Don’t Be a Discipleship Cul-De-Sac
As I’ve gone through the streets of Boston most streets seem to connect onto another street. The directions and how you get from place to place don’t always seem to make sense, but every street seems to lead somewhere else. In contrast, both of the houses I spent my childhood in were on a cul-de-sac. You might have called it something different, but a cul-de-sac is essentially just a dead-end road that would have a circle at the end to make turning around easier.
With a cul-de-sac the only cars that ever went down the road were those that either lived there or those visiting. You don’t go down a dead-end street to get somewhere else, as you can only end up going back to where you came from.
As a Christian, I wonder if you view your discipleship and growth in Christ as something that dead ends with you, or if you are just one of the stops along a path towards someone else? Here’s what I mean. When you hear a sermon, or read your Bible, or attend a Bible study, or even read a good book that challenges your faith, I think our first instinct is to say “what does this mean for me?” It’s a question of application. Based on what I am learning from God, how do I need to adjust my thinking, my heart, or my actions to align with what I have learned? These are great questions, and you should ask them!
The tragedy is when that knowledge or lesson ends with you. If you take what you have learned and do nothing more than apply it to yourself your growth in Christ has become a cul-de-sac. What if instead you were to extend what you have learned to others? Consider just a few verses:
Matthew 28:18–20 - And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
2 Timothy 2:2 - and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
1 Corinthians 11:1 - Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Time and time again Jesus tells his disciples to take what they have learned and teach it to others. The boldest might be 1 Corinthians 11:1 where you should be the one telling others to imitate your faith and your way of life, as you follow the person in front of you, and as each of you follows Christ.
As you grow as a disciple of Christ Jesus don’t view yourself as a dead-end for what you have learned. Instead my challenge to you is to consider who in your life you can disciple in the same way. When you do so you are being a conduit of God’s grace and discipleship to that person. Then when that person does the same thing, and the person after them, then God can bless each person’s faithfulness and cause generational impact that can extend to places you have never even imagined. You can be the one who takes God’s truth to a new generation of believers. Don’t be a discipleship cul-de-sac.
