What Apple gets about discipleship
The things you’ve heard from me …, pass on to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. — 2 TIMOTHY 2:2
Not long ago I was in the Apple store working on my iPhone. A young lady was helping me—she probably looked to be in her early twenties. While she was working on my phone I start talking to her about her job.
I asked, “Have you been working here long?”
“No, not really. Just a few months,” she said.
“Do you like working here?”
Her face lit up, “Oh yes!”
Seeing her enthusiasm, I decided to inquire further. “Well, I bet it’s hard, learning all this stuff. You must have had to sit through hours and hours of training, right?”
She smiled. “Not really.”
I asked, “So how did you learn to do what you do?”
She said, “Well, I went online and saw there were job openings, so I registered for a two-day seminar hosted at a local hotel ballroom. After two days, they placed me in a store and assigned me to a mentor. For the first few weeks, I just wore regular clothes and the mentor wore the bright Apple shirt and lanyard. I just watched everything he did and took it all in. After dealing with a customer, he would ask me if I had questions or we would discuss that particular situation.” By this time she had stopped working on my phone and was completely into this story, so I kept listening.
“Then,” she said, “after a while, I put on the Apple shirt and lanyard and my mentor dressed in regular clothes and he followed me around as I took care of customers. If I had a problem, he was ready to jump in and help. When he thought I was ready, he just set me free to go on my own. Now I’m prepared to do the same things with another trainee!” She smiled. I did, too. Because what she described was disciple-making, Jesus style.
Jesus took in curious men, drew them to faith, let them shadow him for a season, and then he cut them loose to go on their own. When they were ready, he watched them reproduce into seventy-two more men. His plan was so simple and yet so profound. Jesus drew men to himself, let them follow him until they got it, and then he sent them out to reproduce.
What Jesus gave us was simple, reproducible, and powerful. Learn from someone else, then pass it on to someone else, with the vision of them continuing the process for others.
Apple gets it. Do you?
Think and pray
If you have questions about how to disciple someone or would like to have someone first mentor you, please reply to this email. That’s what the ministry of CBMC is all about. Don’t miss the joy of seeing what God will do in your life as you engage in His Great Co-Mission.
Jesus, You know my weaknesses, my struggles, and my busy calendar. And yet You’ve called me to show others how to know and follow You. Give me courage to step into this eternally-significant mission and do Your work in and through me, to Your glory alone. Amen.
Craig Etheredge is an author, Bible teacher and an ardent proponent of people coming to know and follow Jesus. Craig is the lead pastor at First Colleyville, the President and founder of DiscipleFirst Ministries, and the author of Morning Thrive, daily devotionals online. This post used by permission from discipleship.org.