Whole Life App

Christian spiritual growth has problems.

Helping Christians grow spiritually, or to become more like Jesus, goes by many names—spiritual formation, disciple-making, soul care, mentoring, coaching, and more. Sadly, many Christian communities define spiritual growth and mentoring simply as passing on information and concepts about the faith. Even for church leaders who teach that Christian principles need to be applied, some are still only trained and equipped to minister in information-only ways.

But information alone can never lead to true growth in Christian character.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:1-2 (NLT), "Knowledge may make us feel important, but it is love that builds up the church. Anyone who claims to know everything doesn't really know very much."

Jesus' lived example also teaches us that passing on spiritual concepts, while important, is only one part of making disciples who see, act, and love like our Teacher. Information-only spiritual formation leads to three serious problems in the church community.

Problem #1 Unfruitful Faith

Many followers of Jesus may know the principles of the Christian faith, but their knowledge is unfruitful—it doesn’t translate into changed hearts and lives. Why? Because that’s not how humans actually grow. Best practices in adult learning include personal examples, loving feedback, growth opportunities, repetition and review, and interactive reflection—essentially, active coaching. With coaching, people grow to be more actively aligned with God in mind, heart, and action.

Information-only spiritual growth often fails to help people grow in the emotional intelligence required to love well. When all that’s required to lead others in the faith is accurate head knowledge, people lacking in emotional maturity have no opportunity to grow in character or help others do the same.

In addition, in mission frontiers around the world, many people are coming to faith in Jesus. But without intentional spiritual support and mentoring, new believers can fall away from following Jesus after only a few years.

Problem #2 Hesitant Mentors

Many experienced Christians want to help others grow but aren’t sure they have what it takes to mentor someone in following Jesus. They wonder if they need to have everything figured out, or if they need to be a trained pastor. Even some educated pastors hesitate to personally mentor others, sticking to information sharing. Despite their education, they too were never trained in how to mentor people personally in the walk of faith.

Mentors and soul partners in the faith need an approach that can bridge the gap—where the only requirements are a solid commitment to Jesus and his Word, the willingness to genuinely care about others’ spiritual journeys, and the wisdom and humbleness to share about their own spiritual challenges and growth.

Problem #3 Limited Spiritual Growth

Some churches expect one or a few leader(s) to guide everyone else’s spiritual growth. This model is limiting in several ways.

Others’ spiritual gifts of shepherding, encouragement, teaching, and wisdom go unused. As a result, those church members are unable to reach their full spiritual potential, because they’re not participating in the growth and development of others, as Jesus created and equipped them to do.

In addition, with this single-shepherd approach, a pastor can become a limiting factor in the church's growth. Spiritual growth under a single leader occurs at a slow pace, rather than multiplying. This can cause strain or even burnout for the leader.

Furthermore, an overburdened pastor is likely to retract into either information-sharing or commanding, neither of which are emotionally intelligent, effective means of empowering people towards spiritual maturity. With no opportunities for action-based mentoring, a Christian community stays in a less mature state of development, and the larger community is less impacted by the redemptive love of God that could be activated when Christians are robustly supported in their spiritual growth.

Christian leaders need a Biblically grounded, emotionally intelligent way to multiply their ministry and empower spiritual growth for the sake of their faith community and God’s redemptive purposes in the world.

Introducing the Whole Life App

Relational. Spirit-led. Action-focused.

The Whole Life app is a flexible and enjoyable tool for followers of Jesus to engage in spiritual partnering or mentoring in pods (2-4 people). The app provides customizable guidance for conversations that lead to Spirit-led action and reflection. The Whole Life pod experience is grounded in the Bible and best practices for active learning, modeled for us by Jesus.

As you journey together, you’ll encounter God in the Bible in deeply relational ways. You’ll focus on the presence of God together in real-time. You’ll take concrete action steps led by the Holy Spirit. You’ll capture and share your God stories. You’ll reflect together on your experiences, deepen each other’s insights, and support each other’s Christian character development in prayer.

The Whole Life app gives you guidance, support, and freedom at every step of your shared journey. In addition, your pod’s coach is connected to a coach pod, so even if the coach is a more experienced Christian mentoring others, the coach is also surrounded with support for their spiritual journey.