. Pay attention to your neighbors’ patterns to initiate conversations as you take out your trash cans together or walk your dogs around the block.
There’s always the no-fun home on your street or in your building. They call the homeowners association to file a noise complaint or—God forbid—hand out toothbrushes for Halloween.
One way to be a disciple-maker in your neighborhood is to be a fun, playful home for others to see. Jesus himself attended parties (see the wedding in Cana in John 2) and had a warm enough personality to relax with friends around a meal (John 13:23–25). If little children were drawn to Jesus (Matthew 19:13–15), he had to be an approachable, fun person.
There are many opportunities for fun in your neighborhood. You could create holiday events—a hot chocolate bar for Christmas, hot dogs and burgers for the Fourth of July, donuts for National Donut Day—that encourage people to spend time in your front yard, backyard, or apartment floor. If you do live in an apartment or college dorm, there are ample social events set up by management or resident staff for neighbors to have fun with each other—simply participate!
Making disciples often happens out of relational connection, and one of the best ways to build relationships with people is to just have fun together.
Prayer should be the foundation for all disciple-making efforts in our neighborhoods. Acknowledging God’s loving care over all areas of our lives—including our neighborhoods—is both right for us to do and can relieve some of the pressure we feel as we make disciples.
If you already have a regular prayer routine, consider what it looks like to integrate your neighbors into your prayer life. Think about specific homes, people, or groups living near you that you could pray over by name and number. Perhaps the Spirit will lead you to ask those people for prayer requests. Even if they don’t share anything specific, they’ll know that you are praying for them.
Jesus prayed for people who wanted his prayers (his disciples in John 17) and those who wanted nothing to do with him (his torturers in Luke 23:34). Maybe you’re surrounded by caring neighbors with whom you have a good relationship. Maybe you’re around people who don’t even notice you exist. Either way, praying for your neighbors—especially those who don’t yet know Jesus—puts Jesus’s call on your life into practice. Go and make disciples.
The following is an article originally written by Ed Stetzer for Outreach Magazine. RightNow Media is excited to work with Ed Stetzer on an upcoming project for pastors releasing in January 2025. We love Ed’s heart for the church and agree with his reminder in this article that small churches matter.
As I travel, I regularly tweet, “If you are pastor of a small church, I’d love to fill in for you this Sunday.” I’ve done it in Amsterdam, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and more. And I’ve loved seeing how God is working through small churches throughout the country and around the world.
Christians and leaders who are a part of small churches can sometimes feel like they are on the sideline of the mission, that larger churches are the ones that are really in the game. This feeling, however, doesn’t align with the reality of mission and ministry. According to one study, the median number for Sunday morning church attendance in the United States is sixty-five people. Seventy percent of churches average fewer than one hundred attendees.
The truth is, small churches have been the norm for most of Christian history. The megachurch is the outlier, a unique feature of late 20th-century Christianity in America. The bottom line is small churches have always mattered for the mission and God’s kingdom. And they still do.
Here are five reasons—among many others I could list—why small churches matter.
Jesus gave the Great Commission to the local church—to a group of disciples who would lead small house churches, and as I’ve already mentioned, the vast majority of churches globally and historically would be considered “small.” Additionally, in the language of the Great Commission we see the local church’s functions of discipleship in baptizing and teaching: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20a). So Jesus calls every church—and in fact every Christian—to participate in the work of making disciples. That includes small churches.
Here’s the through line: First, Jesus calls every local church to be the place where the Great Commission is fulfilled. Second, most churches are small. This means, third, that small churches must be a big part of Jesus’s plan for his mission. Jesus doesn’t look at the church growing throughout history and throughout the world and think, If only these churches were bigger, then I could really do something. Instead, he sees thousands—millions—of churches, and he sees them all as a big part of his design to reach the least and the lost.
A church that has dozens of people who attend every week rather than hundreds or thousands provides opportunities for those people to connect and grow in fellowship with one another. When people see the same people in weekly worship and at church events, they can develop friendships and deep relationships. Likewise, small churches rely on people actively participating in all areas of the church’s life, creating a sense of belonging. In a small church people can have a harder time thinking that they don’t need to serve, because they aren’t surrounded by a massive crowd. Then when someone does step into a role, they can feel like their contribution in the church really matters.
In some ways, small churches can function as extended families. Now, the words “extended family” can bring to mind the image of a weird uncle at Thanksgiving. But anyone who has an extended family network also knows how much it can provide a basis of support. In a small church, news about people’s needs “gets around,” and rather than devolving into gossip, such knowledge can lead members to care for one another. By virtue of the dynamics of their size, small churches present opportunities for community and care that larger churches must work harder to cultivate.
