Introduction
Do as Harold Does
Harold's a leader. His objective is clear. He wants his group to be more like Jesus. He wants them to become better acquainted with Him. Harold wants to make disciples.
There's a funny thing about Harold, though. When he concentrates on the techniques for reaching his objective, he often loses sight of the target. Knowing this, Harold makes a point to keep his goal clearly before him. He doesn't want to end up in the familiar rut of serving his techniques.
To keep his objective in mind, Harold meditates on four of Jesus' imperatives about disciples.
Love One Another—John 13:34,35
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Bear Fruit—John 15:8
"This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
Abide in Christ's Teaching—John 8:31
"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples."
Follow Christ—Luke 14:26,27
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."
One day, while studying some techniques of discipling, Harold discovered he absorbed more when he discussed the concepts with others. The most logical people to interact with were other leaders like himself. In fact, they began meeting weekly to discuss each technique.
It dawned on Harold that what he'd been learning wasn't much good until he put it into practice. So Harold applied the techniques. He expanded them, altered them, experimented with them. And Harold discovered new aspects to these concepts. He learned new ways to use them.
Time passed. Harold had read the techniques. He had applied them. Harold thought he had exhausted them. Then Harold reviewed the techniques. And he learned new things!
Harold now approached the same information from a new level of experience. New thoughts developed in his mind. And so Harold determined to go through these concepts once every six months as long as he was in the position of discipling a group of people. Harold wants to be as effective as possible.
| Harold leads a small group. | ||||
| His objective is clear. | ||||
| He is using the following techniques to disciple others. | ||||
| Harold continues to discuss, apply, and review these concepts. | ||||
| Harold is a good leader. | ||||
Do as Harold does.