Discipleship and Lizards

This is the final post in the 5 part series on Discipleship and Small Creatures.

“Four things on earth are small,yet they are extremely wise: Proverbs 30:24

a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces. Proverbs 30:28

Like the three other creatures featured in this series of posts on discipleship – trying to imagine why lizards are a source of wisdom can be challenging.

However, the verse above does explain why we can find wisdom in the ordinary lizard. That’s because they can find their way in king’s palaces.

True discipleship does not limit the area or the type of people who need to be reached with the Gospel and be made into disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even kings (present day CEO’s, political leaders, celebrities and the like) need to be reached, trained and deployed in the kingdom of God.

What I love about the business of making disciples is that it chooses no man. Everyone deserves to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. But the fact is reaching kings is not a simple matter. For one, they live in palaces that are secured by moats (layers of secretaries and assistants) and sentinels (bodyguards and cronies).

So how does one get to these great men and women of influence. The answer: do the lizard. What on earth does that mean?

One reason lizards can get into palaces is because they are small. Small is the key to getting the big. Secondly, they have a simple service they provide and that is to munch on bothersome insects in your house. In short they serve a purpose while at the same time since they are small they require little attention or overhead.

The church that I pastor has several celebrities. As such I often hear the comment “I guess you have a lot of stars that’s why they can reach each other stars.”

In some ways that statement is true but in many ways it is also incorrect. Off the top of my head I know many of these celebrities who were not reached by other stars but by friends, relatives and you will not believe it when I say many of them are reached by make-up artists, dentists and are you ready for this – hair dressers.

Like the lizard these individuals come across as small, feeble, harmless creatures that are there to simply serve their needs. And like the lizard they go undetected against the radar screens that are set to spring the security measures against intruders.

The verse above not only holds true to royalty “likes” but even to real royalties. Today even the children of wealthy kings and princes in various parts of the world are being reached through nannies and household servants who go unnoticed. If one is willing to serve and be small in the eyes of men - they position themselves to be great disciple makers of kings and princes.

So go and do as the lizard and make disciples!

Discipleship and Locusts

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Proverbs 30:24

Proverbs 30:27
locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;

here is the 3rd installment of my 5 part series of things that are small but are extremely wise.

Locust is the Biblical word for the grasshopper, another creature that is not known for its wisdom. Grasshoppers belong to the family of insects and are not exactly known for being wise.

But the writer of Proverbs says we can learn from them. While they have no king or commander yet they advance together in ranks.

How you wish Christians could do what locusts can do. First of all they advance. They do not focus on the periphery and differences but rather consciously fix their eyes on devouring all that they see.

Discipleship means advancing and not getting stuck. Like the locust our job is to disciple everyone we meet and come into contact with. Needless to say there are times when the people we meet are not ready with the Gospel or even with moving forward as a disciple of Christ. It is in times like these that we need to advance forward to the next person without necessarily giving up on the other person that means we pray for them.

Secondly, locusts are wise because they not only advance but they do it together.

All too often Christians get entangled on differences. Some put too much emphasis on areas of theological differences. Most of the time these differences are more a question of focus rather than outright heresy or serious disagreement.

Like the wise locust we should instead look at the places of commonality and appreciate other Christians for their uniqueness. One common objective we should all have is what Jesus commanded all of us to do: “Go and make disciples…”

Finally, locusts are wise because though they don’t have a visible king they march in ranks making them very effective at what they do.

This is something we can learn from them. While our King Jesus is not visible we must align ourselves in local congregations that have godly leaders in order to be effective in the task of making disciples.

Working alone is not exactly the smartest thing to when it comes to disciple making. Marching together in ranks like locusts is far more effective.

see also: Prayer and Independence

Discipleship and Coneys

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Proverbs 30:24

coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; Proverbs 30:26

This is the third in a series of small things that are extremely wise. Of the 4 creatures listed in Proverbs 30 explaining the Coney seems to be the most challenging.

What could really be learned from them? Coney is an old English word for wild rabbits. And that makes it even harder to explain why they are extremely wise. Rabbits are not exactly known for their smarts rather for their cuteness.

But Solomon the author of the Proverb has observed something about this creature that made him conclude that they are deserving full status in this list of small yet extremely wise creatures.

He explains first of all that they have little power. Rabbits are often the prey of eagles, wolves and even snakes. What qualifies them in this list is the way they build their homes. They build them in the crags.

A crag is a steep or rugged cliff or rock face. Building in this kind of terrain requires wisdom. You may ask if they were so wise why won’t they build their homes in less challenging terrain. The answer is because they have little power.

Settling in open terrain makes them easier prey for their predators. Building in crags allows them to have safe dwellings that are hard to access. Needless to say that building on crags is not quite as easy or convenient. It is laborious and time consuming. But once built it becomes a safe refuge.

