The majority of Christians today are being discipled by popular media, flashy events, and folk theology because churches have neglected their responsibility to make disciples. But the church is not a secondary platform in the mission of God; it is the primary platform God uses to grow people into the image of Jesus. Therefore, as church leaders, it is our primary responsibility to establish environments and relationships where people can be trained, grow, and be sent as disciples.

There are three indispensable elements of discipleship:

• Learning to participate in the biblical story (the Bible)
• Growing in our confession of who God is and who we are (theology)
• Regularly participating in private and corporate intentional action (spiritual disciplines)