If Discipleship Is Working, How Would We Know?

Most churches evaluate what they can see.

Attendance.

Volunteers.

Giving.

Programs launched.

Rooms filled.

Those metrics matter. They tell a story about engagement and capacity. But they don’t always tell the story leaders most want to know:

Are our people actually growing?

That question is harder to answer, and many churches quietly avoid it, not because they don’t care, but because they’re not sure what to measure.

Activity Is Easy to Count. Formation Is Not.

Most ministry dashboards track participation:

• how many showed up

• how many served

• how many gave

• how many signed up

Those numbers help leaders steward resources and plan responsibly. But discipleship is not primarily about participation, it’s about transformation.

And transformation doesn’t always show up neatly on a spreadsheet.

People can be highly involved and spiritually stalled.They can attend faithfully and still feel disconnected from God.They can serve every week and yet remain unsure how to pray, hear God, or live their faith beyond church walls.

When Growth Is Undefined, Evaluation Becomes Guesswork

In many churches, leaders sense when discipleship is off, but struggle to articulate why.

They might say:

• “Something feels shallow.”

• “People aren’t taking ownership.”

• “We’re busy, but I’m not sure we’re healthy.”

• “New believers don’t seem to mature.”

Without a shared definition of spiritual growth, evaluation becomes subjective. One leader celebrates attendance gains. Another worries about depth. Another points to small groups. Another points to Bible knowledge.

Everyone is measuring something different.

The result is confusion. It's not because discipleship is unimportant, but because it was never clearly defined.

Scripture Assumes Growth Is Observable

Throughout Scripture, spiritual growth is expected to be seen... not perfectly, but progressively.

Jesus talked about fruit.

Paul talked about maturity.

The New Testament assumes that faith changes how people live, love, pray, and endure.

That doesn’t mean growth is fast or linear. It does mean growth is recognizable.

When discipleship is working, people become different. They:

• respond to hardship with greater trust

• move from consumer to contributor

• develop spiritual practices they didn’t have before

• show increasing love for others

• take responsibility for their own formation

If those markers aren’t being named, celebrated, or expected, leaders are left evaluating outcomes without a clear target.

The Quiet Gap Beneath the Numbers

Here’s the gap many churches live with:

We measure what we can track, not what we’re actually trying to form.

That gap creates pressure on leaders to produce visible results (often through activity) while the deeper work of formation remains assumed.

Over time, this can lead to burnout:

• leaders feel responsible for growth they can’t clearly define

• people feel pressure to perform rather than mature

• discipleship becomes reactive instead of intentional

No one set out to build it this way. It’s simply what happens when discipleship language is absent.

This Is Not About New Metrics, It’s About Clarity

The answer isn’t to replace attendance numbers with a new set of spiritual scorecards.

Discipleship is relational. Formation is nuanced. Growth happens at different speeds.

But clarity matters.

Churches that grow healthier over time tend to share:

• a common understanding of what spiritual growth looks like

• a progression that people can recognize in themselves

• leaders who talk about formation as often as participation

Without that clarity, leaders are left asking the same question year after year:“Are we actually doing a good job discipling people?”

A Better Question to Sit With

Instead of asking, “How are we doing?” Try asking:

• What signs of spiritual maturity do we celebrate?

• How would a new believer know they’re growing here?

• What practices are we intentionally forming in our people?

• Could our leaders describe spiritual growth in the same language?

If those questions feel difficult, that’s not a verdict but a starting point.

A Quiet Invitation

Many pastors reach this moment and realize they don’t need more effort, they need clarity.

Sometimes that clarity comes through prayerful reflection as a leadership team. Sometimes it helps to have someone outside the system help name what’s forming and what’s missing without judgment or pressure.

Discipleship doesn’t work because it’s measured.

It works when it’s intentional, visible, and shared.

About the AuthorPastor Tony Kensinger serves churches as a pastor, coach, and discipleship strategist through Fresh Ministries. He has spent decades helping churches clarify spiritual formation, build healthy leadership cultures, and move from activity to intentional discipleship.

If this stirred questions or tension, you’re not meant to carry that alone. Sometimes clarity comes through prayer; sometimes through a simple conversation.