discipleship

It was going to be a three-hour bus ride. I sat down by myself and honestly, hoped it would stay that way. I was tired and just didn’t have the energy or the desire to talk to anyone.

Just as we were about to leave the bus terminal, one more person got on the bus. Sure enough, he sat down right beside me.

Thankfully, he didn’t even acknowledge me. I was safe.

Most of us have times, like that, when we don’t really feel like engaging with people or even being friendly, let alone sharing our faith.

Of course, we know from Scripture that there are many compelling reasons why we should care about people enough to help them and even tell them about Jesus. Yet, I suspect that we already know those reasons quite well and that there is a whole set of other reasons, reasons for not sharing our faith, that sometimes undermine our Gospel witness.

Reason #1 - I Don’t Really Want to Tell People about Jesus

The first reason, which comes naturally out of my bus story, is that I sometimes don’t want to tell people about Jesus. My concern and even love for them is not enough to move me to reach out to them in a deep and meaningful way. To be honest, all too often, I don’t really care very much for the people around me.

Jesus told us what was most important when he said in Matthew 22:37-39: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love God and love others. I want to focus on the second part for a bit.

I love to jog. One day, I was out jogging in a rainstorm. I was already feeling miserable before the jog and the rainy conditions didn’t help. As I sloshed forward on the trail, I ran past a man walking his two dogs. They kind of got in my way and in a moment of frustration, I swung my fist through the air on the way by.

I’ve never heard of a church that has too many small group leaders. Too many ushers? Maybe. Too many musicians? Possibly. Too many small group leaders? Highly unlikely.

And yet, I know many churches that have grand visions for their small group ministry. Statements like, “we want to be a church of small groups” or “we want everyone to be in a small group.” All of them? Wouldn’t this require a massive influx of group leaders?

Herein lies the problem—you can’t multiply small groups if you don’t have small group leaders. For as motivated as some people may be to join a small group, their ambition will come to a screeching halt when they discover that the bus they’re about to board is missing its driver. 

Small group leaders don’t just appear—they must be developed.

But developing small group leaders comes with a set of challenges. Beyond the obvious task of equipping individuals for this position is another hurdle you might have to clear—most people don’t want to lead small groups. And the reason they don’t want to lead is directly tied to the expectations they believe a small group leader needs to fulfill. Many people feel that leading a small group:

• Is categorially different than participating in a small group
• Requires significant biblical knowledge and theological training 
• Requires a lot of preparation time 
• Is an unending commitment
• Is a solo act 

Expectations of small group leaders may extend beyond this list, but these five make a sufficient point—there are many valid reasons why people don’t want to lead small groups. And these objections don’t necessarily mean that a person is less committed to discipleship. They’re simply considering if the role is a good fit (to which they should be commended).

Depending on how your small group ministry is structured, you might be able to lessen the objections that potential leaders might have. Maybe group leaders are provided with teaching curriculum to follow or maybe there’s a designated time for groups to break or disband.

It’s possible that you can convince people to lead small groups and that you can develop creative ways to limit the obstacles. But this approach will leave you wondering if these groups will be led with the appropriate amount of passion that comes when the right people are leading from the right positions. 

My parents taught me to go for gold. They weren’t necessarily thinking of an Olympic gold medal, but they encouraged me to always try my best in everything that I did. For them, and for me today, going for gold means trying my very best.

The concept of going for gold is one reason why I love watching the Olympics. I get excited when athletes from my country do well, but I’m also impressed by the incredible dedication of all Olympic athletes. They have made many sacrifices to get to the level necessary to compete at the Olympic level. They are committed to going for gold. 

I tried my best as a young hockey player. Some seasons were better than others, but one year I received my team’s “Most Valuable Player” award.

I tried my best as a seminary student and ended up winning my one and only gold medal – the Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence.

Of course, doing my best sometimes resulted in failure, or at least not meeting the expectations I had for myself.

Those of us with perfectionistic tendencies sometimes think that we need to be perfect or almost perfect in all that we do. That’s impossible and places an unbearable burden on us that will often lead to discouragement and a sense of defeat. What I have found more helpful is to think about achieving excellence, which I define as doing our best with the resources at our disposal. When I pursue excellence, I’m going for gold.

Several years ago, our family visited Barkerville, BC, the main town in the Cariboo Gold Rush during the 1860s. We even did some gold panning at the restored historic site and picked up some souvenir gold flakes. Just like other gold rushes, some people gave up everything they had to try to find gold. Their obsession was known as gold fever.

I would suggest that going for gold in life is ultimately not about gold fever; it’s about God fever. It’s giving up everything to follow God and His purposes for our lives.

The Apostle Paul had God fever. He chose to focus all his energies on running the race of life well, so that he would receive the prize, the gold medal if you will, that God awards to those who are faithful to Him (Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Timothy 4:6-8). He summed up his desire to please His Lord in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26: