Thoughts on Making Disciples 7

Back to things that help me make disciples. We need motivation because it's hard work. It's good to know a place to start (among non-Christians) and to know the first step (Prayer).

Some of you know our late friend John Lee. John was one of first guys I met at Navs. He was quiet, faithful, a lover of God and people. He taught kindergarten and led summer missions trips to Japan. On an excursion during one of those trips, a dozen years ago, John drowned off an island near Tokyo.

Among the many things John taught me was woodworking. Our first project, an oak shoe rack, still sits next to our front door. There's a rule in woodworking: Measure twice; cut once. The permanence of the cut makes measuring precisely doubly important. It's part of a bigger principle in building things: You have to know what you're building, so you can have a clear plan. Woodworking with John, we spent more time than you'd think drawing and doing math (John did the math).

The principle translates to making disciples. Without an idea of what... or rather, who we are trying to build up, we can get stuck in our perceived inability or get bogged down in trying to re-create methods.

A simple definition is helpful for me. I've concluded that disciple making is leading people to faith in Christ and helping them grow to maturity in him. Which begs thequestion: What is maturity in Christ?

I wonder if we each ought to wrestle with this question, make our own nuanced drawing of maturity in Christ. Good lines with which to start are love and obedience.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we might present everyone fully mature in Christ. Colossians 1:28