Coaching and Disciple Making Movements

Coaches can be scary!  I remember one I had when playing American baseball as a kid.  He had a good heart, but he intimidated us a lot!  Just knowing he was watching me try to hit the ball made me strike out. Coaching in disciple-making movements, however, shouldn’t be frightening.

Similar to me, many people have bad experiences with coaches or teachers.  These so-called mentors have been harsh, have scolded them or expected more than they were capable of. Even worse, some have shamed them when they failed.  These negative experiences affect how we think about coaching.  It doesn’t have to be like that.  Coaching is a very fruitful and helpful practice in Disciple Making Movements (DMMs).

 

Having a good DMM coach makes a major difference. It can be a major factor in whether or not you see a movement get started and be sustained.  Coaching provides friendly accountability. This helps us move toward our goals step by step.  Good coaches assist us in thinking about how to overcome obstacles so we don’t get stuck.

Why Peter Needed A Coach

His name was Peter*.  He was charismatic and dynamic.  His church members loved him and he knew how to inspire and motivate people.  He had an obvious natural gift.  Passionate about reaching his own people group, he was a man of extraordinary faith.  Growth in the number of disciples had been happening, but it was not consistent.  People would come and people would go.  He was stuck in addition rather than multiplication growth.  Though deeply committed, he didn’t know how to see his work become a multiplying movement.

Then, by God’s grace, he got a DMM coach and started attending regular Just In Time Trainings.  His movement suddenly sprang into multiplication growth!  Rather than only adding new fellowships and believers, they started seeing generational growth. In the following year, thousands believed and more than 15 new teams were launched.

As Peter had regular coaching and accountability, his progress became more consistent.  He overcame challenges he faced and addressed them in proactive ways.

He also received encouragement and affirmation from his coach.  The coach helped him stay on track and not drift in his focus.  The result? The Kingdom of God grew. Lives and communities were transformed as people met Jesus! Glory be to God!

That is the power of coaching in disciple-making movements!

“Without consultation plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.” Prov. 15:22 NASB

3 Specific Ways DMM Coaches Help

1. Listen & Encourage.

A good coach spends a lot of time listening to you share what is happening in your disciple-making work.  This verbal processing helps you gain perspective and see what is happening yourself as well.  As with Peter, they also provide encouragement and affirmation.

Working with the unreached can be a lonely ministry.  We don’t always have people who understand what we are trying to do and who believe in our vision. A coach will encourage you and help you celebrate small victories along the way.

2. Ask Questions & Help You Consider Options.

A coach asks skillful questions that allow you to consider the pathway forward. It helps you pause from the fast pace of ministry, take a moment and think about what you are doing and why.  This is extremely valuable.

We all get stuck at different points on the journey toward seeing a sustainable disciple making movements.  We hit obstacles and plateaus where growth slows down or seems to stop completely.  A coach helps you think through options to move forward.

Don’t stay stuck.  You don’t need to.  You may need help to get moving again.  That is the job of a DMM coach.

3. Provide Accountability for Action Steps & Goals.

I am a pretty goal oriented person.  I set goals and I like to fulfill them.  Usually, I do my action steps.

In spite of this, without friendly accountability, when I get busy it’s easy to put off doing what I know is needed.  Knowing that I am meeting with my coach and he/she will ask me how much progress I have made on my action steps, motivates me to do what I need to do.

A good coach never scolds when we fail to complete all our action steps. Instead, they ask, “What would you like to do about that now?”  This helps us refocus and get back on track.

Do you have a Disciple-Making coach?  Have you been meeting with them regularly?

Even those of us who coach and train others, need to have our own coach too.  Coaches who are also coached are better coaches!

Make an appointment with a coach today!  It’s time to move forward and through those obstacles and places where you are stuck.