Last week I was part of a group that hosted a training conference in Huntersville, NC, a suburb of Charlotte. The event spanned three days and had a couple dozen participants. It was a great time of training, discussion and fellowship among like-minded leaders, centered on the discipline of church planting.
During the course of the event, our main presenter shared a couple of survey findings that left quite an impression on me, so I share them with you here. A massive survey had been done among evangelicals (I think by the Willow Creek Association but I’m not sure). One question that was asked concerned the making and growing of disciples, and revealed that the single most important factor that moved people forward was their hearing from God personally. Conversely, the single most important factor that held people back was not personally hearing from God. I have been thinking about this for some days now, and I think I see some changes coming in regard to how I share the Gospel and how I develop people through discipleship.
If these findings are true, and I have no reason to doubt that they are, especially when common sense is applied, I need to shift my emphasis from knowledge and understanding, from propositional truth, to – well – hearing from God. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going off the deep end searching for audible manifestations of God’s voice. Rather, I’m realizing that it’s not enough for me to hear from God and share what I’m hearing, but I need to help others hear from God for themselves.
Of course, the primary way to hear from God is to read His word. That, in tandem with prayer, is the biblical method of choice. So, I see that I need to help people read the word and pray so that they begin to hear and recognize the voice of God in their lives. I’m not simply to have that experience myself and let them in on it, but I need to be catalytic in their having their own experiences.
I should have thought of this before. I know that in my own life, it’s those times when I have sensed God’s voice that became the pillars of what I believe and how I serve in ministry. But my testimony is not where the action is for others. They need their own testimonies.
So – I’m rethinking how to preach, how to teach, how to disciple, how to lead. When those who are looking to me for leadership, guidance and wisdom develop the capacity to hear from God for themselves, they won’t need me anymore. They’ll have God as their teacher, quite an upgrade!
