06/22/2026
The 4 Types of People in Every Church: Fakes, Fans, Followers, and Disciples
I've discovered something recently that I believe will help the body of Christ be more understanding and patient with each other. In the body universal—which includes your local body that you attend and fellowship with—there are certain distinctive types of individuals: fake, fans, followers, and disciples.
The Fake: This group is the easiest to describe because they are the enemies and the "weeds" (Matthew 13:25) sown right into the body. They are there to subvert and cause unnecessary confusion and division; those who talk about the ministry and hide their hands (Psalm 41:7) in whispers and innuendos.
The Fans: Next are the fans of the disciples, or what I would say, the body of Christ. They are there because everything is going good and they want to belong to the crowd. As long as they believe the church is "winning" superficially, they are there to support. But the minute they believe the church is losing, they’ll find another team and move on to another church. These people are normally church hoppers (2 Timothy 4:3).
The Followers: Next are the beloved followers. This group of people is devoted, and they will show up and support the church in most all ministries. They are givers, and they want to see the gospel go forth. You might be saying, "Well, that’s good," and it is good and necessary. But the only thing they lack is the commitment to truly be disciplined enough to learn the power of the scriptures and to seriously pursue the ability to "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). Actually, they are the bulk of most churches.
The Disciples: Now let's move on to the disciples. They are committed, accountable, and responsible consistently—not only to the ministry but also to their growth through learning the word of God. Their pursuit is noticeable, and their focus is singular on truly becoming a disciple so that they may disciple others (Matthew 28:19). They go from the follower who "should be a teacher by now" (Hebrews 5:12) and move on to the student who now becomes a teacher themselves to finish out the work of the cross. They understand that explaining salvation in the gospel is the power to getting people saved (Romans 1:16), along with demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit as much as possible (Galatians 5:22-23). They can handle correction and rebuke, understanding that that’s part of the humility of a disciple—a student of Jesus Christ. Jesus would often correct and instruct his to-be apostles even when they didn't understand; he understood that they would get it once the Holy Spirit completed their teaching (John 14:26). The disciple is always learning, even when they become the teacher, because they truly understand and love the power of the word of God in their life rightly divided.
All these are needed in the body, and the encouraging part is that you can move from one to the other as God reveals himself to you and increases your hunger for him, the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit. So let's not get anxious and "grow weary in well doing" (Galatians 6:9), but understand these types of people are among us. We who are in leadership should never compromise, but show a little more grace and patience, because at one time we were like—and maybe still are like—some of these!
Pastor James Sutton II
