I think you really understand something fundamental about following Jesus. It has been encouraging for me to see this blog.

But I was concerned about about the last paragraph you wrote and I want to comment. I may have not understood your communication, but talking about 3rd years and things multiplying quickly smacks of a regression back toward programs, formulas and contrived religious systems and away from the simple, pure, fundamental of just being about each other.

I hope not to be presumptuous but this is just to caution against slipping into our deeply ingrained tendency to look to timeframes and numbers and man made benchmarks as a means of trying to validate practice and lifestyle that the world does not value or understand. The world does not understand living by faith, which is entirely what one is doing when he decides to commit to being about others. The world values and understands membership numbers, full buildings, trendy movements, high profile programs and all the various forms of religious activity. But as you rightly acknowledge, at the end of the day (or time as it were) the only thing that matters is: How did you love one another? Don’t let that simple aspiration, loving one another, be sullied or confused by any other.

Again forgive me if I am out of turn. I only want to see you truly succeed in your endeavor. And the level of that success can’t be measured by numbers. It is something we can’t know until the end of time when all things are revealed. Live by faith.

When I moved to Chicago there was only 2 of us. After a couple of weeks we added 2 more. There were only the four of us for 6 months and then we added only 1 more guy. It was 5 of us for the 4 months and then we added one more guy-so it was 6 of us for the next 6 months. That summer we added 4 bringing the total to 10. Now after 2 1/2 years we are up to 16. (Our group is made of up of 6 women and 10 men)

During this whole period, no matter how small, we worked on loving one another and learning how to love one another.

My point? Disciple making requires patience on the front end because it is a slow process, but after the 3rd year it multiplies quickly.

My natural tendency is to first get a group together, tell them what we’re going to do/achieve and then work with them to get there. Jesus said, “Come follow me” and Paul encourages to “Do what I do”.

These to concepts are difficult in my western, modern mind as the results are unpredictable and requires me to be more like Jesus (righteous).

In my self-righteousness it’s hard to go into every encounter/relationship thinking of the opportunity to show people who God is and not trying to plug them into a program of “making them a better person”.

“It’s so easy to love people when I’m sitting by myself at home.”

“I am the best friend anyone could ever want. It’s the other 6 billion people that have the problem.”

Thanks for writing!

P.S. You should give the guys in your examples non-English names. That would be awesome.

You said: “I was in for a shock. Not only did these guys not love one another, but some of them did not even get along with one another.”

This sentence really interests me. So how to start a discipleship group appropriately from the beginning for the maximum result?

Thanks

Jay