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Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery
It is hard to deny that todayAEs world can seem apathetic toward Christians. Some may look down at their iPhones when we mention God, motion for the check when we bring up church, or casually change the subject when we talk about prayer. In a world full of people whose indifference is greater than their desire to know Christ, how can we dream of growing the church?
In Contagious Disciple Making, David Watson and Paul Watson map out a simple method that has sparked an explosion of homegrown churches in the United States and around the world. A companion to Cityteam's two previous books, Miraculous Movements and The Father Glorified, Contagious Disciple Making details the method used by Cityteam disciple-makers. This distinctive process focuses on equipping spiritual leaders in communities where churches are planted. Unlike many evangelism and church-growth products that focus on quick results, contagious disciple-making takes time to cultivate spiritual leadership, resulting in lasting disciple-making movements. Through Contagious Disciple Making readers will come to understand that a strong and equipped leader will continue to grow the church long after church planters move on to the next church.
Features
Engagement tools for use in the field
Practical techniques to equip others to make disciples
In Contagious Disciple Making, David Watson and Paul Watson map out a simple method that has sparked an explosion of homegrown churches in the United States and around the world. A companion to Cityteam's two previous books, Miraculous Movements and The Father Glorified, Contagious Disciple Making details the method used by Cityteam disciple-makers. This distinctive process focuses on equipping spiritual leaders in communities where churches are planted. Unlike many evangelism and church-growth products that focus on quick results, contagious disciple-making takes time to cultivate spiritual leadership, resulting in lasting disciple-making movements. Through Contagious Disciple Making readers will come to understand that a strong and equipped leader will continue to grow the church long after church planters move on to the next church.
Features
Engagement tools for use in the field
Practical techniques to equip others to make disciples
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2014
248 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
David Watson
2 books5 followersDavid Watson serves the global church through Cityteam Ministries as the VP for Global Disciple-Making. He is also actively involved in mentoring the next generation of Disciple-Making strategists. Since 1989, Watson has been involved with movements that have seen 100,000 churches started, and he has trained more than 30,000 leaders from 167 nations.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
January 2, 2023
Probably the go-to resource for disciple making movements (DMMs), which—if they mature enough—lead to church planting movements (CPMs).
I just can’t commend it though. Sparsely, you will find helpful remarks about discipleship and its importance. But as a strategy for missions, it’s lacking. The main issue is a low ecclesiology, with little to no emphasis on the biblical offices of elder and deacon—just “leaders” are mentioned throughout.
They’d assume we try to plant churches as if we don’t have 2,000 years of church history to learn from. There’s a way to apply NT principles without repeating the travesties we see regarding church planting in NT times.
Scripture is used when convenient for their arguments. Their defense for utilizing the “man of peace” texts for modern “persons of peace” practices is also lacking, picking and choosing which principles we should still abide by and disregarding the vast differences between the context of Matthew 10 and Luke 10 vs. today.
If there’s a way one can take sola Scriptura too far, they do it, noting a model of detached missionaries (or disciple makers), who sit back and let the Word and Spirit alone do the work—even when non-believers, who don’t have the Spirit, are the ones reading Scripture.
Surprisingly, they nuance how to measure success in missions and what metrics matter. Yet, it’s clear they believe their method is validated by its apparent success in visible results. The proof is in the pudding.
That’s all I’ll say for now.
I just can’t commend it though. Sparsely, you will find helpful remarks about discipleship and its importance. But as a strategy for missions, it’s lacking. The main issue is a low ecclesiology, with little to no emphasis on the biblical offices of elder and deacon—just “leaders” are mentioned throughout.
They’d assume we try to plant churches as if we don’t have 2,000 years of church history to learn from. There’s a way to apply NT principles without repeating the travesties we see regarding church planting in NT times.
Scripture is used when convenient for their arguments. Their defense for utilizing the “man of peace” texts for modern “persons of peace” practices is also lacking, picking and choosing which principles we should still abide by and disregarding the vast differences between the context of Matthew 10 and Luke 10 vs. today.
If there’s a way one can take sola Scriptura too far, they do it, noting a model of detached missionaries (or disciple makers), who sit back and let the Word and Spirit alone do the work—even when non-believers, who don’t have the Spirit, are the ones reading Scripture.
Surprisingly, they nuance how to measure success in missions and what metrics matter. Yet, it’s clear they believe their method is validated by its apparent success in visible results. The proof is in the pudding.
That’s all I’ll say for now.
January 26, 2015
The main idea of "contagious disciple making" is both simple to summarize and presents a real challenge to the contemporary church. It is to model and encourage trusting obedience to Christ as we discover his will in scripture, and to share these discoveries with others. This simple and compelling idea is a breath of fresh air for a Western church long on talk and short on obedience.
The authors (father and son) have been involved in church-planting movements throughout the world resulting in thousands of churches being planted under indigenous leadership in each country. This was not always the case and the first part of the book recounts the "re-thinking" that took place for them in moving from attempting to plant churches that conformed to Western ideals to launching Disciple-Making Movements. They argue, to begin with, that the task of church planters is not to contextualize the gospel but to "deculturalize" it--to help people discover the message without Western cultural or denominational accretions.
