Simply Disciple
My favorite things in life are discovering how a simple truth, an observation of nature or physics, applies to some other problem I'm trying to solve. In nature, nothing remains that is not used. Everything is about efficiency and purpose. I think we love that in our technologies too. We like to have things that are simple: no stylus, no buttons, no wires on our phones. It’s an innate truth we gravitate toward that I try to find in everything I do.
We built that love of and belief in the power of simplicity into Water4’s NUMA piped water, our manual drilling system, and our Access 1.2 hand pump. All efficient, modular, cost effective, and simple to operate but with a big impact.
We take our “simple is beautiful” thinking everywhere and create a discipleship model that is a huge but “back to the basics” philosophical innovation. Here’s how it works as a disciplemaker: pray for God to show you the right person/people, share a relevant passage of scripture, have them restate it in their own words, have the individual/group make application to the scripture, have the individuals make a commitment to apply that scripture and share it with someone that very week.
It’s like the Eames Lounge chair…so comfortable, so simple, no manual needed.
It requires no formal training and businesses on mission and their employees should/can especially do this with ease. At Water4, we train a desiring business in this simple process and equip them to practice it each work day or week as a company. As they practice this, their employees are equipped to share weekly stories with clients as they interact with them. They text message new passages, follow up in person for more depth and relationship building, and create intentional employee margin for their discipleship and discipling of others.
We have a global support team on the texting platform WhatsApp, send out weekly scripture suggestions, and train companies to ensure they maximize their desired impact. The process is simple, the material is easily found, the accountability and most beautifully the pressure is on the person hearing, not the person sharing. The homework is for the hearer to try to understand the story more by praying, listening, observing and talking about it with their family, friends, and community.
This is exactly what is practiced in Luke 10 when Jesus sends out the 72…with no resources whatsoever…and the result was Jesus’ statement that he “saw Satan fall”. Isn’t that what we’re all after? Evil to depart and good to reign? It wasn’t apologetics, it wasn’t some Bible tract, it was sharing stories, making relationships, and making space for the Holy Spirit to do the work as they, the novices, acted as midwives for spiritual birth.
Pray, Read, Restate, Apply, Promise. Simple is Sophisticated. Simply Disciple.
Matt