Making Disciples - Cooking Turkeys

What a strange title for an article appearing in a church newspaper?  What does making disciples have to do with cooking turkeys?  More than you may think…  Anyone who has prepared a turkey for a meal knows that you can’t begin one hour before dinner time.  In fact, those frozen turkeys take hours to thaw properly and hours to cook properly.  In other words, you don’t microwave turkeys, you slow roast them.  Slow cooking generally produces a moist, delicious turkey

The same is true for disciples of Christ. To produce disciples who are fully functioning requires time.  It’s a process.  Consider this; how long did it take Jesus to prepare the eleven to stand on their own and make other disciples?  Three years.  What about the Apostle Paul?  Although he had much religious training and was zealous for God, or so he thought, it took three years of intentional and intense work to bring him to a fully functioning status.  My point is this—in our hurry up, make it happen now, I don’t have time to give culture, we want discipleship to be a snap.  What book can I read, what conference can I attend, what weekend event can I sign up for to become a fully functioning disciple?  The answer to that is; none of the above.  Making a disciple is different than simply making a convert.  I may be able to make a convert in an hour’s conversation, however, a disciple takes may take years.  In his book The Disciple Making Pastor, Bill Hull says, It takes five years to establish a discipleship flow and have it bear fruit within the church.  Many pastors and parishioners simply don’t possess the spiritual stomach for such a journey.

Making disciples will require us to sign up for the long haul.  We will be required to place substance before style, commitment before convince and people before programs.  But, if we really want to impact our community and touch the world, only fully functioning followers of Christ will get the job done.  Before He returned to heaven, Jesus instructed His disciples to …make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I commanded you…. Matthew 28:19-20.  This task has been handed to us and now we must go and follow the mission of our Lord.  Put on your apron, fire up the oven and let’s cook some turkeys!