The Process and the Environment for Growing Disciples of Christ
How Disciples Are Formed and the Conditions That Enable Their Growth
by Raimer Rojas
(English & Español)
by Raimer Rojas
(English & Español)
Before you read, consider the perspective behind this article. This is written for those entrusted with the care of people—leaders called to help others grow into the image of Christ. Many desire to see fruit quickly, but in doing so, there can be a tendency to push the process. Others, however, are more unintentional or haphazard in how they approach formation—simply repeating what they received without much thought, and without asking if there might be a better way. But God’s way is different. He does not form people through pressure, but intentionally, through life-giving cultivation that honors how they were designed to grow. What follows is an invitation to lead in that way.
Imagine a gardener with deep intention, tending a garden entrusted to his care. He does not simply scatter seeds and walk away. He studies the soil. He waters consistently. He ensures the plants receive sunlight. He enriches the soil with nutrients. He removes what hinders growth. He prunes what is overgrown so that what remains can grow stronger and more fruitful. And he carefully protects the garden from anything that would harm it.
But his work is not limited to individual plants. He cultivates an entire environment — a garden where life can flourish together. The soil is rich, the conditions are right, and what is planted begins to grow not in isolation but in relationship. There is protection from what would destroy. There is harmony instead of competition. There is a quiet, steady sense of life.
Over time, what grows in that garden is not accidental. It is intentional, cultivated, and sustained. This is a picture of spiritual leadership under God. A disciple-making leader is called to do the same — to intentionally cultivate both a process of formation and a life-giving environment where the life of Christ can take root, grow, and multiply in the people under their care.
Just as a plant grows from a seed and requires both consistent care and the right conditions, so it is with discipleship. A seed may be alive, but without water, sunlight, and attention, it will not grow. And even with good care, if the soil is poor or the environment is harsh, that growth will struggle.
In the same way, people need two essential things to grow in Christ. They need clear direction — a pathway that shows them how to live a life increasingly reoriented around Jesus. And they need a life-giving environment — a space where that life can take root, grow, and flourish. These correspond to the process and the environment.
The process provides the pathway that forms a life in Christ.
The environment provides the conditions that help that life grow.
Both are essential. When either is missing, people may continue — but they will not truly thrive.
People were not designed to drift. They need clarity, direction, and a pathway forward. The process of formation provides this—a clear and intentional pathway through which lives are shaped around Jesus. This process is not only about what is taught (the WHAT), but also how that truth is passed on, practiced, and embodied over time (The HOW). It includes both the content being formed into people — the teachings, ways, and life of Jesus — and the pathway through which that content becomes lived reality through relationships, modeling, obedience, and repeated practice.
Jesus modeled this clearly. People were called to be with Him, learn from Him, and were sent by Him. Leaders today are called to cultivate this same process with intention.
They help people be with Jesus by guiding them into real relationship with Him. This means more than sharing information— it means helping people encounter God through His Word, depend on the Holy Spirit, and learn to recognize His voice. Like a gardener ensuring sunlight and water, the leader helps position people where life can truly grow.
They help people become like Jesus by tending to the inner life. This includes renewing the mind, aligning with truth, allowing God to reshape desires, and dealing honestly with what is broken or misaligned. It also includes building rhythms, practices, and habits that strengthen a person’s life in God over time. Like a gardener enriching the soil and pruning what hinders growth, the leader participates in deep, internal formation.
They help people do as Jesus did by guiding them into obedience and action. Disciples begin to live what they are learning — to love, serve, forgive, and walk in obedience in everyday life. They also join the mission of making disciples. Like a gardener guiding healthy growth, the leader helps shape a life that is not only formed, but fruitful.
This process unfolds through intentional relationships. Leaders walk with people, encourage them, correct them, and model what it looks like to follow Jesus. But they are doing something more. As people experience this process firsthand, they are not only being formed into mature disciples — they are also learning how to disciple others. The process itself becomes a living model of disciple-making that they can reproduce in the lives of others. Through it all, leaders depend on the Holy Spirit. Without Him, the process becomes human effort. With Him, it becomes living transformation.
From the very beginning, this process is oriented toward multiplication. What is formed in one life is intended to be reproduced in another, as disciples become disciple-makers who help others walk the same pathway of formation.
A Recommended Process of Formation (A pathway for discipleship): Practicing the Way: a Guide to Transformation & Holistic Discipleship
Even the strongest process will struggle in the wrong environment. People were not designed to grow under fear, pressure, shame, or isolation. They need a space where they can be safe, known, supported, and invited into growth. The environment is the kind of discipleship culture a leader intentionally cultivates. It is the atmosphere people step into — often before a word is ever spoken. It quietly answers the deeper questions of the heart: Is it safe to be real here? Am I seen? Can I struggle without being rejected? Is growth invited here, or demanded?
When the environment is healthy, something begins to shift. Walls come down. Honesty replaces hiding. Trust begins to form. Truth can be received without defensiveness because people no longer feel threatened.
In that kind of environment, people are able to:
be with Jesus honestly, without pretending
become like Him deeply, as God works beneath the surface
do as He did courageously, supported as they step into obedience
But beyond individual experience, a healthy environment becomes a living ecosystem.
Like a well-tended garden:
it protects from what would harm growth
it fosters harmony instead of unhealthy competition
it strengthens each part through relationship
it creates stability over time
it supports ongoing life and fruitfulness
The environment does not replace the process—it empowers it. It makes growth not only possible, but sustainable, healthy, and life-giving.
When the process is strong but the environment is weak, people may know what to do but feel unable to do it from the heart. They lack the support, safety, and living models needed for deep inner transformation. Growth becomes external, pressured, and difficult to sustain. When the environment is strong but the process is unclear, people may feel cared for but lack direction. There is warmth, but little formation. There is connection, but no clear pathway forward. Growth becomes shallow, limited, and undefined. In both cases, something essential is missing.
But when a clear process and a healthy environment come together, something powerful begins to happen. People are intentionally formed and relationally supported at the same time. Truth is not merely taught — it is practiced. Growth is no longer forced — it becomes natural. Obedience begins to flow from desire rather than pressure. Transformation deepens because it is happening from the inside out. And over time, what is being formed in one life begins to reproduce in others.
Jesus embodied both perfectly. He gave a clear process — people were with Him, learned from Him, and were sent by Him. But He also shaped the environment. He created spaces of dignity, truth, and invitation. People felt seen, not crushed. Known, not exposed. Because of this, they were not only taught — they were transformed.
Picture a garden so full of life that it overflows in every direction. The plants are strong, rooted, and vibrant. Flowers are open and thriving. Fruit is being produced in abundance. The air itself seems alive — bees move from plant to plant, pollinating without effort, simply drawn by the life that is already there. Growth is no longer something forced; it is the natural result of a healthy, well-tended ecosystem. Life gives way to more life.
This is what discipleship is meant to become. If we want to raise disciples who truly flourish, we must learn to lead like gardeners under God. We must be intentional about both the process we build and the environment we cultivate. The process provides the pathway. The environment provides the conditions. And when both are present, people do not simply grow — they come alive. And what comes alive in them begins to multiply in others.
Clear Process + Healthy Environment = Christlike Lives That Multiply
If you build the process but neglect the environment, growth struggles. If you cultivate the environment but neglect the process, growth stalls. When both are present, disciples flourish.
Isaiah 32: The Righteous Environment Where People Heal and Flourish
Emotionally Healthy Leadership: The Way of Jesus
From Instruction to Formation: Why Discipleship Requires Emotionally Healthy, Present Leaders
Discipleship as Progressive Maturity