I mean this in two ways. First, small churches can adapt and pivot more quickly than a much larger church with more institutional infrastructure. Second, small churches tend to see people’s lives change in a greater proportion than larger churches do.
In terms of adaptability, small churches can respond to the needs of their community with speed and agility. Often larger organizations have bureaucratic processes that small churches have never accumulated. So small churches can pivot, launching new ministries to address emerging challenges. They can nimbly respond to specific needs in their neighborhoods in light of changing circumstances, addressing issues that larger churches might overlook.
Such flexibility for ministry and mission allows small churches to reach people with the gospel, serving them physically and spiritually. Research has shown that God usually uses smaller social contexts to bring about life change. Small churches have an opportunity here, because they can connect deeply with people in their community. For example, a few years ago I was a part of a research study on small churches that discovered something that might surprise many people: Small churches tend to experience conversion growth at a higher per capita ratio than larger churches. In many small churches, leaders are accessible and approachable, actively engaging with congregants regularly. This accessibility creates a sense of trust, as members feel comfortable sharing their concerns and prayer needs with pastors and other leaders. In small churches, pastors and other leaders can invest deeply in the spiritual growth of members because there are fewer layers of hierarchy. And members can invest deeply in one another. Such close connections between leaders and members can help build transformative relationships.
Too often we measure success by our cultural values. In the United States, we tend to value “bigger” and “more.” So American Christians tend to see big churches doing big things, and they value and celebrate them for that bigness. For example, megachurches can accomplish big things for the mission, sending staff overseas, resourcing tens of thousands, and more. We can celebrate these things while we also assess our cultural values in light of the full scope of reality. And here is the reality: most overseas mission work is done by groups and networks of small churches working together.
I work in a lot of large churches. Sometimes I tell them that the best thing that they can do is to stop doing mission on their own and start partnering with others. Most missional work is accomplished in “slices”—a small church takes ownership of one slice, another small church focuses on another, a mission board yet another, and so on. Such collaboration ends up accomplishing more than any individual large church can accomplish by itself.
Small churches that are currently independent might consider partnership with a theologically and missionally aligned network or denomination as a form of collaboration. For example, City to City—a network of churches started by Redeemer Church and Timothy Keller—is finding ways for churches to collaborate, as churches have done for centuries. In organizations like Cru, Wycliffe, the Evangelical Free Church’s global mission arm, or the Southern Baptist Convention, most missionaries are supported by collaborations of smaller churches. Such collective effort makes much more of an impact than any single large church.
Small churches are essential patches in the tapestry of God’s kingdom and his purposes in the world. Each small church has a unique story and many unique ways of worship, fellowship, ministry and mission. As the global church grows and connects across cultural and geographical differences, small churches will become increasingly important. Small churches have the opportunity to model contextualized ministry and mission. They can develop and empower leaders from diverse backgrounds and situations.
Many Christians are keying in on this next decade because 2033 will mark the 2,000-year anniversary of the Great Commission. (Now, even if the actual anniversary is not 2033, I don’t need to be that “well, actually …” guy who wants to correct everyone on the Julian calendar, and neither do you.) Many are forming 10-year plans aimed at finishing the work God has given us. Granted, some will focus on different aspects. For example, I was recently with Pentecostals who emphasize the 2,000-year anniversary of Pentecost. Whatever the specific focus, many anticipate this monumental anniversary with large goals. IllumiNations is an alliance of Bible translation agencies, for example, working to finish translating the Bible into all the languages—something that could happen in our lifetime. We can finish the task if we cooperate and collaborate, and small churches must participate for such cooperation and collaboration to succeed.
Members and leaders of small churches must embrace both a smaller and larger vision of their calling for the Great Commission. A small church can acknowledge that by itself with its dozens of members it will not accomplish the task (something true of any megachurch, too). No single church can “make disciples of all nations” alone. But this reality should not discourage the smaller church. Instead, this reality should encourage those in smaller churches toward ministry and mission.
To learn more about our project with Ed Stetzer, RightNow Pastors+, fill out this form, follow us on social media, or text PASTOR to 49775 for updates.
UBP, Ed Stetzer editor's column, Outreach magazine, 2024. Original found here: https://outreachmagazine.com/features/81396-ed-stetzer-the-power-of-small.html?
Instead of scampering around, chauffeuring kids to and from school, practice, and other activities, life tends to slow down a bit this time of year. We trade filled (or overfilled) schedules for more downtime—more time off, more trips, and more time together. For that reason alone, summertime is a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of normal life.
But if we’re not careful, summer can slip away just as stealthily as it snuck up on us, leaving all our plans and good intentions in the dust. So, for families with a little more time on their hands this summer, or fewer schedules to keep, what can we do to make the best use of the extra time we have with our kids?
