A major mistake that I see church planters making and I have made numerous times is being so focused on getting Discovery Groups started that we bypass what it really takes to successfully get groups started. Often times, we take the principles from the “methods” we have been trained in and try to start groups without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, without love and servanthood, and without attempting authentic relationship. I am definitely guilty of this and have to battle it often. The difficult part is that most of the time I didn’t even realize I was doing it. What really changed me was watching the “Insider” missionaries who we have on our team and the ones we have trained. They have taught me so much about what it takes to create discipleship relationships and start DBS (Discovery Bible Study) groups.
They take the time to love and serve people and then a relationship is formed, which more often than not leads to forming a Discovery Group. I used to think that these groups were impossible to start until I started watching how these Insiders do it. Groups are not complicated to start if you have authentic relationship! It is vital to the process. Our Insiders are in constant contact with the new and existing people they have relationships with and it is definitely not always about starting groups and church planting. It is about the love, care, and servanthood that goes along with the relationship.
Like I said before, at times I didn’t even realize that I was more focused on groups starting than the actual relationships I was in, so the lesson and challenge here is to take some time to evaluate your process. If you are not seeing groups started, it may be because you are not putting in the time it takes in relationships to see groups get started. Meeting once a week with a person or group and doing a Bible study is not even close to enough. It is certainly part of it, but the love of Christ happens when we serve and love each other and that takes a considerable about of time and sacrifice.
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