What is crucial is simply building relationships within the appropriate structures, often family or tribal or village, where one can lead people in discovering for themselves from the Bible the basic message of the gospel, and even as they are learning it and beginning to act on it, to share it with others. Even before becoming disciples, proto-disciples are making disciples. From the start, and at every phase, an emphasis on obeying what one discovers, and inviting others to discover and obey is central.
The disciple-maker facilitates discovery and encourages obedience. This is so different from a teacher-student model that focuses around transfer of knowledge. Instead of creating perpetual learners, disciples quickly learn to become disciple-makers themselves and continue to perpetuate this with those they lead in discovery. The approach is one that respects and holds up the priesthood of all believers rather than a cult of experts.
The second part of the book explores practices around this core mindset that have proven important to these movements. Parts of this reiterate the focus on disciple-making from the first part and seem repetitive at times. But the authors also cover the importance of prayer movements, the nature of discovery groups, how churches are established out of these, and the development of leadership through mentoring that concentrates not simply on action but also character.
I found two sections particularly thought-provoking. One, concerning engaging lost people, talked about identifying the "silos" in which they live -- the different affinity groups by family, village, or interest that bring people together. Rather than seek to "extract" people from this group, the Watsons advocate disciple-making within these groups so that families, villages or significant parts of affinity groups come to faith, rather than isolating a single convert from the former "silo" of which they were a part.
The other section concerned finding the "person of peace" in this silo, the person sufficiently spiritually receptive to host the disciple-maker as they form discovery groups. They recommend not attempting to plant in a particular "silo" without having the support of such a person.
There was much that I found to be refreshingly helpful. I work in university ministry that incorporates much of what these authors recommend, building groups around discovering what it means to follow Jesus in scripture, defining leadership in terms of those who are making disciples with others, doing all this in a context of prayer, and even thinking about the different "silos" on a university campus.
At the same time, I found myself wrestling with a tacit anti-intellectual, anti-theological emphasis that focused on the Bible and nothing but the Bible. I've seen too many unorthodox movements that are able to appeal to the Bible to say that relying on people's personal discoveries from scripture to counter false teaching.
Also there is the question of Christian witness and discipleship in centers of learning and culture. While it is true that unlearned disciples who had been with Jesus confounded the religious elites of their day (which underscores the priority of trusting and obeying Christ!) I would contend for the value of coupling that devotion with the development of a Christian mind that is both theologically acute and culturally astute for engaging these culture-shapers. Just as a willingness to learn gaming is important to reaching a "gamer" silo (an example used by the authors), this intellectual work, which underlines the value of the theological enterprise and the intellectual work Christians are doing in many fields, should be encouraged for those engaging the intellectual world.
Yet the authors' challenge to churches long on words and experiences and short on consistent obedience is one that needs to be heard. The authors contend that "A church that condones disobedience to God's laws cannot stay a church. A church that does not practice grace and mercy cannot stay a church" (p. 159). Any of us seeking to plant or develop a ministry or church do well to heed this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
The authors (father and son) have been involved in church-planting movements throughout the world resulting in thousands of churches being planted under indigenous leadership in each country. This was not always the case and the first part of the book recounts the "re-thinking" that took place for them in moving from attempting to plant churches that conformed to Western ideals to launching Disciple-Making Movements. They argue, to begin with, that the task of church planters is not to contextualize the gospel but to "deculturalize" it--to help people discover the message without Western cultural or denominational accretions.
What is crucial is simply building relationships within the appropriate structures, often family or tribal or village, where one can lead people in discovering for themselves from the Bible the basic message of the gospel, and even as they are learning it and beginning to act on it, to share it with others. Even before becoming disciples, proto-disciples are making disciples. From the start, and at every phase, an emphasis on obeying what one discovers, and inviting others to discover and obey is central.
The disciple-maker facilitates discovery and encourages obedience. This is so different from a teacher-student model that focuses around transfer of knowledge. Instead of creating perpetual learners, disciples quickly learn to become disciple-makers themselves and continue to perpetuate this with those they lead in discovery. The approach is one that respects and holds up the priesthood of all believers rather than a cult of experts.
The second part of the book explores practices around this core mindset that have proven important to these movements. Parts of this reiterate the focus on disciple-making from the first part and seem repetitive at times. But the authors also cover the importance of prayer movements, the nature of discovery groups, how churches are established out of these, and the development of leadership through mentoring that concentrates not simply on action but also character.
I found two sections particularly thought-provoking. One, concerning engaging lost people, talked about identifying the "silos" in which they live -- the different affinity groups by family, village, or interest that bring people together. Rather than seek to "extract" people from this group, the Watsons advocate disciple-making within these groups so that families, villages or significant parts of affinity groups come to faith, rather than isolating a single convert from the former "silo" of which they were a part.
The other section concerned finding the "person of peace" in this silo, the person sufficiently spiritually receptive to host the disciple-maker as they form discovery groups. They recommend not attempting to plant in a particular "silo" without having the support of such a person.
There was much that I found to be refreshingly helpful. I work in university ministry that incorporates much of what these authors recommend, building groups around discovering what it means to follow Jesus in scripture, defining leadership in terms of those who are making disciples with others, doing all this in a context of prayer, and even thinking about the different "silos" on a university campus.
