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What Nike and G12 have in common

Nike didn’t exactly use the words of Jesus but their slogan ‘just do it’ could not be more relevant for the Christian church.

Jesus has given a clear cut command to ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you’ (Matt 28:18-19).

The true measure of any church or ministry can only be judged by success in winning people to Christ and training them as faithful and fruitful disciples. The outstanding revivalist George Whitefield, by some accounts a greater preacher than John Wesley, regretted that he had not done this.

‘My brother Wesley acted wisely—the souls that were awakened under his ministry he joined in class, and thus preserved the fruits of his labour. This I neglected and my people are a rope of sand.’

By “joined in class,” Whitefield was referring to the network of small discipleship groups of around 12 members that Wesley developed to “mobilize and disciple” the converts of his preaching. This was the rocklike foundation of a spiritual movement that affected nations for generations.

Some years ago, British evangelist David Watson came to this sobering conclusion: ‘Christians in the West have largely neglected what it means to be a disciple of Christ. ‘The vast majority of western Christians are church members, pew fillers, hymn singers, sermon tasters, Bible readers, even born again believers, or Spirit-filled charismatics, but not true disciples of Jesus. ‘If we were willing to learn the meaning of true discipleship and actually become disciples the church in the west would be transformed, and the result and impact on society would be staggering.’

Conferences, Christian TV and concerts all have their place but they are a side show, not the main deal, for bringing a mature and lasting movement of global salvation and reformation that affects whole nations. As John Maxwell has well said, ‘If the Church ever hopes to impact the next generation for Christ, and generations to come, there must be a return to the strategy of Jesus, that is to develop leaders.’ He adds that during the three and a half years of Jesus’ public ministry, ‘He did not preach crusades across Asia, nor did He heal everyone He met. What He did with the greatest amount of His time was to train twelve leaders to impact the world over the next generation.’

For me what is so convincing about the G12 Vision is not only that Pastor César Castellanos has developed a theory and practical process of discipleship but also, more importantly, that he and his 250,000-member church are just getting on and doing the job in true Nike and Jesus fashion.