During my Army training, one of the most challenging exercises
was land navigation. The instructors loaded us into trucks, drove for
miles, and then stopped in the middle of unfamiliar terrain. They dropped each
soldier at a separate location and drove away, leaving us alone in the woods.
We only had one problem. We didn’t know where we were. This exercise took place long before GPS or smart phones. Prior to the truck ride, each soldier received a map, compass, and protractor, along with a set of coordinates for our first checkpoint. After reaching Point One, we received coordinates for Point Two. Then Point Three. Eventually, we had to reach six checkpoints to complete the course.
Here is the key principle behind both land navigation and today’s GPS technology: you must know both your location and your destination before you can plot a course. Open the map app on your phone while visiting an unfamiliar city and disable your location services. The map still knows where the restaurant or hotel is located. But it cannot tell you how to get there until it first knows where you are.
Church leadership works the same way. Most leaders, teachers, volunteers, and parents know where they want their church to go. They long to see children develop lasting faith, students remain engaged after graduation, adults mature in Christ, families grow stronger, and members become disciple-makers. Those are all worthy destinations. The first challenge, however, is not determining where to go. It is honestly determining where you are.
Until you identify your present location, every direction looks reasonable. Confidence cannot replace accuracy. Guessing might get you moving, but it will not get you closer to the objective. During Army training, we never skipped checkpoints because success at Point Six depended upon accuracy at Point One.
I’ve often thought about that exercise while serving churches. I regularly meet capable, passionate leaders who genuinely desire healthy churches. Yet many ministries attempt to solve problems before accurately diagnosing them. Like a physician treating symptoms without identifying the illness, churches often prescribe solutions before understanding their true starting point.
Many churches unintentionally misidentify their location.
We often assume spiritual growth happens primarily at church. It doesn’t. Church is where believers gather for worship, fellowship, encouragement, and equipping. Growth is cultivated when believers live out their faith the other six days of the week. Sunday should ignite what Monday through Saturday sustains.
If you want an honest picture of your church’s health, don’t begin by counting attendance. Look for evidence of biblical engagement beyond the church walls. Are people consistently spending time in God’s Word? Are families talking about Scripture at home? Are members discovering and using their spiritual gifts to serve others? Are teenagers becoming more resilient, sacrificial, and Christ-centered, or simply becoming more comfortable? Those are the checkpoints that reveal whether discipleship is taking root.
One of the simplest places to begin is helping every generation engage Scripture consistently. The goal is not to complete another reading plan or check another spiritual box. The goal is to develop a lifelong rhythm of hearing God’s voice and allowing His Word to shape everyday decisions. Quality always outweighs quantity when Scripture moves from information to transformation.
Research has repeatedly shown regular Bible engagement changes people. Believers who consistently spend time in God’s Word are more likely to serve, share their faith, make decisions shaped by biblical values, and persevere through difficult circumstances. Those qualities do not develop by accident. They grow as God’s Word shapes both the heart and the mind. Without meaningful engagement with Scripture, Christianity slowly becomes somewhere we attend rather than Someone we follow.
The need for honest self-examination is one reason Scripture repeatedly calls God’s people to examine themselves. Honest evaluation is never an admission of failure. It is the beginning of wisdom. A physician cannot prescribe treatment without first understanding the patient. Likewise, church leaders cannot confidently chart the future without accurately assessing the present.
Once you understand where your church is today, you can begin plotting a faithful course forward. Practical assessment tools can help identify both strengths and opportunities for growth across a congregation. Resources that engage every generation in Scripture together create natural conversations in both the church and the home. Assessment reveals your first point. Intentional discipleship helps you navigate to the next one.
That conviction shapes the mission of D6 Family Ministry. We exist to come alongside churches, helping leaders identify where they are, clarify where they believe God is leading them, and provide practical resources to strengthen discipleship in both the church and the home. Whether through assessments, curriculum, Bible engagement resources, conferences, coaching, or books, our desire is not simply to offer another program. We want to help churches make measurable progress toward generational discipleship.
Years ago, standing alone in unfamiliar woods with only a map, compass, and protractor, I learned determination could never compensate for not knowing where I was. Churches are no different. Vision is essential, but vision without an honest assessment is little more than wishful thinking.
Identify your first point. Plot the next step.
Every soldier knows an important truth: missions are never accomplished by the people on the front lines alone. Behind every successful mission stands a network of leaders who equip, supply, train, gather intelligence, and provide strategic support. The same is true in ministry. Pastors, teachers, volunteers, and parents faithfully serve on the front lines of discipleship, but they should never have to serve alone. Healthy churches need trusted partners who invest in research, develop practical resources, and continually equip leaders for the challenges ahead.
That commitment shapes the work of D6 Family Ministry every day. We continue to invest in research that helps churches understand where they are and where they need to grow. We are expanding resources such as the D6 Discipleship Journals, strengthening discipleship through interactive Bible engagement, helping with the rocky moments of life through D6 HomePoint, developing the next generation of D6 Curriculum, and providing conferences, coaching, books, and training to equip leaders to build cultures of generational discipleship. Our goals have always been simply to serve our churches and homes so every generation can know Christ and faithfully pass their faith to the next.
If you would like to move beyond general observations and gain a clearer picture of your own church, we invite you to begin with the free Faith-Forging Five Assessment at D6Family.com. Every church has goals. Every church has a destination. The assessment helps identify your current location so you can plan intentional next steps. If the mission matters, grab the map, find your first point, and chart the course forward. D6 Family Ministry is your partner for discipleship. One mission. Every generation.
