The World Race sounded very rustic, and even primitive at times when I was looking into it. And at times it has been.
But this month it is not.
God has absolutely blessed our team. We are sleeping in real beds in air conditioned dorms, we have a very spacious kitchen, and we have a pool.
Not exactly what I thought I would have on the Race but I am certainly not complaining.
We have also been blessed (again) with wonderful people to work with. We have been doing construction work on an orphanage the past two weeks with a man named Jesus.
That’s Jesus, not Jesus.
Jesus has two sons who help us work as well. Abner and Cesar. We were talking with the boys one day and somehow the topic of pools and swimming came up and we asked them if they liked to swim. They said they didn’t know how so we did the only logical thing and invited them over so we could teach them.
When they arrived at the property it was just the boys from our team that were ready right away. Which was great except the three best Spanish speakers on our team are women. Nevertheless we dove right in. (Get it? Dove?)
Not knowing the words for leg, kick, move, wall, hold, under, or breath made it difficult to communicate with spoken language so we resorted to body language. We demonstrated techniques then pointed to the two boys for them to try. And it worked.
Now getting them to move from the kiddie pool to the big pool, that was another issue all together.
We were able to get them into the big pool a couple of times, very briefly each time. And both times they had a wall or a gringo to hold on to so they never felt as if they were going to drown.
We had a great afternoon and when Jesus came to pick the kids up Abner and Cesar were better swimmers than when they arrived.
After the boys left I got to thinking.
Our swimming lesson was a lot like discipleship.
So often we thrown big words and concepts at people, thinking they will grow in their relationship with Jesus because now they know what grace, love, and righteousness mean. And for some people, they are ready to hear about those things; to see what God’s grace is all about.
But some people want to watch you first to see if grace, love and righteousness work, before they jump in the pool. They don’t need an explanation as much as a demonstration.
Then, after you have demonstrated, you can explain some deeper concepts. You can move them to the “big pool”. But to throw them in by themselves, to give them a bible and say, “Good luck you’re on your own” isn’t what they need. They still need a wall to hold on to or, better yet, a person to go with them as they journey into deeper knowledge. And every once in a while you let them go to see how they do alone but when they start to become overwhelmed, when they feel as if they are drowning in scripture and teaching, you are right there to help keep them afloat.
Pretty soon though, they are ready to swim alone, with more and more confidence and before you know it they are teaching someone else how to swim.
So how do you disciple? Are you trying to throw someone into the big pool before they know how to swim? Or maybe you’re keeping them in the kiddie pool when they are ready to graduate to bigger and better things.
Find someone you can disciple in your life. And instead of throwing them in alone, dive into the pool with them.
“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 28:19
