In recent years, a growing number of Christians have immersed themselves in para-church discipleship platforms and movements. These include Bible training centres, itinerant teaching ministries, online discipleship courses, and accountability groups outside the local church structure. While these platforms may offer spiritual enrichment, an emerging trend raises concern: many participants in such programmes demonstrate diminished commitment to their local congregations. Their primary allegiance appears more aligned with their discipleship mentors or organisations than with their pastors, church leaders, or fellow church members.
This imbalance is not only unhelpful but also unbiblical. The New Testament model of discipleship is firmly grounded in the life of the local church. The early believers in Acts 2:42–47 were discipled through teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer—all within the local assembly. Paul's letters consistently urge believers to serve, love, and build up the body of Christ in their respective localities. Discipleship that does not cultivate deeper love and responsibility for one's local church runs contrary to the design of the Bride of Christ, the Church.
One tragic outcome of this faulty model is that believers become consumers of spiritual content rather than active members of a spiritual family. They become loyal followers of celebrity teachers or itinerant mentors while their home church suffers neglect. There are real-life examples of individuals who have stopped serving in their church choir or prayer groups because their discipleship mentors “do not believe in denominational boundaries” or see “church systems” as compromised. In extreme cases, some even withhold tithes and offerings from their churches, choosing instead to fund their favourite discipleship ministries.
True discipleship should always lead to deeper commitment to Christ's Church. Ephesians 4 makes it clear that the purpose of spiritual gifts is to equip the saints for the work of ministry within the body, so that the Church may be built up. A discipleship process that pulls people away from their churches instead of planting them deeper is a faulty process. Any ministry—however biblically sound or spiritually dynamic—that undermines the place of the local church in a believer’s life is deviating from God’s intention.
In light of this, Christians undergoing discipleship outside their local congregations must intentionally evaluate the fruit of such programmes. Are they growing in humility, love, service, and submission within their church family? If not, it may be time to rethink their allegiance. The goal of all true discipleship is not to create followers of movements but faithful members of Christ’s Church. Let every discipleship journey bring us home—not away—from the fellowship where God has planted us.