At the same time, I found myself wrestling with a tacit anti-intellectual, anti-theological emphasis that focused on the Bible and nothing but the Bible. I've seen too many unorthodox movements that are able to appeal to the Bible to say that relying on people's personal discoveries from scripture to counter false teaching.
Also there is the question of Christian witness and discipleship in centers of learning and culture. While it is true that unlearned disciples who had been with Jesus confounded the religious elites of their day (which underscores the priority of trusting and obeying Christ!) I would contend for the value of coupling that devotion with the development of a Christian mind that is both theologically acute and culturally astute for engaging these culture-shapers. Just as a willingness to learn gaming is important to reaching a "gamer" silo (an example used by the authors), this intellectual work, which underlines the value of the theological enterprise and the intellectual work Christians are doing in many fields, should be encouraged for those engaging the intellectual world.
Yet the authors' challenge to churches long on words and experiences and short on consistent obedience is one that needs to be heard. The authors contend that "A church that condones disobedience to God's laws cannot stay a church. A church that does not practice grace and mercy cannot stay a church" (p. 159). Any of us seeking to plant or develop a ministry or church do well to heed this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
April 4, 2023
I’m a very “high-control” leader, so I need resources like this to encourage me in trust in the Holy Spirit’s transformation in other believers and to continually reorient my leadership focus into developing others instead of being the only one equipped to lead. I’m very excited for and encouraged by the discovery groups strategy and think it could be replicated at my campus. I also loved the pre-believer discipleship. I have some big take aways from this book that I am excited to implement in the next year. I am, however, a little bit wary of the speed of multiplication. They describe 3-5 years for developing leaders but their illustrations tend to be something like, “the next year we planted 100 churches.”
November 20, 2017
Contagious Disciple Making is a useful resource on the essentials of disciple making and provides good insight if you're looking into Disciple Making Movements (DMM) or Church Planting Movements (CPM).
The basic premise for disciple making goes something like this. Time is spent praying and listening to God about a neighbourhood which is followed up by seeking to meet observed needs in the community. Through serving and loving others, opportunities will arise to make connections with people and from there discover a person of peace who will open the door to their own personal network. You train the person of peace to lead a Discovery Bible Study with their group which then provides the foundation of a new church.
The emphasis is laid on obedience to scripture and for every Christian to take serious the commands to love God and love neighbour. I appreciated the approach to leadership which leans heavily on coaching and mentoring. I was also deeply challenged by the weight the authors place on prayer and their conviction that without prayer nothing much of any spiritual consequence is likely to happen. They're right of course but I felt fresh conviction especially with regard to prayer walking and building a network of prayer support.
It's honest about the challenges, the struggles and the time it can sometimes take yet there are a few missing items. All the success stories came from the developing world (there are examples from the US but not with the 'success' of making disciples) and none that I remember from a European context and also very few from cities.
The Watsons talk a lot about 'silos' which are essentially distinct groups within a broader society and it's here that the book is perhaps at its weakest as they take a sociological concept that they're excited about and try to shoehorn stories to fit the sociology rather than the other way around.
But it's here that their concept of silos stresses their model because western secular societies are highly fragmented, disconnected and isolated. Sweden has almost half its population living in single person households. Their 'silos' are vanishing and so when someone makes a decision to follow Christ often there is no group for them to then reach. I think there are genuine questions to how this approach needs to be adapted or how it would evolve in a secular urban environment.
Despite the reliance and emphasis on prayer, in essence the way they talk about their method somewhat undermines this seeming reliance on God. If you follow the method which 'includes' prayer then at the end of it all you'll have a disciple making movement that is growing exponentially. I am convinced that Scripture gives us principles that are trustworthy but not always methods which are guaranteed.
Reading this will no doubt stir your own thoughts about the process of disciple-making and as I did carefully evaluate how much I was actually praying about that and that's not a bad outcome.
The basic premise for disciple making goes something like this. Time is spent praying and listening to God about a neighbourhood which is followed up by seeking to meet observed needs in the community. Through serving and loving others, opportunities will arise to make connections with people and from there discover a person of peace who will open the door to their own personal network. You train the person of peace to lead a Discovery Bible Study with their group which then provides the foundation of a new church.
The emphasis is laid on obedience to scripture and for every Christian to take serious the commands to love God and love neighbour. I appreciated the approach to leadership which leans heavily on coaching and mentoring. I was also deeply challenged by the weight the authors place on prayer and their conviction that without prayer nothing much of any spiritual consequence is likely to happen. They're right of course but I felt fresh conviction especially with regard to prayer walking and building a network of prayer support.
It's honest about the challenges, the struggles and the time it can sometimes take yet there are a few missing items. All the success stories came from the developing world (there are examples from the US but not with the 'success' of making disciples) and none that I remember from a European context and also very few from cities.
The Watsons talk a lot about 'silos' which are essentially distinct groups within a broader society and it's here that the book is perhaps at its weakest as they take a sociological concept that they're excited about and try to shoehorn stories to fit the sociology rather than the other way around.
But it's here that their concept of silos stresses their model because western secular societies are highly fragmented, disconnected and isolated. Sweden has almost half its population living in single person households. Their 'silos' are vanishing and so when someone makes a decision to follow Christ often there is no group for them to then reach. I think there are genuine questions to how this approach needs to be adapted or how it would evolve in a secular urban environment.
