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Another thought from Radical…

We spend much of our energy in ministry trying to build churches, whereas Jesus invested almost all of his energy making 11 disciples.  Now having been on a church staff before, that’s not a fair indictment of the “church” (as if there were a singular entity in this context) because building ministry programs is usually an act of making disciples.  But Jesus lived and walked with those 11 guys; he didn’t just see them for a couple hours on Wednesday night.

Of course in many ways Jesus’ ministry was unique and cannot be exactly replicated, but what if we focused on making a few true disciples?  The question that comes up immediately for me is: am I living the kind of live that I would want to see reproduced?  And this is what I think keeps many of us from doing this.  Showing up a couple hours a week to something is easy and safe.  Letting someone in on an intimate level is dangerous.  We might have to face some stuff.

But the Lord doesn’t expect us to be perfect before he can use us.  So Lord, help me to step out and invest more in a few disciple-making relationships, starting with my children, and extending to others as you lead.  With 11 guys, you turned the whole world upside down.  May you continue your mission to extend your Father’s love to the nations through me and others who will intentionally make disciples.  In Jesus’ name.

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