blog entry 11/8/2025
Deeper Place Worship Blog • Cambiando la Manguera por la Fuente: Volviendo al Camino de Jesús en el Discipulado (Es) • What is DMM?
A Disciple Making Movement (DMM) is a movement of ordinary people who obey and multiply the teachings of Jesus, doing church in the way of the early New Testament church—making disciples who, in turn, make more disciples.
It’s happening all over again. A fellow 5th-grade teacher excitedly told me how well his students were getting the math lesson of the week. He was animated, convinced that real progress was happening in his classroom. Except… I kept seeing this same “excitement” pattern repeat week after week—until Friday rolled around and the test scores told a completely different story. Only a few had actually mastered the standard. The rest had missed it entirely.
I finally had to say something: “It seems to me what you’re seeing is just the few who do get it—those confident ones answering your questions, making it sound like everyone’s understanding. But maybe you need a new way to find out from each student—especially the quiet ones who never raise their hands—who is really getting it and who isn’t.”
I’m not sure whether that teacher changed his approach. But it reminded me so much of what I see in churches all over the world. Many church leaders have clung to an ineffective approach for ministry—one that looks successful on the surface but fails to produce true, reproducing disciples. They hold on tightly, even when the lack of fruit is evident for all to see—if only we have eyes to see it.
Many pastors and church leaders still think this way about ministering to churchgoers: “If we line them up to drink from us—from a strong firehose stream of preaching, teaching, rescuing, and a long list of what they must do—surely they’ll grow faster.” But the truth? The opposite happens. You end up with believers who sit, nod, and agree in the pews—but never live out what they hear in real life.
The DMM approach turns that upside down. Instead of overwhelming people with information, we invite them into honoring God’s Word and His voice through obedience. We say: Let’s take one passage of Scripture this week. Let’s listen for what God is saying to us. And let’s each choose, with the Holy Spirit’s help, how we will obey Him this week.
It’s simple—but powerful. We read the Word. We respond in obedience. And we do it together, in the presence of brothers and sisters who are committed not only to obey, but to lovingly hold one another accountable to live it out. This is how transformation truly happens—small acts of obedience, week after week, until Christ’s character is formed in us.
Do you see the difference? The traditional model says, “Feed them much and hope they change.” The DMM model says, “Give them a little at a time—but expect obedience, application, and multiplication—until it becomes a lifestyle.”
And here’s where we must be honest with ourselves:
We say we trust the Word of God—but often, we’re more enamored with our own words and the polished packaging of God’s truth through our scholarly sermons and teachings. Meanwhile, we neglect to give people the space to open Scripture for themselves and discover its living power firsthand.
We say we depend on the Holy Spirit—but in practice, we often put ourselves at the center of discipleship, acting as though we are the true helpers instead of Him.
We say we believe in the power of Christian community—but we leave little room for the kind of Spirit-led interaction and loving accountability that only happens when believers walk closely together as family before God.
We say we follow Jesus—but too often, what we really ask is that people follow us, the leader, without question or hesitation.
DMM isn’t just a new or different way of doing ministry or running an innovative discipleship program. It’s going back to the basics—the New Testament model of disciple making that Jesus modeled and passed on to His followers. It’s a return to simplicity—ordinary believers hearing God’s Word, obeying it, and sharing it with others. It’s about aligning ourselves as God’s people—in obedience to His Word, under a deep reliance on the Holy Spirit—and learning to do life and ministry in the way of Jesus.
It’s not complex. It’s not burdensome. It’s about trusting Jesus as we walk with Him in obedience—one step at a time. That’s the heartbeat of DMM: going back to the way of Jesus so we can experience the fruit of Jesus. It’s the difference between merely informing believers and immersing them in the transforming work of God’s Word—under the leadership of the Holy Spirit—within a community of loving accountability, where together they learn to follow the way of Jesus and become reproducing disciples.
And for leaders, it means letting go of the reins and allowing God to have full control. Our role is not to be the source, but to point people to the Source—to God’s Word and to the Person of Jesus—trusting that He is active and at work in their hearts and minds through His Spirit. We simply facilitate the encounter and create space for people to discover God together. And in that shared discovery, we’re transformed too—learning, obeying, and growing side by side as disciples of Jesus.
Whether in the classroom or the church, the pattern is the same—information alone doesn’t transform anyone. Transformation happens when truth is discovered, obeyed, and lived out. The firehose method may look imposing and powerful, but it leaves most people drenched yet thirsty. When we trade the firehose for the Fountain of Living Water, everything changes.
The Jesus way—the DMM way—is a living fountain that flows from encounter, obedience, and multiplication. We don’t need more noise or more knowledge; we need more response. More believers hearing God’s Word and doing it. More leaders who trust the Holy Spirit enough to step back and let God lead His people. When we trade the firehose for the Fountain, we rediscover the power that turned the world upside down in the book of Acts—ordinary people walking in extraordinary obedience, one simple step at a time. That’s not just ministry. That’s movement.