Here’s where discipleship relationship interfaces. Making disciples is much like building in the crags. They may be inaccessible, time consuming and labor intensive. But through little encounters with one moment at a time we can build men and women into disciples.

The kind that will not easily fall prey to the devil:
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1Peter 5:8b

Like the Coney we need to build wisely. In this way what we build are lives that will not be easily prone to the devil's attacks.

Discipleship and Ants

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer..... Proverbs 30:24-25

Ants are so tiny and frail and yet the Bible says they are extremely wise. The primary reason for their wisdom is because they store food in summer.

This morning I heard of a story of man who won an ipod video in a raffle. Realizing he did not have any need for it he sold it and took the money. Instead of saving the money he used it to upgrade his home entertainment system.

A few weeks later he was in need of money to pay bills and did not have any to do so. Why because instead of storing the money he used it.

In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. Proverbs 21:20

The man was obviously the later and not the former. Not wise but a fool. Which one are you?

Now here’s the discipleship is relationship interface. One of the wisest things we can do is to be good stewards of our finances and resources. Discipleship is taken to greater heights of effectiveness when we display a life of wisdom to people we encounter and not just do Bible studies. So be wise and store, don’t be a fool devouring all that you have. In doing so you will be an example, will gain credibility and be more effective in making disciples.

Discipleship and Small Creatures

It has been a while since I have posted in this blog site. You can see how busy things have been if you visit my Just Me site. But I’m ready to write now. My last series of posts was a thread on Discipleship and the Zoo. This is a short run series based on Proverbs 30 verses 24 to 28:

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces."

The verses above speak of wisdom. More importantly it speaks not just of wisdom but the verse says extreme wisdom. The Bible tells us to observe nature around us and hopefully as we pay attention we can learn a truth that can help us.

Successful ministry involves 3 things: wisdom, commitment and spirit (power). Sometimes we focus too much on commitment and power we end up doing things with very little wisdom.

Over the next 4 posts I will using the verses on to glean insights on how we can be extremely wise in our discipleship making endeavors. So watch out for the this short series on Discipleship and Small Creatures.

Discipleship and Snakes

(8th post on Zoo thread)

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Matthew 23:33

If the Lord Jesus encountered snakes there is no doubt that we will. What are snakes exactly? People who have been influenced by the largest snake of all, the serpent of old.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

The plan of the enemy has not changed. It starts with temptation. The simple act of planting a seed of doubt that questions the Word, Person and Character of God and if that does not work he switches to deception – “you will be like God”.

And when that still does not work – he uses enticement to make us the see the fruit he offers to be much more than what it really is. He presents it in such a way that it appears to be good as food, pleasing to the eye and profitable for gaining wisdom. Something that is good, pleasing and profitable and yet is out of God’s will.

Finally, like the true snake that he is, when all else fails he uses condemnation and accusation. He shouts “you are unworthy of your God and besides he is the cause of all your problems”.

Often he uses people to do his bidding. So the next time you encounter his pattern of attack in your own life or in the lives of those you are I discipleship with it is time to see what’s behind the snakes in front of you.

How does one fight back? By simply exposing the truth behind the temptation, deception, enticement, condemnation and accusation, which is why it is so important to read, know, love confess and believe God’s Word everyday of our lives. This is basic to discipleship and we need to teach those whom we disciple to do the same.

Secondly keep your eyes opened for possible snakes. One way to do that is to be as shrewd as them. To be shrewd simply means to know their ploy by being prudent with your ways while remaining innocent and pure.

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16

Discipleship and African Elephants

(7th post on Discipleship and Zoo thread)

Some weeks ago I wrote about Discipleship and Indian Elephants. I am writing yet another post on elephants – this time from Africa.

The German theologian, church planting/growth researcher and conference speaker Christian Schwarz wrote in his book Natural Church Development a true story about African elephants.

He wrote about a time when a breed of elephants in Africa were threatened with extinction. They were either being hunted down or their grazing grounds were being over logged they had no food to eat.

To solve the problem zoological technocrats conceived of a plan to save them. They gathered the remaining elephants and placed them in a reserve full of trees and ensured that they would be protected.

After several years the elephants began to thrive and give birth. As the population of elephants grew they began to eat all the vegetation in the reserve. The result was all the vegetation was exhausted and the elephants had no food to eat.

Slowly the elephants started to die of starvation. Only this time there were no longer trees. The simple lesson of this story is you cannot solve problems using short-term programs. These solutions are not sustainable.

Here is where discipleship relationship connects to this story. Programs run by churches are not sustainable. We need to train people to build a lasting relationship with God and with the body of Christ and not rely on programs. Relationships are the only things that last and that are sustainable.

See Also: Prayer and Muscles