Story Is the Secret to Discipleship

Everyone knows discipleship matters. It’s the buzzword of every church strategy session and leadership conference. But what if we’ve been treating it like a slogan instead of a story?

I’ve preached plenty of messages I’m proud of, tight exegesis, clear points, bulletproof logic. But sometimes I wonder if they’re having the impact I hope for.

One thing I do know: whenever I tell a story, the message, and its imagination, seems to stick.

More than once, someone has come up after a sermon and said,
“That story you told about … that’s what got me.”

Not the three points.
Not the carefully crafted conclusion.
The 45-second story.

As a teacher and preacher, my default isn’t toward personal storytelling, it’s a growth opportunity for me. I love Scripture and telling those stories, but I also love ideas. Give me a whiteboard and I’ll draw charts and frameworks until someone steals the markers from my hand. Ideas fire up my brain.

But if I’m honest?

It’s story, not ideas, that sticks.

People rarely remember the points.
They remember the stories.

So what if reclaiming story is one of the missing pieces in discipleship?

Let me show you how story and worldview collide.

But First, Back to Discipleship

Dallas Willard says it well:

“A disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice, a practitioner… one who actually does what Jesus taught.”

In other words:

Discipleship is learning from Jesus how to live like Jesus.

Not just knowing what Jesus said, but:

• being transformed in our inner life

• practicing obedience in real ways

• bearing fruit that others can actually taste

Jesus’ command wasn’t:

“Go into all the world and download information.”

He said:

“Make disciples… baptize them… teach them to obey.”

Not just knowledge.
Not just habits.
A whole-life transformation into Christlikeness.

So… how do we do that?
How do we build churches that actually form people into the image of Jesus?

There are no silver bullets, and I encourage you to resist a one-trick-pony approach, if we just do ______, then we’ll make disciples.

Spiritual practices? Absolutely.
Community? Vital.
Service? Essential.
Knowledge? Foundational.

But any of these on their own won’t make a disciple.

A Quick Reminder From My Last Blog

Worldview formation is a massively overlooked part of discipleship.

But let me say this clearly:

Worldview isn’t the only part of discipleship.

Discipleship also requires:

• Affection direction, What (or Who) we love most

• Community immersion, Formation is communal, not DIY

• Purpose activation, A life aimed at Jesus and His mission in everyday life

I’ll write more on these soon.
But for now, let’s keep building on worldview.

Worldview: More Than a Lens, A Story

Yes, worldview is a lens we interpret life through.
But more importantly…

Worldview is the story we believe we’re living in.

That changes everything.

Stories form us.

And the biblical worldview is not a philosophy textbook, it begins with:

“In the beginning…”

So if worldview shapes discipleship, and story shapes worldview…
then story shapes discipleship.

How Story Forms Our Worldview

Here’s where the six worldview pillars connect to the Bible’s story:

• Cosmology, How the world began
  → Formed by the story of Creation and the goodness of God’s design

• Ontology, Who we are
  → Formed by the Adam and Eve story, image-bearers with purpose

• Eschatology, Where everything is heading
  → Formed by Revelation’s story, resurrection, renewal, and hope

• Epistemology, How we know what’s true
  → Formed by the Story of Wisdom, Scripture, Jesus’ teaching, and the Spirit of truth

• Morality & Ethics, How we should live
  → Formed by the Story of the Law and the Way of Jesus, God’s character made visible

• Teleology, Why we exist
  → Formed by the Great Commission story, called into God’s mission and love

The Bible isn’t merely explaining ideas —
it’s inviting us into a reality.
A cohesive way of seeing and living in God’s world.

It’s giving us a story from which we form a worldview.

If We Want to Get Better at Discipleship, We Need to Get Better at Story

Telling it. Imagining it. Living it. Experiencing it.

Not manipulative stories.
Not emotional clickbait.
Not stories to simply illustrate a point.

But a Scripture-shaped imagination.

The gospel is ultimately a story, the story of Jesus.
And it’s good news.

Being a Christian is:

• understanding the story,

• responding to the story,

• being shaped by the story,

• and learning to live inside the story.

So How Do We Get Better at Story?

• Telling the biblical story, not just principles and points

• Living the church calendar, letting the story rehearse us year after year

• Practicing the sacraments, baptism and communion as embodied story

Because the gospel isn’t just something we believe in our heads.
It’s something we enter with our whole lives.

Discipleship is not simply learning Jesus’ ideas, it’s entering the Story Jesus is telling and letting that Story reshape who we are and how we live.

Reflect & Respond

Here are two questions to sit with today:
What story is actually shaping the way I see the world right now?
Where is Jesus inviting me deeper into His story?