Despite the reliance and emphasis on prayer, in essence the way they talk about their method somewhat undermines this seeming reliance on God. If you follow the method which 'includes' prayer then at the end of it all you'll have a disciple making movement that is growing exponentially. I am convinced that Scripture gives us principles that are trustworthy but not always methods which are guaranteed.
Reading this will no doubt stir your own thoughts about the process of disciple-making and as I did carefully evaluate how much I was actually praying about that and that's not a bad outcome.
September 9, 2024
It took me a bit to get into this and once I get about half way through I found the odd tid-bit. I think I'm reading from the point of view that what he was saying wasn't new but biblical (and my view of the church right now was similar to his)...that being said, I also struggled because it really felt like a "striving mentality." He gave many examples on things to do but unless the Holy Spirit directed you PERSONALLY that way - you could get burned out, go down a works based path, not have boundaries (or not know how to say "no")...etc.
The author’s CLEARLY have a model that works for them and I think it was based out of intimacy with Jesus (which they didn't touch on quite as much)...I think once that's established we'll know who we are in Him, and He will direct us in unique ways (similar to how He directed the authors). So although there were great ideas/stories, I would be wary of recommending it without the caveat that this is how God spoke to the authors...and to sit with Him and let Him direct (once I got about half way through the book I saw they gave a bit more direction on that...it was more the beginning I struggled with).
The author’s CLEARLY have a model that works for them and I think it was based out of intimacy with Jesus (which they didn't touch on quite as much)...I think once that's established we'll know who we are in Him, and He will direct us in unique ways (similar to how He directed the authors). So although there were great ideas/stories, I would be wary of recommending it without the caveat that this is how God spoke to the authors...and to sit with Him and let Him direct (once I got about half way through the book I saw they gave a bit more direction on that...it was more the beginning I struggled with).
September 29, 2022
What would be a worthwhile book to read concerning discipleship, mentoring and ministry and missions in a cross-cultural context? While I don’t agree with everything in this book I think this book is worthwhile to read for food for thought and the parts I think that are good are very helpful. The co-authors are father and son who have done missions overseas in Asia and are also consultants for ministry in other areas including the West and Africa.
There's eighteen chapters in the book grouped into two parts. Part one is on the mindset of a disciple-maker which has nine chapters. Part two is titled "Practices of a Disciple-Maker." The overall thrust of the book is the importance of starting a Disciple Making Movements (DMM). I love how in both part one and part two of the book there’s the constant emphasis that it is not enough for a ministry to pass along information from the Bible; it is important to focus on obedience to God. The authors are right to note that people can know the right thing to do; but that’s not exactly the same thing as obedience.
So much of what’s shared and laid out here are helpful. However I do think the author could be more precise with their terminologies at times and not focus on virtue signaling to general Evangelicalism. They bash about not following religion and not to teach doctrines; those terms can be buzz words that Big Eva love to bash and say things like “I don’t have religion, I have a relationship with God” but I think we need to be more precise. Doctrines do matter, if by doctrine we mean teachings about God; the issue is whether its biblical or unbiblical, not whether or not a church is into doctrines or not. Its unhelpful, distracting, and fallacious use of equivocation with the term.
Having said that I think there’s food for thoughts in this book. My wife and I read this with another couple and we were on the same page about great insights, principles and methods but also notes the time this book could be better in its terminology and biblical accuracy.
There's eighteen chapters in the book grouped into two parts. Part one is on the mindset of a disciple-maker which has nine chapters. Part two is titled "Practices of a Disciple-Maker." The overall thrust of the book is the importance of starting a Disciple Making Movements (DMM). I love how in both part one and part two of the book there’s the constant emphasis that it is not enough for a ministry to pass along information from the Bible; it is important to focus on obedience to God. The authors are right to note that people can know the right thing to do; but that’s not exactly the same thing as obedience.
So much of what’s shared and laid out here are helpful. However I do think the author could be more precise with their terminologies at times and not focus on virtue signaling to general Evangelicalism. They bash about not following religion and not to teach doctrines; those terms can be buzz words that Big Eva love to bash and say things like “I don’t have religion, I have a relationship with God” but I think we need to be more precise. Doctrines do matter, if by doctrine we mean teachings about God; the issue is whether its biblical or unbiblical, not whether or not a church is into doctrines or not. Its unhelpful, distracting, and fallacious use of equivocation with the term.
Having said that I think there’s food for thoughts in this book. My wife and I read this with another couple and we were on the same page about great insights, principles and methods but also notes the time this book could be better in its terminology and biblical accuracy.
September 18, 2018
If I could give 3.5 stars I would because 3 stars seems too stingy for all of the amazing sections and chapters which had me nodding along or even pausing to really complicate the incredible things that this father-son duo was delivering. However, 4 stars seems a bit too generous for what became an overwhelming amount of unnecessary lists throughout the book, and for the pretty noticeable drop off towards the last third of the book in clear, precise, and relevant information.
David Watson & his son Paul lay out a strong case from the very beginning for a way of discipleship that is not shackled to program and requiring a lot of micro-management. They're speaking from experience, as they have a truly remarkable story of being used by God to do a dramatic kingdom work among the Bhojpuri people of India. This multiplication of churches and disciples that they've seen grants them the platform on which to talk, and I especially appreciate that they're not strong-arming a specific model as much as explaining and championing a sort of mindset for discipling.
