Discipleship and Locusts

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Proverbs 30:24

Proverbs 30:27
locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;

here is the 3rd installment of my 5 part series of things that are small but are extremely wise.

Locust is the Biblical word for the grasshopper, another creature that is not known for its wisdom. Grasshoppers belong to the family of insects and are not exactly known for being wise.

But the writer of Proverbs says we can learn from them. While they have no king or commander yet they advance together in ranks.

How you wish Christians could do what locusts can do. First of all they advance. They do not focus on the periphery and differences but rather consciously fix their eyes on devouring all that they see.

Discipleship means advancing and not getting stuck. Like the locust our job is to disciple everyone we meet and come into contact with. Needless to say there are times when the people we meet are not ready with the Gospel or even with moving forward as a disciple of Christ. It is in times like these that we need to advance forward to the next person without necessarily giving up on the other person that means we pray for them.

Secondly, locusts are wise because they not only advance but they do it together.

All too often Christians get entangled on differences. Some put too much emphasis on areas of theological differences. Most of the time these differences are more a question of focus rather than outright heresy or serious disagreement.

Like the wise locust we should instead look at the places of commonality and appreciate other Christians for their uniqueness. One common objective we should all have is what Jesus commanded all of us to do: “Go and make disciples…”

Finally, locusts are wise because though they don’t have a visible king they march in ranks making them very effective at what they do.

This is something we can learn from them. While our King Jesus is not visible we must align ourselves in local congregations that have godly leaders in order to be effective in the task of making disciples.

Working alone is not exactly the smartest thing to when it comes to disciple making. Marching together in ranks like locusts is far more effective.

see also: Prayer and Independence