Several churches that I've connected with recently have expressed a sticking point in their ministry. That is, they don't have enough qualified men for the role of elder in their church.

At Man in the Mirror, we like to envision that moment of a man standing in front of his church with his family by his side. He is being ordained or installed as an elder, and you can see that his wife is proud of him. Looking on are several men who have had an impact on this man's life over the last several years, and men whom he has impacted as well.

When the pastor asks the man "How did God bring you to this point in your spiritual journey?" he responds "To be honest, I'm not really sure. The only decision I remember making is when my friend invited me to join the softball team six years ago. After that it seemed like every step I took was so...natural. When I was ready, the right next step just always appeared."

This is how a discipleship system for men in your church should work. It has built-in momentum and for the man, it is natural. But that doesn't come by accident or without intentional effort.

If we want men who are mature believers capable of the role of elder or any other leadership within the church, we must build them. We can't simply throw darts at the wall and draw targets around the darts. We have to know what we're building.

Can you define what a mature disciple looks like? Do you have a model that helps you create that kind of man?

To help us define a disciple, we use the concept of Head, Heart, and Hands. What does a man know, what does he believe, and what does he do? You can read more about that in the Man in the Mirror blog post linked below.

Always remember that it can take a long time to build disciples. However, if we know what we're aiming for, and we are intentional with working the right plan, we will find in time that the men we need are a natural product of the system we've designed.