The book is ripe with practical application, strong introspective questions for why we do discipleship the way we do, and hope for more effective means of replicating the work of Christ so that we don't need hero leaders to come out from the shadows. Unfortunately, as I've already stated, some parts fall short on practical usefulness. So I am personally more likely to pull sections of this book to suggest to others rather than the whole book. But you may just want to read the whole thing yourself to find what parts most resonate with you, because there are certain to be some gold nuggets in there!
David Watson & his son Paul lay out a strong case from the very beginning for a way of discipleship that is not shackled to program and requiring a lot of micro-management. They're speaking from experience, as they have a truly remarkable story of being used by God to do a dramatic kingdom work among the Bhojpuri people of India. This multiplication of churches and disciples that they've seen grants them the platform on which to talk, and I especially appreciate that they're not strong-arming a specific model as much as explaining and championing a sort of mindset for discipling.
The book is ripe with practical application, strong introspective questions for why we do discipleship the way we do, and hope for more effective means of replicating the work of Christ so that we don't need hero leaders to come out from the shadows. Unfortunately, as I've already stated, some parts fall short on practical usefulness. So I am personally more likely to pull sections of this book to suggest to others rather than the whole book. But you may just want to read the whole thing yourself to find what parts most resonate with you, because there are certain to be some gold nuggets in there!
January 23, 2015
Unlike the other books on Church-Planting Movements (CPM) put out by City Team (Miraculous Movements and The Father Glorified), this one by David Watson and Paul Watson focuses more on the most common characteristics of a disciple-maker and the key elements involved in movements. The book is straight-forward and simple, and although it does not include as many examples as other books on this topic, the authors do point to several stories of their own work. If you have already read other books on CPM, this book will be more of a refresher of key points. I did appreciate the perspective that the authors provided on contextualization, pointing the reader toward an emptying of culture in presenting the Gospel rather than a dressing up of the Gospel to fit in to a certain context. The discussion on raising up leaders and mentoring leaders was also very thorough.
October 26, 2017
Extremely practical. Extremely challenging. Extremely helpful.
February 14, 2022
A good friend gave me this book a couple of years ago and I'm glad I finally read it. Nevertheless, I have mixed feelings about it. I'd actually like to give the book 3.5 stars, but that's not possible.
I've been planting churches in Europe for over 30 years and I found a number of the principles in the book refreshing and challenging: 1) obedience to the Lord is key, not just the accumulation of knowledge; 2) the importance of prayer, along with some new ideas for praying; 3) the importance of discovery groups; 4) finding a person of peace. These are things that I'd like to discuss and implement in some form or fashion in my own team and work.
I found the first part of the book to be too polemic; the focus on the church in north America surprised me. We have always worked with national partners and so have been spared, at least in part, the temptation to just import our north American church model and associated doctrines. (Anyone who's ever taken a course in cultural anthropology would recognize how inappropriate this is in the first place).
The authors assert that we should not contextualize the Gospel, but "de-culturalize" it. But when you read their definition of contextualization, it's clear that they don't understand it. (Although examples in other places in the book indicate that they do!) Contextualization is not "making Jesus acceptable by dressing him him up to look like (people from the host nation)." I think of Hudson Taylor's approach back in the 1800s with the China Inland Mission. He learned Chinese and dressed like the Chinese despite the criticism he received from other English missionaries who continued to dress like Englishmen. And his preaching of the Gospel was received (by some), not because he'd dressed Jesus up like a Chinese man, but because he'd changed his own way of living to adapt to the people he was trying to reach. He removed some of the cultural barriers that probably would have prevented the message from being heard. It's really not possible to de-culturalize the Gospel, but that's too heavy a topic for the purposes of this review.
The authors note that some have observed that their approach has worked well in rural areas, most likely "because rural societies are much less complex than urban societies." Most of us who work in Europe are working in complex urban societies. Nevertheless, the slow growth in urban areas should make us open to new approaches—even ones that have worked well in rural areas. Whether a movement will result remains to be seen. Others have tried different approaches in hopes of seeing a movement started, but I haven't seen much evidence that they've delivered on those promises.
Certain other aspects of the presentation detracted from the message. I read the electronic version on a Kindle Fire and was surprised at the sloppy formatting of virtually every bulleted list I read (there are a lot of them). 2) I was surprised to see that whole pages contained nothing but quotes from Scripture (I'm all for using Scripture, I was just surprised to see that the authors didn't just quote the book, chapter and verses and save probably about 10% of the space in the book). E.g., in the chapter on mentoring the authors take three pages to quote Matthew 23.
Despite the drawbacks, I do look forward to discussing the principles in the book with my team and talking about how to adjust our approach to our work.
I've been planting churches in Europe for over 30 years and I found a number of the principles in the book refreshing and challenging: 1) obedience to the Lord is key, not just the accumulation of knowledge; 2) the importance of prayer, along with some new ideas for praying; 3) the importance of discovery groups; 4) finding a person of peace. These are things that I'd like to discuss and implement in some form or fashion in my own team and work.
I found the first part of the book to be too polemic; the focus on the church in north America surprised me. We have always worked with national partners and so have been spared, at least in part, the temptation to just import our north American church model and associated doctrines. (Anyone who's ever taken a course in cultural anthropology would recognize how inappropriate this is in the first place).
