Every Believer a Disciple, Every Disciple a Member, Every Member a Servant Leader

I believe that the church was not created to be a refuge, an island in a world of conflict and confusion, but rather a launching pad.  This launching pad is a place where men and women are being moved through a process that every day gets them closer to mobilizing into ministry.  We often talk with our churches and leaders about the kinetic flow that needs to occur within the church.  This flow starts with every unbeliever to believer, every believer to disciple,every disciple to member and every member to a servant leader.  This flow is an expectation that everyone is being pushed from behind and pulled from ahead with the clear mandate that:

1. Every believer must learn to become a true follower or disciple of the One who saved them.  John stated clearly in 1 John1:6  “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” Each believer must learn to live a life that sacrifices all, their relationships and resources for the good of the body and the kingdom, just as He who saved them did.  
   
   
2. Every disciple must learn to become connected to and responsible for the well being of the local body of believers.  Membership becomes a way to accomplish two very important aspects of this.  First, it places the disciple under the recognized biblical authority within the local church and second, it creates a responsibility to and for the other believers that belong  there.
   
   
3. Every Member must learn to become a Servant Leader.  A Servant Leader Is one who has surrendered all of their resources and relationships over to fulfilling the mission of God in redeeming a lost world. They are willing to risk it all for the benefit of others within the body as well as live redemptively to reach the lost. They engage the world around them with a singular purpose to be instruments of redemption.  In many cases it is people, men and women, who are lay workers using their professions to enable their ministry.