There are a few places to go and find good solid wisdom. The first of course is scripture. We then have wise individuals in our midst, we have some wisdom in books and then there is the Jedi Master. For being a little green guy, he is very wise in some of the things he instructs, and we would be wise to take them to heart. At the end of his muppet life (In Return of the Jedi, there was no CGI), he told his young student Luke Skywalker to “pass on what you have learned”. Luke couldn’t just keep the information to himself, he needed to train a new generation of Jedi.
I’m not a Jedi, I’m a pastor. I’m not even a real pastor, I’m an associate pastor . . . sorta like a diet coke. Anyway, one of the things I am learning in my role is that I have learned a lot. I have a seminary degree, some certifications, a few awards and lots of hours of classes, conferences, and lots of books. I have learned a lot, but what do I do with that information? Do I just use it and become the expert? Sure if I want everyone to come to me to be discipled, but that doesn’t seem like the model Jesus left at all. I must pass on what I have learned.
I have to make sure the people I disciple not only know how to disciple others, but actually do it. That I am teaching them to be coaches, disciple-makers, teachers and shepherds. They have to know how to share their faith, teach some scripture, how to study their Bible and show others how to study the Bible. I need to make disciple-making disciples.
Is the Church in general doing a good job at this? I don’t think so. We have set the office of Pastor too high and the people in the church too low. We are teaching them like you feed a 1 year old. You want them to get the food, but you’d rather not let them have the spoon or the jar of food. We need to let our people not only learn to feed themselves, but to begin to feed others. Sure, sometimes it’s messy and you get strained peas in your hair, but it’s worth it. When disciples make disciples who make disciples, then we have exponential growth. Something the early church had, but we lack. Just like Yoda would say,”rethink our methods we should.”