In the previous two blogs, I talked about my search for a discipler—someone who could guide me and help me grow spiritually. Over the years, I church-hopped more times than I’d like to admit, yet I could never seem to find what I was longing for in their ministry programs. Something always felt missing.

I hadn’t realized that many of the ministries I had been involved in operated as what Michel Hendricks and Jim Wilder describe as one-sided brain ministry. In The Other Half of Church, they highlight a need many churches miss: whole-brain ministry. Too often, churches lean heavily on one side of the brain—either the left, focused on logic, strategy, doctrine, and measurable results, or the right, centered on relationships, emotions, joy, and attachment.

In my experience, the mega churches I attended leaned toward left-brain ministry, emphasizing structured programs: Bible study, teaching, and small groups. It often felt like checking boxes—attending Bible studies and Sunday services. Growth was measured by attendance and filled seats rather than real transformation. On the other hand, some smaller churches I attended leaned toward right-brain ministry, prioritizing people: building relationships, cultivating joy, and developing character through connection and love. They focused on relational exercises and worship experiences that fostered community and joy. Both approaches are important, but when a church favors one over the other, discipleship can feel lopsided or incomplete.

This is where whole-brain ministry comes in. It combines both approaches, creating disciples who are not only knowledgeable but also emotionally mature, relationally healthy, and spiritually vibrant. Whole-brain ministry is about teaching truth while nurturing joy, guiding strategy while fostering love, and helping believers grow in knowledge, character, and Christ-like maturity all at once. It combines clear teaching and doctrinal instruction with relational and emotional development, focuses on both measurable growth (knowledge, skills) and invisible transformation (character, identity, joy), creates environments where people experience joy, attachment, and community while learning and applying biblical truth, and intentionally cultivates identity in Christ through both instruction and relational modeling. Whole-brain ministry doesn’t sacrifice intellect for relationships or relationships for intellect. It cultivates disciples who are knowledgeable, emotionally mature, relationally connected, and spiritually alive.

Looking back, I can see why I felt something was missing in so many of the churches I attended. I was searching for both knowledge and connection—for truth and relationship—and it wasn’t until I understood whole-brain ministry that I realized what had been absent. I no longer felt like I was the problem or the reason for my own unfulfillment. This insight now shapes how I engage in discipleship and guides how I hope to help others grow spiritually.

I wonder how embracing a whole-brain approach in our lives and ministry could deepen the way we disciple fellow believers, helping them grow in knowledge, character, and relational intimacy with Christ.

My prayer is that through intentional whole-brain ministry, we can become the kind of discipler that little Alyssa was longing for—a guide who not only shares truth but also models love, joy, and connection.

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Bibliography:

Wilder, Jim, and Michael Hendericks. The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation.