Discipleship: As Easy as 19-4-10?

My neighbor is one of those people who enjoys yard work and finds it to be relaxing. I don’t. Every spring, I look at a lawn that is a combination of grass that is dormant, weeds that are very alive, and dirt patches that repel grass. Then I drag myself to the garden store to buy something that will magically transform my lawn. This year, every fertilizer product promised a vibrant green lawn, and backed up its claims with numbers: 19-4-10, 15-5-10, 12-24-12, and 13-13-13. I’m sure that my neighbor could tell me what this means and what I need. Unfortunately, he wasn’t with me and the employees in the store didn’t seem to care about my dilemma, so I randomly picked a bag and bought it, hoping that it would help my grass to grow. Does this story bear any resemblance to your church’s discipleship strategy? Perhaps you talk about spiritual growth and cite examples of mature believers, like the pictures of vibrant lawns on the fertilizer bag. People in the church know that they should be growing spiritually. They probably feel a sense of inadequacy or guilt because their growth is stagnant. Some are highly motivated and figure out the steps to take, but many are confused. When the confused people try to decide what to do, they’re offered something that sounds like 19-4-10. While that might make sense to an expert, it is meaningless to them. In some cases, they may ask for help, but the respondent often seems too busy or doesn’t really care or isn’t sure how to answer the question. I realize that discipleship is much more complicated than lawn care. I could have probably solved my problem with 5 minutes of internet research or a quick conversation with my neighbor. Not so with discipleship. But don’t let that complexity keep you from doing something. The people in your church want and need you to point them in the right direction. Help them to get started by developing a clear definition of discipleship and a way to guide their next steps. In my ignorance, I was willing to guess and buy a bag of fertilizer, but many of the people in your church will simply walk away if they’re not sure what to do. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>