Confidential Thoughts on Discipleship

CONFIDENTIAL THOUGHTS ON DISCIPLESHIP (CONFIDENTIAL BECAUSE THEY CAN EASILY BE MISSUNDERSTOOD AND BE HURTFUL TO OTHERS WHO HOLD A DIFFERENT POSITION – WHICH IS OK, BECAUSE LOTS OF ROOM FOR DISAGREEMENT ON THESE QUESTIONS)
REGARDING THESE THOUGHTS BELOW FROM ONE OF OUR LAY LEADERS
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I was surprised yesterday when I was asked about leaership training. My mind went to the Training that (our church has been considering).  I thought about new leaders being trained to split or double (their small) Groups. Here is what I realized. The leadership development class I went to is made up of the same 15 couples and 10 singles that I see in every class, whether it is (mentor) training class or small group training class or volunteering training to do whatever. We are not reaching new people to be trained to be leaders in my opinion. Possible solution is have the people in these classes invite potential leaders to come with them (to these classes). I invited a couple last time and they have not stopped talking about what was taught and how much it affected their lives and style of leading in different groups. Now how to get the next level of leaders to come (to these classes) is still a question in my mind.
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THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION/ISSUE ABOVE  ABOUT “LEADERSHIP TRAINING” IS WHAT WE CALL “BIBLICAL DISCIPLESHIP” OF THE DR ROBERT COLEMAN “MASTER PLAN OF EVANGELISM” VARIETY

UNTIL THE CHURCH (AND LAY LEADERS) ARE EDUCATED IN REPRODUCING THEMSELVES AND WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, WE WILL ONLY ADD AND NOT MULTIPLY
VERY SLOW AND TEDIOUS AND UNNECESSARY
I DON’T BELIEVE, CONTRARY TO WHAT IS SAID ABOVE, THAT THE ISSUE IS SO MUCH THAT WE ARE NOT REACHING NEW PEOPLE TO BE TRAINED TO BE LEADERS AS MUCH AS THE ISSUE IS WE ARE NOT TRAINING THE LEADERS WE ALREADY HAVE TO MULTIPLY
ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT IT IS TO SAY THAT WHEN THE PEOPLE/LEADERS WE ALREADY HAVE MULTIPLY, THEY WILL REACH NEW PEOPLE
THIS IS THE BEAUTY OF THIS KIND OF DISCIPLESHIP – BY ITS NATURE IT DEVELOPS FUTURE LEADERS ORGANICALLY (NOT THROUGH A “CLASS”, BUT THROUGH INTENTIONAL AND STRATEGIC  RELATIONSHIPS )
THE GOAL IS NOT INVITING NEW PEOPLE TO CLASSES, IT’S DISCIPLING THOSE WHO ALREADY EXIST IN LEADERSHIP ROLES TO REPRODUCE THEMSELVES
IF WE SIMPLY “INVITE THEM” TO FURTHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES, WE WILL SIMPLY CONTINUE TO ADD AND NOT MULTIPLY AND HAVE MORE “MATURE” NON-REPRODUCERS
WHO WILL;
1) NOT MULTIPLY
2) NOT EVANGELIZE AS EFFECTIVELY
3) NOT REACH THE MASSES
* “IF” SOME FORM OF REVIVAL OCCURS (20,000 COME TO JESUS), WE WILL HAVE NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH LEADERS TO SPIRITUALLY PARENT THEM (NOR ENOUGH CLASSES TO INSTRUCT EVERYONE – NO INFRASTRUCTURE – WE WILL SIMPLY HAVE A BUNCH OF SPIRITUAL “HOSPITALS AND ORPHANAGES” TO MANAGE ALL THE NEW AND ORPHANED BELIEVERS – ORPHANED MEANING, CAME TO JESUS AND NO ONE PARENTING THEM)
CHAOS

IN REVIEW, IT WAS SAID
I was surprised yesterday when I was asked about leaership training. My mind went to the Training that (our church has been considering).  I thought about new leaders being trained to split or double (their small) Groups. Here is what I realized. The leadership development class I went to is made up of the same 15 couples and 10 singles that I see in every class, whether it is (mentor) training class or small group training class or volunteering training to do whatever.THE SAME 15 AND 10 WHO ARE POSSIBLY “NOT” MULTIPLYING
We are not reaching new people to be trained to be leaders in my opinion.

WE ARE NOT REACHING NEW PEOPLE TO BE TRAINED AS LEADERS BECAUSE WE ARE NOT TRAINING (DEVELOPING) THE LEADERS WE ALREADY HAVE TO MULTIPLY (THESE 15 AND 10 ONLY HAVE ADDITION TO RELY UPON – THE VEHICLE OF ADDITION BEING MORE CLASSES AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO “ADD TO” THEIR NUMBER)

Possible soluntion is have the people in these classes invite potential leaders to come with them.

THE CLASSES AREN’T “BAD OR WRONG” – THEY ARE SIMPLY INADEQUATE (AND NOT DESIGNED FOR) MULTIPLICATION

THEY ARE EDUCATION, NOT REPRODUCTION (THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REACHING 31 IN 30 YEARS OR REACHING 1 BILLION IN 30 YEARS – AS EVIDENCED BY THE MULTIPLICATION TABLE BELOW)
FURTHER EDUCATION IS A SUPPLEMENT (OR A “FISHING POND” TO FIND NEW POTENTIAL LEADERS/MULTIPLIERS), NOT THE GOAL OR END
I invited a couple last time and they have not stopped talking about what you taught and how much it affects their life and style of leading in different groups. Now how to get the next level of leaders to come is still a question in my mind.
THE ISSUE OF DEVELOPING LEADERS/DISCIPLERS IS TO GET THEM TO MULTIPLY AND REPRODUCE, NOT TO GET THEM TO ATTEND CLASSES
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DISCIPLESHIP – ADDITION VS. MULTIPLICATION
YEAR             ADDITION    MULTIPLICATION
0                       YOU               YOU
1                       2                     2
2                       3                     4
3                       4                     8
4                       5                     16
5                       6                     32
6                       7                     64
7                       8                     128
8                       9                     256
9                      10                    512
10                    11                    1,024
11                    12                    2,048
12                    13                    4,096
13                    14                    8,192
14                    15                    16,384
15                    16                    32,768
16                    17                    65,536
17                    18                    131,072
18                    19                    262,144
19                    20                    524,288
20                    21                    1,048,576
21                    22                    2,097,152
22                    23                    4,194,304
23                    24                    8,388,608
24                    25                    16,777,216
25                    26                    33,554,432
27                    28                    134,217,728
28                    29                    268,435,456
29                    30                    536,870,912
30                    31                    1,073,741,824
31                    32                    2 Billion
32                    33                    4 Billion
33                    34                    8 BIllion