There are hundreds of meaningful things we can do as a family during the summer months. Vacations. Trips to the pool. Time at a waterpark. Camping in the backyard. Movie nights. Or simply sitting on the porch together, talking about things that matter to us. The possibilities are endless.
Since this time of year generally gives families more time together, parents can make it a point to prioritize evangelism and discipleship with their kids. And contrary to popular belief, that doesn’t mean we have to run them through a rigid program. But it does give us more opportunity to think intentionally about what it can look like for us to pass the faith down to our children—and then act on it.
Evangelism is an impossible task. Think about it, if the goal of evangelism is to “awaken” those who are “dead in [their] trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1–3), then that means, in some mysterious way, a resurrection must take place. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the power to bring someone back to life, whether physically or spiritually. We need God’s help.
If we hope to pass the faith down to our children, our evangelism must be saturated in prayer. Pray for yourself. Pray for opportunities to talk with your kids. Pray for a clear and natural delivery of the good news. And pray for your child or children, that they will have a receptive heart to Jesus’s gospel and receive it with joy.
Engaging your children evangelistically doesn’t require a rigid program—you don’t have to build out a years-long scope and sequence to teach that the claims of Christ are true. Nevertheless, you can still think ahead and consider what methods are most appropriate for you, your child, and your schedule as you aim to pass down the faith. Consider asking the following questions to determine a method that fits your family:
There are plenty of other questions to ask and considerations to make. The point is to make intentional plans to have gospel conversations with your kids—over and over again.
Sharing the gospel isn’t a one-time event. It’s something we ought to do with our children every chance we get. While we can make plans to teach them about Jesus, we should also be prepared to take advantage of all the unplanned opportunities we have to expose them to the gospel.
It was the apostle Peter who told us to be “ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks [us] for a reason for the hope that is in [us]” (1 Peter 3:15)—and that applies to the conversations we have with our kids too. Inevitably, during a normal car ride, after a breakup, or in response to an injustice they’ve observed, our kids will ask, “Why?” and “How?” and “Why me?” And when they do, make sure you’re ready to engage them truthfully and compassionately, pushing them—graciously and by the Spirit—to Jesus and his gospel, which can make sense of all they’re experiencing spiritually and emotionally.
Conventional wisdom tells us, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That can be true with evangelism as well. Raising and rearing children, and passing the faith on to them, is a task that benefits from an all-hands-on-deck approach. So, what could you do to invite grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, friends, teachers, and fellow church members into the process of discussing faith with your kids? You don’t have to go it alone. Sometimes the good news might even be better received when it’s delivered to your child by someone else. If you want your children to say yes to Jesus, as we all do, consider making evangelism a community project.
As parents, many of us approach evangelizing our kids with a sense of urgency. And there’s nothing wrong with that—it’s good that we want them to follow Jesus as soon as possible. But often, the pressure of “getting them saved” can quickly morph into a frantic and anxious approach to evangelism that’s driven by fear. But we can temper the urgency we feel with patience. Why? Because God is trustworthy; he “wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
God wants your child to be saved—even more than you do. And because that’s true, we can prayerfully engage our children with the truth. We can show them the beauty of that gospel and make plans to do so in myriad ways—through movies and music and food and friends and books and trips and long conversations. We can take advantage of the everyday opportunities that arise to model and discuss the good news with our kids, and we can do it in a community of believers who will help us. And finally, we can take a deep breath and take our time, trusting that God will impart saving faith in our children in due time.
Paul offers us metaphors about bodies and buildings to show how Christ brings us together as his people. We even see in Jesus’s life that he had close friends. We know community should characterize God’s people. So, what is it?
For the church, being together begins with Jesus. He unifies us—not only with himself but also with each other. By the power of the Spirit, he enables us to overcome differences, arguments, and divisions to stand shoulder to shoulder with other Christians. And he sends us out on the same mission to make disciples. To be in Christian community is to belong to Jesus, to love each other, and to be witnesses together.
On November 6–8, pastors and church leaders will gather in Dallas, TX to explore what it means for the church to be the community of God. As we hear from speakers like Kyle Idleman, Nona Jones, Ben Stuart, and more, we’ll explore how we can be unified in Christ by the power of the Spirit for the glory of God.
Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection pave the way for us to be with God. When we put our faith in him, we are unified with him by the Spirit. The foundation of our unity as God’s people is Jesus (Ephesians 2:19–22).
Salvation belongs to God’s people—the church. Together, we represent God in the world, empowered by the Spirit. Despite our differences, we stand together under the banner of Jesus (Hebrews 10:24–25; Acts 2:44–47).
