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Joe (Joey) Oflin Yeah. Josh, I don’t know what you had for breakfast, but I want it. My name is Joe Michael Oflin. I’m the lead pastor at Elevated City Church in Atlanta, Georgia. We do this thing in our community to try to weave disciple making into our gatherings on Sunday morning. I don’t know how to preach without it, so I’m going to need you to help me out. Before somebody brings the message, we have somebody from our community come up, and they read the teaching text. But before that, they’ve got this liturgy that they do to try to help people understand what the Bible is and the role that it should play in their life. So we have everybody in our community say: “Hey, if you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, would you hold them up?” So if you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, would you hold them up? And then when the person says they’re going to say this liturgy, then I’m going to say in just a second—but then at the end they say the best part of it all. And everybody in the congregation shouts out: “It’s true.” So I want you to do that with me. If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, hold them up. We are people of a book. And our understanding of God is not shaped primarily by experience, tradition, popular opinion, culture, or what we’re comfortable with. Our understanding of God is shaped by the Word of God. This is our first source, our final authority, the greatest love story ever—and the best part of all— It’s true. Come on—now I can preach. All right, I want for you to picture this. Feel this. Get this in your bones. Because I’m going to read some scriptures for you that you’ve undoubtedly heard before. But when is the last time you felt these scriptures? Matthew chapter 4: While walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother—casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 9: As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. Luke 10: The Lord appointed 72 others and sent them out two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go. He said to them: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.” John 1: Jesus turns and sees them following and says: “What are you seeking?” They said: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He said: “Come and you will see.” Matthew 28: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Okay, just a second. Try to forget everything you think you know about discipleship. Maybe hop in the mental DeLorean for a second and go back. Erase: ● modern church models ● Instagram discipleship ● conferences ● books ● church programming Go all the way back. First-century Palestine. Picture this: An eccentric rabbi invites ordinary teenagers to follow him. What would that feel like? You’re standing there holding fishing nets. You’re looking at your father. You’re looking at Jesus. And you’re wondering: Do I leave everything? Or do I go back to fishing? What would it have felt like to: ● watch Jesus at the wedding at Cana ● hear the Sermon on the Mount ● sit at Matthew’s house ● be sent out with no supplies ● heal people ● cast out demons ● walk with him daily What would it feel like? Now ask yourself: What does it feel like to be discipled by you? What does it feel like to be discipled at your church? What does it feel like to go through your discipleship process? I wonder: Have we turned discipleship into a boring class… When it was meant to be the most compelling adventure? I think one of the biggest challenges for the church today is this: We have an obsession with disciple-making content and a tragic neglect of disciple-making culture. Let’s define culture: Culture = beliefs + behaviors that create distinctiveness. It’s the “it factor.” Let me say it like this: Culture is Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A is culture. You know it. “It’s my pleasure.” That’s culture. Taco Bell has culture too—it’s just different. Both have systems. Only one has culture people want. Here’s the point: Chick-fil-A didn’t win because of chicken. It won because of culture. And I think a lot of churches are trying to figure out the recipe… But missing the culture. You can copy curriculum. You can copy strategy. But if you don’t have culture—you won’t get results. At our church, we studied everything: ● first-century discipleship ● Wesley ● early church ● modern movements ● Ying Kai ● Jim Putman ● Bobby Harrington We built an amazing system. But we learned something quickly: Content without culture can only go so far. If discipleship feels like: ● a chore ● a class ● a checkbox ● a side dish You will not make disciples. We wanted to create a culture where discipleship felt like: ● an adventure ● life with Jesus ● something alive Where people: ● deeply know Jesus ● follow Jesus ● lead others If all you do is sit in circles and talk about a book… Don’t be surprised when your people just sit in circles and talk about a book. If you want to disciple people: Invite them into your life. Model it. Live it. It has turned our church upside down. Discipleship moved from the periphery → to the center . So I have five questions for you: 1. What does discipleship actually feel like at your church? 2. What should it feel like? 3. Are you designing for that? 4. Are you living it? 5. Will you stop talking about it? Let’s pray. Jesus, thank you for the gift of making disciples. Help us feel what it was like to follow you. And help us lead others into that same life. Amen.