Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Discipleship and Ballroom Dancing


“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Matthew 13:55

Disicpleship cannot be complicated. After all Jesus was a carpenter’s son and His disciples were fishermen. Sometimes we make discipleship more dificult than it really is. We overload people with information when what they really need is a relationship where they can learn to grow and mature. Having small groups is not about having a meeting. It is an excuse to meet so we can have relationships where we can engage, encourage and equip others to become disciples.

It’s the difference between the "twist" and the "boogie". The twist continues to thrive because anyone can do it. With a few twisting motions of your hip and legs and you are good to go. Lift one hand while twisting with one finger pointed up and you have the “pistol twist”. Move both arms from side to side and you have the “windshield twist”. Wave one hand and you have the “beauty queen move”. Both hands up and you have the 'surrender'. Different styles coming out of the same twist.

In short the twist can be done by anyone with added variations. That’s what discipleship is like. It is the simple task of engaging others with your own distinct style and personality in order to build relationships with them. The obvious goal is to one day introduce them to your God. Like Jesus, keep things simple in that way anyone can do it.

Now as far as the boogie is concerned there are only a limited number who can do it. It is not as simple and as such is hard to duplicate. When Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations” He did not mean some nations but all. He said all because He knew it can be done. Why is not being done yet? One of my suspicions is its too complicated its not duplicable.

The idea is to get everyone to do it and not just a handful of people. In order to do this we need to keep it simple.

1 comment:

karen aguilar said...
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