Our God-given mission to make disciples of all nations begins in our community and branches out through our relationships to the ends of the earth. Together, we share the good news about Jesus (Philippians 1:27; Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 1:8).
As church leaders, we want the church to love Jesus, to be unified, and to pursue God’s mission. Our hope is to see Jesus’s prayer from John 17 answered: “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me” (John 17:21, CSB).
Join us at this year’s RightNow Conference—you can even bring your team at a discounted rate. Find out more at rightnowconferences.org.
There’s always someone to meet with, church bathrooms to clean, a small group curriculum to plan, volunteers to train, or a sermon to write. And while all of these are good and necessary tasks in ministry, the constant pressure to do more can drive church leaders to exhaustion.
In my early ministry, I served a church plant and worked in a coffee shop to help pay my bills. The grind of building a church from the ground up while working a second job became so normal that I couldn’t even recognize how exhausted I was. Luckily, my lead pastor was a good friend who saw that I was skating near the edge of burnout. He forced me to take a sabbatical to rest. Yes, forced. I didn’t think I could leave all my pressing work undone and, in some ways, I didn’t want to.
I don’t think my experience is unusual. Far too often, pastors don’t rest because they don’t think they can. We preach about rhythms of rest and practicing the sabbath to our congregations while silently feeling like that blessing is off-limits for us. And so, we slowly march closer and closer to burnout where the quiet contemplation we typically find in rest morphs into a dire questioning of our calling. Instead of prayerfully considering what God might have for our next ten years of ministry, we secretly wonder if we should leave ministry all together.
According to Barna research, at least one in three Protestant pastors has seriously contemplated leaving ministry in the last three years. 1 More than half say they do not have the luxury of a private life.2 Less than a quarter of pastors would describe their relationships as flourishing, and less than one out of five pastors would say they are personally flourishing.3 Pastors are struggling, exhausted, and ready to leave the pulpit for a healthier lifestyle.
Between our unique cultural moment and the pressure of ministry leadership, we need to prioritize sabbaticals—extended periods of rest to spend time with God, to contemplate where he might be leading our ministry, to study, and to connect with our families and friends.
There is no singular right way for a church to practice sabbaticals, but every church should care for their leaders by offering, even mandating, that pastors take them. If you do not currently have sabbaticals in your church or are considering how you might update your current rhythm of pastoral rest, here are some parameters to consider:
It isn’t easy to slow down, especially when a lot of us are used to running on coffee and the adrenaline of immanent church deadlines. Having nothing to plan, no fires to put out, and no meetings to run can leave us feeling bored or useless. The temptation is to fill our schedule with home repair, travel, or family events. But don’t miss the unique opportunity to rest both passively and actively.
Passive rest—sleep—is essential for recovering and lowering our cortisol (the stress chemical) levels. During a sabbatical, you can not only catch up on sleep, but set a healthy sleep schedule. When you’re tired, take a nap. You need it.
Active rest is participating in hobbies, attending events, or visiting places that bring you joy. Your sabbatical gives you the space to participate in those things that always get bumped off your schedule. Make them a priority for both you and your family.
God desires a relationship with you just as much as he does with the people you preach to on Sunday mornings. Your sabbatical gives you the space to pray, read Scripture, and walk with God without any agenda. During this time, you don’t have to be a “pastor”—you are a disciple.
It is a special blessing to worship in a service that you did not plan and are not responsible for when you are used to working on Sundays. Consider attending sister churches during your sabbatical where you can worship without having to shepherd someone. If you choose to attend a different church, let your congregation know why and reach out to the pastor at the church where you will attend. Clear communication will help your church know why you are not around on Sundays and help the visiting church best serve you and your family during your sabbatical.
Like Jesus withdrawing to pray and Elijah retreating to the mountain, your time away from ministry is an opportunity to hear from God. Define a purpose for your sabbatical. God may give you a new vision for your ministry, direction for your church, or call you to start something new. Take time to intentionally listen to God about your leadership, teaching, family, your church’s direction and vision, and the way you approach ministry. You may come back from your time both rested and changed.
If a sabbatical is not on your immediate horizon, you don’t have to wait to find a healthy rhythm of work and rest. A sabbatical can give you time away from work, but if you do not correct the root issue of your burnout, you will continue to risk your longevity in ministry. Some simple practices could be creating a rule of life, practicing and protecting a sabbath day, setting a sleep schedule, or delegating tasks to others.
God loves you, pastor. You can rest, both in seasons of work and on sabbaticals.
1 BarnaGroup, The State of Pastors Vol. 2 (Ventura, CA: Barna Group, 2024), 18.
2 BarnaGroup, The State of Pastors Vol. 2, 27.
3 Barna Group, The State of Pastors Vol. 2, 33.
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