The authors assert that we should not contextualize the Gospel, but "de-culturalize" it. But when you read their definition of contextualization, it's clear that they don't understand it. (Although examples in other places in the book indicate that they do!) Contextualization is not "making Jesus acceptable by dressing him him up to look like (people from the host nation)." I think of Hudson Taylor's approach back in the 1800s with the China Inland Mission. He learned Chinese and dressed like the Chinese despite the criticism he received from other English missionaries who continued to dress like Englishmen. And his preaching of the Gospel was received (by some), not because he'd dressed Jesus up like a Chinese man, but because he'd changed his own way of living to adapt to the people he was trying to reach. He removed some of the cultural barriers that probably would have prevented the message from being heard. It's really not possible to de-culturalize the Gospel, but that's too heavy a topic for the purposes of this review.
The authors note that some have observed that their approach has worked well in rural areas, most likely "because rural societies are much less complex than urban societies." Most of us who work in Europe are working in complex urban societies. Nevertheless, the slow growth in urban areas should make us open to new approaches—even ones that have worked well in rural areas. Whether a movement will result remains to be seen. Others have tried different approaches in hopes of seeing a movement started, but I haven't seen much evidence that they've delivered on those promises.
Certain other aspects of the presentation detracted from the message. I read the electronic version on a Kindle Fire and was surprised at the sloppy formatting of virtually every bulleted list I read (there are a lot of them). 2) I was surprised to see that whole pages contained nothing but quotes from Scripture (I'm all for using Scripture, I was just surprised to see that the authors didn't just quote the book, chapter and verses and save probably about 10% of the space in the book). E.g., in the chapter on mentoring the authors take three pages to quote Matthew 23.
Despite the drawbacks, I do look forward to discussing the principles in the book with my team and talking about how to adjust our approach to our work.
December 2, 2025
Contagious Disciple-Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery presents a practical guide to making disciples who multiply organically to equip new leaders within their own communities. David and Paul Watson offer a clear critique of:
“extraction evangelism, [which] focuses on an outside leader… who shares the Gospel with anyone who listens… Unrelated people convert, are pulled out of their silos [communities], and are brought together to form a new church.”
In contrast, their alternative is a community-based approach that “look[s] past the individual to intentionally include his or her family, community, silo, and nation.”
The book describes how to “recruit, train, and mobilize an extensive prayer network” for a community before they begin to connect with it. This includes monthly prayer meetings and prayer walks through the community. Prayer is defined as “aligning your heart and mind with God’s” in order to catch a glimpse of His vision for the community.
The disciple-maker also prays for God to reveal the Person of Peace, who is “the one God has prepared to receive the Gospel into a community.” This concept draws from one of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples when giving the Great Commission: “If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him.” (Luke 10:6).
The Person of Peace is a part of the community who is an interested seeker of Truth. The disciple-maker invites this Person to read the Bible, and then to invite other interested members of his community to form a prayer group and inductive Bible study called a Discovery Group. As “the natural spiritual leader of the group becomes obvious …group facilitation shifts… to the inside leader.”
The disciple-maker’s role is not to lead the group, but to mentor the inside leader. Success is determined “when the inside leader becomes a mentor for others, helping them become inside leaders in their own situations.”
The goal is never to plant “churches that adhere to and look like a particular church, denomination, or doctrinal position.” The authors are uninterested in the methods of “branded Christianity,” which has “not succeeded in sixteen hundred years or in the years since the Protestant Reformation.” Instead, they are invested in helping people come to faith (which is defined as “the continuous act of choosing to be obedient to God’s Word regardless of what it may cost.”
This obedience-based understanding of faith may challenge modern sensibilities, especially in a culture where grace is sometimes misrepresented as permissiveness, but the authors support their claim well with chapters of Scriptural analysis. Personally, I found their perspective deeply motivating. I find myself eager to implement many of the book’s strategies, in the hope of becoming a contagious disciple-maker within my own community.
“extraction evangelism, [which] focuses on an outside leader… who shares the Gospel with anyone who listens… Unrelated people convert, are pulled out of their silos [communities], and are brought together to form a new church.”
In contrast, their alternative is a community-based approach that “look[s] past the individual to intentionally include his or her family, community, silo, and nation.”
The book describes how to “recruit, train, and mobilize an extensive prayer network” for a community before they begin to connect with it. This includes monthly prayer meetings and prayer walks through the community. Prayer is defined as “aligning your heart and mind with God’s” in order to catch a glimpse of His vision for the community.
The disciple-maker also prays for God to reveal the Person of Peace, who is “the one God has prepared to receive the Gospel into a community.” This concept draws from one of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples when giving the Great Commission: “If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him.” (Luke 10:6).
The Person of Peace is a part of the community who is an interested seeker of Truth. The disciple-maker invites this Person to read the Bible, and then to invite other interested members of his community to form a prayer group and inductive Bible study called a Discovery Group. As “the natural spiritual leader of the group becomes obvious …group facilitation shifts… to the inside leader.”
The disciple-maker’s role is not to lead the group, but to mentor the inside leader. Success is determined “when the inside leader becomes a mentor for others, helping them become inside leaders in their own situations.”
