And they *came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.
(Mark 2:3-4)
Four men are so committed to their paralyzed friend that they bring him to Jesus on a stretcher. They bypass the crowd by climbing on the roof and digging a hole to lower the man down in front of the Great Physician.
To what extremes would we go to help someone? These four men loved their buddy so much that they punched a huge hole in a person’s roof! And it was a team effort, not only in carrying their paralyzed friend to the Savior but in their faith that Jesus could heal him. Three key ingredients are seen in this instance that led to healing and salvation; faith, commitment, and team work. As disciplemakers, do we corporately believe that Jesus can change lives? Do our heads, hearts, and hands work together with confidence in the Messiah’s ability to heal people? Are we mutually committed to people and the process beyond expedience and comfort? Do we press through the many obstacles that litter the battle field of following Jesus for another pers
on’s sake? Are we part of a disciplemaking team that is dedicated to restoring someone to spiritual health? Do we leverage the synergy of TEAM for the sake of an individual or are we a “lone ranger disciplemaker?”Tips for developing a disciplemaking team;
· Avoid the “my man” syndrome
· Enlist others to pray for the man or woman you are discipling
· Enlist others to meet with the man or woman you are helping
· Mix it up and occasionally meet two on one
· Practice the advantages of “a discipleship community”
One summer while Jamie Fisher was helping in our ministry, he noticed we did not have “exclusive rights” on the person we were discipling. Instead, he saw the power of several people meeting one on one with a single person. He coined a new phrase which we now use to describe our team approach to helping a person follow Jesus; “Discipleship by the Village.” FJ57
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