WHY THE CHURCH SHOULD BE MORE LIKE THE UFC
In previous articles, I discussed the need for the Church to embrace the digital revolution. To move from analog to digital. To shift from Gutenberg to Google.
We also have to change how we train our people to become disciple-making disciples.
While I have a lot of experience in adult education, I was surprised by what I’ve learned from the world of MMA and the UFC. The best training system I’ve seen is the local Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu studio that my kids were in. (Shout out to Professor Kelly and Maya at Power of Leverage Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). I love the whole training and coaching environment they created.
When I watched my kids train at Power of Leverage, I picked up on a pattern of their training.
Professor Kelly would teach a new skill by first explaining it to the group. Then he would demonstrate it on the nervous students one by one. Then he would have the students turn and practice on one another. The students would “roll” on the mat with other students of different skill levels. If you were more advanced, it was your job to help the newbies learn and improve. When you teach someone else, it helps you learn the skill better yourself. It’s only when you spar with someone on your level that you can go all-out and test your skills.
This training philosophy was developed by UFC Champion Frank “The Legend” Shamrock. It’s called “Plus, Minus, Equals” (+ / - / =) and it’s written about in Ryan Holiday’s book, “The Obstacle is the Way.”
PLUS
Plus represents having someone ahead of you with greater skill. This person is a coach and a mentor. He is there to teach you new skills. He sees your weaknesses and blind spots and is there to help you improve.
MINUS
Minus represents people who are below you in skill level. You take what you just learned from the mentor and teach others below you. This forces you to understand the new skill, break it down, and explain the components. As Stephen Covey says, “The best way to learn something is to teach it to others.”
EQUALS
Equals represent people who are on your skill level. It’s no good to only have a coach ahead of you and students below you if there's no one at your skill level to practice with. You can’t only spar with the teacher because he’s going to throw you all around the mat all day. You can’t only teach and mentor novices or you’ll never improve your skill. You need people at your level to train with. These are the people who will test you and challenge you. As the Proverbs says, “As iron sharpens iron so one friend sharpens another.”
I love this training model. We can apply much of it to how we train people in the church to become intentional disciple makers. I've studied and researched the field of adult learning for years. I’ve found that every effective adult training model has three common and vital elements:
1. Classroom
A classroom is a place for content and lecture.
2. Coach
The coach is the intentional mentor. He takes you into the laboratory and helps you learn by experimentation. It’s a hands-on approach with high expectations and accountability.
3. Cohort
The cohort is having other like-minded people to learn with. These people that at a similar place as you on the journey. A cohort is a place of discussion and application.
To apply these principles to the church, we must address some of the challenges we face today.
Here are the four biggest training hurdles we need to overcome.
1) Too much content.
We are living in the Information Age. It’s not that we don’t have enough content. We have too much. It’s overwhelming. We don’t need the experts to create more content for us to consume. We need a curator. Someone to collect and organize the helpful content that we already have and give us a clear path to digest it all.
2) Lack of Intentional Coaches
I’ve been blessed to have had a lot of great mentors and coaches. These men and women have led movements around the world. They help me with my blind spots and challenge me to grow. If I need help or have a question, I can fire off a quick text or email. If I’m confused, discouraged, or in need of prayer, I can go to godly mentors. But this is not a reality to most Christians. Most Christians don’t have access to intentional coaches and mentors.
3) Lack of a Cohort
If you desire to become an intentional disciple maker, you're a rare bird. You need to find a community to walk with. A cohort to learn from and be challenged by. You’ll have a hard time finding a group of like-minded, missional, committed people like you in your church. Most Christians don’t access to other like-minded people in their immediate community.
4) Lack of Availability
We’re all busy. Most training programs require hours of in-person weekly meetings and group times. Time and distance make it most training programs inaccessible. Most will find it difficult to find the time to join training programs at local churches.
So how are we going to overcome these hurdles? While I never skinned a cat, I heard that there is more than one way. I am advocating leveraging the internet for intentional ministry training and disciple-making.
What's the answer? Well, it's the internet. I spent six years researching how to use the internet for training and discipleship. I recorded the results of my research in a 239-page dissertation. This research project help me earn a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2014.
I have taken everything that I learned and have created a new Christian training platform.
I've learned how to train disciple makers and create movements from my mentors. Now I'm combining it with the lessons from my research project. The result is a new online membership community. The goal is to help ordinary Christians become intentional disciple makers.
It’s called the Barnabas Disciple Makers Academy. I named it after Barnabas because he was the Apostle Paul’s mentor.
Here’s the vision statement:
“To catalyze a Gospel Movement by helping ordinary Christians become intentional disciple makers.”
Here are some of the unique elements of the Disciple Makers Academy:
1) Virtual Classroom
You will have 24/7 access to a library of curated video-based content and curriculum. You will learn principles from the best thinkers and practitioners in the field. You don’t have to go to classes, meetings, or conferences. You will have instant access at any time from your computer. We also have a specially-designed app on your smartphone.
2) Intentional Coach
Using the power of the internet, we will have live, real-time coaching sessions at least twice a month. You will have the opportunity to interact in real-time with an intentional coach. Twice a month, I'll have live coaching calls with the community. You will learn new skills. I'll challenge you with practical application. And you can get all your questions answered.
3) Supportive Community
The best part of the Disciple Makers Academy is the community. There are tons of passionate and committed people just like you.
They community will help you become an intentional disciple maker. They will challenge, encourage, and assist you in your journey. There’s a private forum for questions, discussion, and interaction. There’s even an option to join a small private coaching cohort.
This is not for everyone. It will take commitment. And it’s not free (although you can try it out for FREE for a month). But I can guarantee that if you put in the work, we will train and equip you to become an intentional disciple maker.
God has given you an assignment. He wants you to influence and change your world. I know that we can change the world together. But first, I need to help you change yours.
If you’re interested in becoming an intentional disciple maker, please contact me.
Let’s change the world together.