The Power of Story to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples

How Storytelling Helps Churches Multiply Disciple-Makers

Disciple-making through storytelling is not a marketing tactic. It is how Jesus formed people who could carry the Gospel forward. In resistant cultures, low-literacy environments, and even modern Western churches, story lowers defenses and invites transformation.

“The most loving thing I can do for anyone is to show them how they fit into the story that God is telling, and when they find themselves in that story, now they become friends and partners of God in such a unique way.”

Leonard Lee

Leonard Lee and his team at 4-Gen Network have overcome all obstacles to train over 50,000 disciple makers. As the new disciple makers go out and make more disciple makers, the exponential fruit is millions of new Christ followers around the globe.

And he does it all through storytelling.

In this blog, we’ll share two ways the team at 4-Gen Network employs storytelling to fulfill the Great Commission in even the most unreached and hostile environments. Then, we’ll tell you how you can implement the same methods in your ministry and provide a simple template designed to transform disciples into disciple makers.

How Jesus Used Story to Form Disciple-Makers

If you want to practice disciple-making through storytelling in your church, begin with clarity and repetition.

Like every ministry, disciple makers must overcome layers of challenges, including language and cultural barriers, misunderstandings, literacy issues, a hardness toward the Gospel, refusal to give up sinful vices, and fears of persecution, to name just a few. Leonard Lee, the founder of 4-Gen Network, has discovered how to overcome all these challenges not only to make disciples, but to make disciple-makers.

You can’t overcome these hurdles through logic and reasoning, because even if they agree with your logic, their emotions will push back. For most people, their emotions are instinctually poised to resist change from the moment you open your mouth. So instead, start with inspiration rather than education.

Begin by engaging their emotions. When their heart is softened through story, they will not only give you their attention, but they will plead for more of yours. When the listener is willing to receive, they are ready to learn.

Jesus did the same thing. When the disciples asked Him why He always taught the crowds through stories and parables, He explained stories prepare people to receive His insights.

He answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given… This is why I speak to them in parables…” (Matthew 13:11–13, ESV)

We see the power of a story to make disciple-makers in many parts of Scripture, starting with the woman at the well. She was an outcast with a complicated past. After one encounter with Jesus, she returned to her town and told her story: “He told me all that I ever did.” And many Samaritans believed because of her testimony (John 4:39, ESV).

In the next section, we’ll share how the team at 4-Gen Network makes disciples through a simple, four-part story.

A Four-Part Story Framework for Making Disciples

The first step to making disciple makers is to make disciples. At 4-Gen Network, disciple-maker training begins with a four-chapter story, carefully crafted to relate to the culture and lifestyles of the audience.

Chapter 1: My Story — Building Relational Trust

First, Leonard introduces himself through a story he expects will relate to his audience. The purpose is to build a bridge, to form a relationship, so instead of seeing Leonard as a foreigner, they see him as someone familiar they can trust.

For example, if he is teaching in a small village, he will share that he is from a small town. He may share that his family had challenging beginnings, so then anyone in the audience with family challenges will relate to him.

Chapter 2: Your Story — Naming Real Struggles

Next, Leonard tells a piece of their story. The purpose is to show them he understands their desires and hardships.

For example, he may share that he understands some people in the audience are skeptical, that they feel incapable, or like their circumstances are just too much to overcome.

Chapter 3: God’s Story — Proclaiming Hope in Christ

Third, Leonard introduces God’s story. He has already planted a seed of trust through his story and understanding through their story, so the purpose of God’s story is to give them hope.

Leonard shares what the Bible says about God, and what God wants us to do. For example, despite the hurdles, God will equip you to overcome, and He will give you peace to face your uncertainties, all through His Holy Spirit.

At this early stage, Leonard does not ask people to open a Bible, especially if literacy is low. Instead, he will open his Bible and say, “Here’s a story. If you want the address to this story, I will tell you where to find it, but let me tell it to you.” He will then explain Scripture through a story using local vernacular.

Chapter 4: Our Story — Inviting Shared Mission

Last, Leonard invites his audience into “our story.” The purpose is application, to show them the possibilities of what we can do together when we follow Jesus.

He tells a story of a different life, of what happens when we see the same thing about this God who loves us. He shows them how God uses people for good by sharing testimonies from the Bible and throughout history.

In the next section, we’ll tell you one tool he teaches to convert disciples into disciple makers.

