The evidence is clear.
Making disciples of Jesus Christ is essential. A recent Lifeway Survey confirms that churches of all types are trying to make disciples.
Unfortunately, the clarity ends there. The survey surfaces contradictory beliefs when it comes to:
1. Whether discipleship can be measured
2. Whether knowledge, relationship, encouragement, or equipping should be priority one in discipling.
3. Whether disciple making is best accomplished one-to-one, in triads, quads, or small groups.
The lack of clarity stems from pastors themselves being unclear about what discipleship means. When asked, their answers were all over the map: some said spiritual growth, others mentoring, others leadership development, still others small groups or serving. With so many competing concepts, it’s no wonder discipleship efforts fail and stall.
The lack of definitions around discipleship isn’t news. It’s a known problem that’s been true for years. When will it be meaningfully addressed? How would someone even go about it? But clarity doesn’t come from better programs, it comes through careful thought.
From Confusion to Clarity through First Principles
The antidote to such widespread conceptual confusion can be found through first principles thinking.
Thinking in first principles reduces concepts to their most basic elements–to truths that cannot be derived from other propositions. In other words, first principles thinking pulls us back to irreducible basics from which we can then build. This way of thinking isn’t new. It’s served thinkers for millennia. Aristotle said, a first principle is, “the first basis from which a thing is known.”
The alternative to first principles thinking is thinking by analogy (or analogical reasoning). When using analogy, the goal is to clarify something lesser known by comparing it to something commonly known. Jesus’ parables are an example of analogical reasoning. He compares Kingdom truths with everyday experiences like fishing and farming.
In discipleship, analogical reasoning sounds like: “Discipleship is like mentoring.” “Disciple making is like personal spiritual training.” “Discipling is like being a spiritual parent.” This type of thinking can be very helpful to highlight similarities between two things.
Analogical reasoning, however, is not helpful in many situations. For instance, it obscures clarity when precision is needed. At times, it hides important differences (for example, “running the church is like running a business”) while it highlights similarities.
When analogical reasoning replaces first-principles thinking, then it becomes a framework for truth rather than a clarifier of it. When that happens, it quietly reshapes our beliefs and ultimately our practices. The result is confusion masquerading as familiarity. We can explain it well, but our explanations don’t withstand inspection.
Illustrating the Difference in Reality
When the work of first principles thinking has been done it results in a deeper, more complete understanding. Let’s look at two illustrations of things that many people carry only an analogical (or assumed) understanding of.
1. Happiness: Assumed Understanding: Happiness is a feeling I have when I get what I want.
First Principles Reality: Happiness is a joyful state that comes from living in alignment with my beliefs, values, and purpose.
The first leaves people pursuing pleasure that eventually ends in despair.
2. Faith: Assumed Understanding: Faith is believing without supporting evidence.
First Principles Reality: Faith is trusting in God because of His known character and past reliability (as revealed in Scripture).
The first leaves people with wishful thinking or blind optimism.
The same dynamic happens in the church when it comes to discipleship and disciple making. We hold to an analogical or assumed understanding that we can’t quite explain. We know it, but we just don’t know how to define it.
When action flows out of assumed understanding rather than first principles, it’s easy to drift off course while feeling productive. When it comes to disciple making in the church, action without clarity multiplies error. When the gap between action and clarity widens, the result is increased effort paired with decreased fruitfulness.
First-principles thinking slows us down so that clarity can take root—so every decision we make, big or small, moves us in the right direction.
Jesus Taught from First Principles
Jesus used parables (analogical thinking) to help people see, but used first principles to define truth. He does this when responding to a question on marriage and divorce (Matthew 19:3-5) and in His reframing of the law in the Sermon on the Mount (“You have heard it said… but I tell you…”). In each case, He draws out the first principle beneath the command—that righteousness, anger, and lust begin in the heart long before behavior shows it. The prohibition is in place because of what grows from within.
Later, when asked about the greatest commandment, He reduces the whole law to just two irreducible principles to love God and love people (Matthew 22:37-40). That’s first principles clarity!
Conclusion
The bewilderment around discipleship come from two sources.
First, we have separated our understanding of discipleship from its Scriptural roots. Jesus lived in a world where disciple making was both known and normal. Rabbis trained disciples to become rabbis, shaping not just what they knew but who they were. They discipled them. The process was clear and expected. If a rabbi claimed to disciple someone but only educated them it would have been seen as counterfeit.
Second, we’ve replaced first-principles understanding with an analogical one –and then acted on it. In doing so, we’ve lost sight of the foundation disciple making was meant to be built upon. The result is effort without alignment, words without shared meaning, and strategies that sound good but produce little.
Continuing to “make disciples” without first principles will keep us where we’ve been for years —busyness with little fruitfulness. Clarity can be found, but only by those willing to put in the effort of anchoring their action in first principles.
If you’d like to do it together reach out—or stay tuned.
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Find this helpful? Want to grow as a disciple or disciple maker? Check out my books: The Bicycle Illustration and The Foundation of a Disciple Making Culture. Too much to read? Check out my Podcast, “The Practitioners’ Podcast” for short, hyper focused disciple making episodes wherever you get podcasts!