TatV Chapter 7

Chapter 7 turns to look at training and gospel growth. The emphasis here is clearly on the personal relational side of gospel growth - gospel growth is the lives of people, not in the structures of church. This means we need to change our thinking so that we think of advancing people in their faith. They suggest a four stage gospel growth process: outreach, follow up, growth and training. There is then a diagnostic tool (those who've read mission minded by Peter Bolt will be familiar with the idea) to enable us to plot where everyone is in these terms and therefore to work out how we move them on.

There is a danger with such a tool that we become to process oriented but they recognise this and warn against it - the emphasis is clearly on growing people. The chapter is a great reminder of how the gospel is relational and it calls us into relationships where we gospel one another. However, the book does seem to focus on the churches leaders doing this - surely the call given the disciple making disciples thesis of the book should be for each of us to think about our friends and how we can encourage them to grow in their understanding of the book. I wonder if subconsciously the tone of the chapter will lead readers to the assumption that this is the pastors/elders job which is the very opposite of what the book is trying to do.