How to Equip Disciples to Become Disciple-Makers

Churches and ministries are very skilled at making disciples, but to equip those new disciples to make disciples involves another layer of leadership.

The primary function of most pastoral roles is to teach and disciple from the pulpit, what Leonard calls “leading from the front.” Jesus led from the front when he taught in the synagogues and to the masses.

The primary function of most ministry programs is to teach and disciple through compassion programs on the field, what Leonard calls “leading from the back.” Jesus led from the back when he raised the dead and when He fed the 5,000.

Jesus spent most of His time in ministry doing something else most churches and ministries miss. He communicated through parables to connect with people, to invite them into a divine relationship and equip them to do the same. This is what Leonard calls “leading from the middle.”

“Whenever you lead from the front, it should always push people toward the middle.” — Leonard Lee

Leading from the middle involves a lot of interaction, group discussion, and individual conversation. One effective tool to push disciples toward becoming disciple makers is to teach them to share their faith story.

Leonard helps unpack their testimony by completing four statements.

Before I met Jesus, _________________.

I first heard about Jesus when _________________.

When I heard about Jesus, I responded by _________________.

Since I met Jesus, this is what He has done: _________________.

For example, a testimony may look something like this.

Before I met Jesus, I was a hopeless drunk. I first heard about Jesus when a missionary came to our village. When I heard about Jesus, I responded by reading the Bible and I quit drinking. Since I met Jesus, I have peace, healthier relationships, a steady job, and hope for the future.

Through this exercise, participants realize what Jesus has done for them and what He can do for others. Leonard’s team then encourages them to use their story to invite others into God’s story of redemption and salvation. The participants choose when, where, and to whom they will share their story and the Gospel, and they expect to report back the next day.

The new disciple makers leave equipped, empowered, and accountable. According to Leonard, the fruit is immediate.

“In a lot of our trainings, they apply it literally the second they walk out the door. They come back the next day and say, ‘I was on the bus yesterday, and I met a bunch of teenagers. I told them what I learned today, and this is what happened.’ They may say they had no idea that it would work, or that they got confused and need help to understand it better. So, there’s a constant reenactment of their experience and of what God has been doing.”

What does this mean to you? In the next section, we’ll reveal how you can apply 4-Gen Network’s model to your ministry, no matter where you are or who you serve.

How Churches Can Implement a Story-Driven Discipleship Model

All of us in ministry are part of the greatest story ever told: death-to-life transformation. And we have it on repeat because God is always at work. He’s always active. He’s always transforming life. There are an infinite number of stories that we can tell to testify to His great love and His redemptive work.

Reliant founder Zach Leighton developed the Partner and Participant Journey, a narrative clarity framework designed to help ministries communicate transformation with theological depth and practical focus.

Your potential partners and participants struggle with the issues of living in a sinful, fallen world. Your ministry is there to guide them. Through your messaging, outreach, and marketing efforts, you invite your partners and participants into a journey through the wilderness. In accepting the call, you all follow God’s plan for your lives. Together, you put on the full armor of God to fight the good fight, where the war has already been won. As a result, everyone experiences varying measures of freedom by living in obedience to God and His Word. And the story continues on repeat as Christ continues to sanctify us throughout our life.

The discipleship program at 4-Gen is a beautiful reflection of the Reliant storytelling map, a ready-made template to help you and your program partners and participants discover their own stories of salvation.

In the 4-Gen curriculum, the partners, participants, and the struggles are all defined in “My Story,” and “Your Story,” and in “Before I met Jesus…”

The guide and the plan are covered in “Our Story,” as well as in “I heard about Jesus when…” and “when I met Jesus, this is how I responded…”

Freedom and continued sanctification are covered in “God’s Story” and in “Since I met Jesus, this is what He has done…”

Frequently Asked Questions About Storytelling and Disciple-Making

Build a Story-Driven Disciple-Making Culture

Jesus did not build a crowd. He formed people who could carry the story forward.

If your ministry wants to move from information to multiplication, storytelling is not optional. It is foundational.

At Reliant Creative, we help churches and Christian nonprofits clarify their disciple-making message, align their programs with narrative clarity, and build communication systems that multiply.

If you’re ready to strengthen your disciple-making strategy through story-driven messaging, explore our Messaging Strategy & Narrative-Aligned SEO services and schedule a conversation with our team.