The goal is never to plant “churches that adhere to and look like a particular church, denomination, or doctrinal position.” The authors are uninterested in the methods of “branded Christianity,” which has “not succeeded in sixteen hundred years or in the years since the Protestant Reformation.” Instead, they are invested in helping people come to faith (which is defined as “the continuous act of choosing to be obedient to God’s Word regardless of what it may cost.”
This obedience-based understanding of faith may challenge modern sensibilities, especially in a culture where grace is sometimes misrepresented as permissiveness, but the authors support their claim well with chapters of Scriptural analysis. Personally, I found their perspective deeply motivating. I find myself eager to implement many of the book’s strategies, in the hope of becoming a contagious disciple-maker within my own community.
February 16, 2019
"Knowledge transfer is not disciple-making." Excellent book that would make for an excellent ongoing resource. This is not leaving my bookshelf. Both theoretical and practical, the book is divided in two parts.
Part 1 is "Mindset of a Disciple-Maker". It looks at the overall mission given to us by Christ, ways we are missing the mark and specifics like the difference between disciples and converts. Love this quote: "Jesus left eleven men, some of whom doubted, standing on a hilltop. Some were illiterate. Others were rebels. All would be considered ill prepared to fulfill the task Christ gave to them and the church. If Christ deemed these eleven very marginal leaders fit enough to carry forward the Great Commission, perhaps we need to rethink what we are doing."
Part 2 is "Practices of a Disciple-Maker". It includes whole chapters on prayer and finding a Person of Peace. The chapter on conducting a Discovery Group takes you step by step through each part of the meeting. They continually emphasize God's Word being the authority. "We love teaching. It makes us feel good. We know the answers and want to share that knowledge with others. But if we want to disciple people who look to Scripture and the Holy Spirit for answers to their questions, we can't be the answer-people. We have to help them discover what God says to them in His Word."
The Leadership and Mentoring chapters are excellent. They push our church culture boundaries in all the necessary places. They make an important distinction between leaders and managers. They explain that few people will ever be able to lead a large group of people (even though that's how we attempt to do it in the modern church), but that there are a lot of people who can lead 3-5 people.
They unapologetically admonish believers to be mentoring and it is clearly a high calling rather than a weekly coffee date where we get a little spiritual. "If you want to be a mentor, you have to start with self. As you learn, fail, repent and repeat, you bring others along with you. Your life is intertwined with the lives of others - from family to old friends to new friends, and even to enemies." They make it very clear that the mentor/mentee relationship goes both ways. Both people sharpening one another. We don't mentor people from "up here" as one who has wisdom and knowledge to occasionally impart as we intently listen to them for their sake (which is very "down there" when you think about it), but we mentor as mutual learners in the presence of God with the help of the Holy Spirit. And we do it for a specific purpose for a specific time so that it does not become about us. It's all about the Kingdom. Which is the entirety of the book. All about the Kingdom.
Part 1 is "Mindset of a Disciple-Maker". It looks at the overall mission given to us by Christ, ways we are missing the mark and specifics like the difference between disciples and converts. Love this quote: "Jesus left eleven men, some of whom doubted, standing on a hilltop. Some were illiterate. Others were rebels. All would be considered ill prepared to fulfill the task Christ gave to them and the church. If Christ deemed these eleven very marginal leaders fit enough to carry forward the Great Commission, perhaps we need to rethink what we are doing."
Part 2 is "Practices of a Disciple-Maker". It includes whole chapters on prayer and finding a Person of Peace. The chapter on conducting a Discovery Group takes you step by step through each part of the meeting. They continually emphasize God's Word being the authority. "We love teaching. It makes us feel good. We know the answers and want to share that knowledge with others. But if we want to disciple people who look to Scripture and the Holy Spirit for answers to their questions, we can't be the answer-people. We have to help them discover what God says to them in His Word."
The Leadership and Mentoring chapters are excellent. They push our church culture boundaries in all the necessary places. They make an important distinction between leaders and managers. They explain that few people will ever be able to lead a large group of people (even though that's how we attempt to do it in the modern church), but that there are a lot of people who can lead 3-5 people.
They unapologetically admonish believers to be mentoring and it is clearly a high calling rather than a weekly coffee date where we get a little spiritual. "If you want to be a mentor, you have to start with self. As you learn, fail, repent and repeat, you bring others along with you. Your life is intertwined with the lives of others - from family to old friends to new friends, and even to enemies." They make it very clear that the mentor/mentee relationship goes both ways. Both people sharpening one another. We don't mentor people from "up here" as one who has wisdom and knowledge to occasionally impart as we intently listen to them for their sake (which is very "down there" when you think about it), but we mentor as mutual learners in the presence of God with the help of the Holy Spirit. And we do it for a specific purpose for a specific time so that it does not become about us. It's all about the Kingdom. Which is the entirety of the book. All about the Kingdom.
May 10, 2018
This book provides some very thought provoking ideas. There are some weird aspects (women pastors and how one author portrays hearing from God), but the core premise of the book is a refreshing take on what has become a dull way of seeking to grow the church in America. Instead of trying to pull people out of their communities (or "silos") and into the church, the authors call us to transform the silo: make it Christian. The main keys are prayer, finding Persons of Peace, Discovery Groups, and mentoring. I recommend this book to anyone interested in evangelism, discipleship, or church-planting.
