“CPM is a result, not a cause.”  - David Watson

Continuing my earlier thoughts on the role of obedience-based discipleship and the myth that church planters can “cause” growth with a great missions strategy, I want to point our supporters and the missions committee members who oversee our work in East Hollywood to a recent blog entry by David Watson, who has been a great source of training for me and (vicariously through me) my team. 

Here is an excerpt:

God began to teach me through many failures that I had to focus on making Disciples of Christ, not followers of my church or denomination, and teach them to obey all the commands of Jesus, not my church/denominational doctrines or traditions.  And this is what led to the breakthrough that has resulted in more than 40,000 churches among a people who were once considered unreachable.
 
Many people use the term “CPM” [church planting movement] to describe or justify what they are doing.  But, on closer examination, I find that many groups who use this term are simply applying it to what they have always done.  CPM is not a method!  It is an observation of results.  In my experience, and this is what I teach, CPM is the result of obedience-based discipleship that sees disciples reproducing disciples, leaders reproducing leaders, and churches reproducing churches.  If this is not happening, it is not CPM.
 
True CPM methodology is about being disciplined in education, training, and mentoring to obey all the commands of Jesus, regardless of consequences.  The results are not quick. They only appear to be quick because of exponential growth.  When one is truly engaged in the process that leads to observable CPM, then one is spending years investing in leaders.  The typical investment timeline is two to four years.  But, because of the replication process due to obedience to make disciples and teach them to obey, in this same two to four years, as many as five more leaders, who are also developing more leaders, will emerge.  Each leader is investing two to four years in other leaders who invest two to four years in other leaders, and so on.  The apparent result is explosive growth that does not seem to take much time and energy.  But appearances are misleading.

Please take the time to read his entire entry here.  It will take you 5 minutes to read. 

God bless, and Happy Thanksgiving!  We have much to be thankful for, because of Jesus Christ our Lord!

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