November 23, 2019
This book offers a new way of looking at dicipling and church planting at home and abroad. It is an easy but challenging book in that it will completely shift the way that the church and believers traditionally evangelize unbelievers. Contagious Disciple Making explains how to make discipleship simple. The way it is taught removes the burden from being the one with all of the answers and the charisma to gather a following to allowing the Holy Spirit to be the teacher and for groups to naturally form through established relationships. If churches could grasp this model, our world wouldn't be the same.
January 7, 2019
Seminary class reading. Very practical, structured approach to planting churches via creating disciples (the author would argue that by creating disciples, you ARE church planting). This book falls along the "leaders develop leaders" strategy of building movements by having a continual chain of mentors and mentees - that is, the mentor is always mentoring someone who is mentoring someone, and the information doesn't stagnate at any particular link in the chain. What is learned in mentoring is always put into practice immediately.
January 24, 2019
Astonishingly good step-by-step description of how to shepherd disciples into those who foster movements within communities. Clear biblical guidance in how to cut through all the churchy, denominational distinctives to focus on the gospel in discovery groups that move attendees to trust the Holy Spirit of interpret Scripture and lead attendees to obey the Scripture. Finding persons of peace. Making disciples not converts. How to inspire discovery groups. Inspiring others to lead. What to study. Difference between management and leadership, etc. etc. Highly recommended.
July 26, 2022
so this book was pretty good and it was full of the information i needed. idrk how to rate it because theres not a story to it. its literally just chapters with different ideas and ways to navigate make disciples effectively. it took me a loooong time to finish because it didnt have me on the edge of my seat or anything. but it is easy to pick up and put down over a long period of time since there is no story line!
December 19, 2021
Great book on DMM
This is a must-read book on DMM. It contains what David Watson has learned from God and experimented for many years. He has trained, coach, and mentored many people using the DMM model of doing ministry and church, me included. I recommend this book to anyone wants to contribute to the expansion of the Kingdom of God.
This is a must-read book on DMM. It contains what David Watson has learned from God and experimented for many years. He has trained, coach, and mentored many people using the DMM model of doing ministry and church, me included. I recommend this book to anyone wants to contribute to the expansion of the Kingdom of God.
May 8, 2017
Enjoyed this quick read. I'm looking forward to reading it again together with a friend. The short chapters were very practical and biblical. The advice in the book was both encouraging and empowering. I highly recommend it to others.
November 20, 2017
3.5 for me...btw when are we gonna be able to do 3.25/3.5/3.75 ratings?? It would definitely make goodreads cooler.
Good book really like it and used it as curriculum in a class I taught. But the book does have some issues which is why I give it 3.5 instead of 4.
Good book really like it and used it as curriculum in a class I taught. But the book does have some issues which is why I give it 3.5 instead of 4.
April 1, 2019
Absolutely Amazing
This book really opened up a lot about becoming a team and working to build up others to become DM and to catalyze a movement across the earth. Very encouraging and powerful message.
This book really opened up a lot about becoming a team and working to build up others to become DM and to catalyze a movement across the earth. Very encouraging and powerful message.
September 29, 2019
Super insightful. Speaks well to how we can be faithful to the Great Commission and also be mindful but not swayed by culture. Relevant for those in any cultural context. Because he looks at broad principles and how they are applied. Very practical.
April 25, 2020
Always about the basics
Great testimony of what God has done. These guys laid out the biblical principles in a clear way that provides space for reflection and evaluation with your own work.
Great testimony of what God has done. These guys laid out the biblical principles in a clear way that provides space for reflection and evaluation with your own work.
April 16, 2021
This book is not worth your time unless you need to know more about DMM. If you don’t know what DMM is, good. It’s essentially an MLM stamped with some sanctifying language, and it’s leading people straight to hell with false assurance of salvation.
April 13, 2022
This book has presented Discipleship in the context of missions. The principles described are useful for reaching lost people anywhere, even in your neighborhood. What an inapiring and wonderful work detailing how to bring more of God’s kingdom to Earth!
May 3, 2024
a great discipleship model
This book sets the stage for a movement of small discipleship groups of accountability and encouragement. They are built on the foundation of vigilant prayer and community engagement.
This book sets the stage for a movement of small discipleship groups of accountability and encouragement. They are built on the foundation of vigilant prayer and community engagement.
October 23, 2024
5* - Paper/Print
Took me a long time to read this one. The first half took me a long while, but it was a really good read. Even making light of the difference between teaching and discipling was a great reminder.
Took me a long time to read this one. The first half took me a long while, but it was a really good read. Even making light of the difference between teaching and discipling was a great reminder.
February 19, 2025
This book has flaws that should not be overlooked, but also should not detract from the importance of what DMMs/CPMs and their success in difficult-to-reach contexts means for the western church. There is much to be learned here.
June 23, 2018
Great book...
Great book, especially for anyone who has not been exposed to this type of teaching. Have already recommended it to several people in ministry.
Great book, especially for anyone who has not been exposed to this type of teaching. Have already recommended it to several people in ministry.
February 18, 2021
If you have any inclination in sharing your faith internationally, read this. Or if you’re wondering why the Western church style doesn’t “work” in other nations, dear lord read this.
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