Transcription
Simple, effective, and reproducible allows things to be instinctive and habitual. That's good. And I want to, I want that to happen in my life. I also want to be a part of a culture that's fostering that rather than complex and confusing.
When we're trying to make disciples, if we want to equip and release the priesthood, and we want everybody out there getting the work done, making disciples, they're on mission. Uh, if if discipleship is going to be the core mission of every person's life in our church, then dude, if it's not simple, effective, and reproducible, it's just not going to happen.
Okay. Jason Ishmamail, disciple maker extraordinaire.
Sorry, I meant to get you, Pastor.
Yeah, you got it.
You got to miss them.
I don't know what you're talking about, dude. We're, we're just, you're killing it.
Eating and breathing disciple making.
Exactly. That's why we're here. We're on the Disciplemakers podcast, Jace.
Lord, help us. Please help. We have made it. Help us, please. Father, we need you. We have made it.
Um, anyway, guys, uh, welcome back. This is, we are in the middle of a series on the 10 core discipleship principles. And uh, this one is actually going to be a twofer.
Yeah. Two for one special.
Two for one special, RB style. Save you some time.
I'll, yeah, we'll save you some time. You don't, I mean, who wants to listen to 10 episodes when you can do it in nine?
Wow. Efficiency.
Efficiency. So the, so we're going to kind of block it. But at the very beginning here, here's what I want to do. I do want to go ahead and say both principles so they know what they're going to get, so they listen all the way through.
Oh, absolutely. That's as good of a hook as I've ever heard.
So principle number eight out of the 10 is you've got to have simple, effective, and reproducible tools. Simple, effective, reproducible tools. And so in the first part of the episode, we're going to go into those and and talk through those. I'll also throw out a few that you can look up and and study. We've also got teams that can help you, train you, help train you on those tools as well if you want. Uh, but we'll just kind of give a list of hey, what are some great tools uh that are out there that are helping disciples make disciples?
And then principle number nine is you've got to be laser focused. I mean, dialed in on making disciples who make disciples. And uh, and so we're going to talk about what that laser focus actually looks like practically and uh give you some examples so that hopefully you can really inject that into the system of your church.
But let's start at simple, effective, reproducible. Talk to me, Jace, why you think, you know, it's so important that this is one of the 10.
I mean, honestly, uh, when Bobby and I kind of researched through what some of these principles were and practices, um, you know, we, we found more than 10 things that we could have really put in here, but simple, effective, reproducible. Why do you think that's so important to creating a discipleship culture to really seeing disciples who make disciples who make disciples? What do you think about that?
Yeah, Josh, when you are uncertain about where you're going, if you're driving your car, do you press the gas or do you press the brakes?
The gas.
I'm, guys, we're lost. We're lost. Hammer down, baby. Accelerating wildly and you're, who knows and where you just, uh, I mean to me that sounds fun.
Most sane people when they are confused stand on the brakes.
Yeah. When there is uncertainty we stop.
Yes. Now if you are confident about where you're going and nobody gets in their car on their way to work or school and in bewilderment tries to figure out what route they're going to take. You just, you just go.
Uh, this is something that is repeated again and again and again and again. I mean, I've had times where I accidentally started driving to work even though I wasn't intending to drive to work because I just get in my car and I drive to that same spot every single time. I've, I've pulled the wrong way out of my house multiple times because it's the, it's the way I go almost every time. Uh, and then if I'm going in an opposite direction, sometimes I'll just,
Yeah. You go the same way. Simple, effective, and reproducible allows things to be instinctive and habitual. That's good. And I want to, I want that to happen in my life. I also want to be a part of a culture that's fostering that rather than complex and confusing.
Yeah. Uh, this is again a lower the bar type of thing. Uh, a lower the bar of entry. I think we, we hinted at an illustration. I've heard people say this before. You're digging a hole. I, you don't, you don't need an excavator. That's not where you start. You start with a shovel. A shovel is going to be a pretty effective tool.
Well, it depends on how big the hole is. I mean, if you're, uh, if you're going to dig a bigger hole, might take you a little longer.
That's true.
Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. And, and honestly, you know, if it's just about if, if a, if we're on this podcast, we're only talking about um making one disciple and that's it and it stops there. Simple, effective, reproducible probably isn't very important. Okay? You can use whatever complicated tools you need to to get one. But if we want disciples who make disciples who make disciples who make disciples, that's where simple, effective, and reproducible has got to be at the core.
When we're selecting a toolbox and a toolkit, man, I, I tell people all the time, if my 12-year-old son can't do it or my 80-year-old grandma can't do it, it's too complicated. Like, you know, it's the illustration you kind of hinted at. We've used it multiple times, but I mean, it doesn't have to be a shovel or an excavator. We could use it with anything. Like if you're going to hand somebody a tool and they're not used to any tools at all at all. I mean a screwdriver and a hammer and a shovel. Now those are things anyone could pick up and with literally one demonstration they know exactly what to do. But you put them in a machine with 57 levers, dude. They're, they're going to need not only like a 3-second training. They're going to need extensive training to make sure they don't kill somebody with that. And so the same is true, man, with when we're trying to make disciples. If we want to, going back to a previous principle, if we want to equip and release the priesthood and we want everybody out there getting the work done, making disciples, they're on mission, uh, if if discipleship is going to be the core mission of every person's life in our church and our church as a whole, then dude, if it's not simple, effective, and reproducible, it's just not going to happen, right?
And so we've got a, honestly I want to encourage all of, all of you listening out there who are church leaders take a look at your toolkit. You may not even know you have a toolkit. You do though, like what are you regularly using? What programs do you have? What, what uh curriculum do you use? Right? We, we'll go back to scriptures the curriculum, but but really what curriculum do you use? What tools are you training people on? And can other people go out and do it?
Um, I remember one time and I feel so bad for this now, but I remember one time I was, it was maybe 10 years ago, I had a guy come visit us in India. Um, he sat me down and he really wanted to learn how to preach. Okay. And he sat me down and he said, "Josh, could you just take me through like how you, like how you preach? Like what, what how do you preach the way that you preach?" And the truth is, I didn't really have a system. I didn't have a simple reproducible pattern that I could take him through. And I looked at him and I said, I, I literally I was like a deer in headlights, bro. I didn't know what to share with him. Seriously, I was just like, I could, I go, I go, well, I, I could teach you like how I was taught in Bible college how to prepare a sermon. And he said, "No, is that how you currently prepare a sermon?" And I said, "No, no, you sure don't." And he said, "Well, I want to, I want to learn how to preach the way that you do." And it was a very honor, I mean, it was a beautifully honoring thing, but dude, I have, I had nothing. And I even said, "I don't, I, I don't know." Like, and he's like, "Well, like he kind of sat there like, "Okay, thanks a lot for nothing." You know, right? And it's just a simple stupid example of no matter what it is, preaching, sharing the gospel, praying, uh, making a disciple, if we don't have a simple pathway that people can follow, we don't have step by step to get somewhere, right? Um, then people are not going to repeat it. They're not going to be able to do it, right? And so we've got to have a system in place like that.
You were for a while, Jason, uh, uh a few moon, a few moons ago um on staff at Community Christian Church in Chicago with a, with a good friend of ours, Dave Ferguson. Um, and they, they talk through what it looks like the whole you do, I watch thing, right? Uh, or I do, you watch. Um, walk us through that because honestly, I think that um no matter what tool it is, I think that pathway and paradigm actually can help us train people to pretty much do anything.
Yeah. Um, and so what, what is that? We call it in India um the Timothy box. It's not original to community there. It's been out there for a long time. Some people call it mall, model, assist, watch, leave or launch. Uh, um, we call it the Timothy box. We, we take them through what how what it means to launch out of Timothy. But guide us through that because I think simple, effective, reproducible. It can help people train anybody to pretty much do anything.
Yeah. I've heard apprenticeship pathway.
Yeah. And so, uh, this is this begins with I do, you watch.
I'll be glad to watch.
Absolutely. Enjoy.
We get stuck here a lot actually. We get stuck here a lot. There's a lot of I do, you watch.
I, well, isn't that all it should be, though?
Oh, boy. I get to do it, you get to watch. The antithesis of everything we talked about. This is the anti-disciplemaking principle.
The anti-disciplemaking podcast. That's the new name of the episodes.
Well, then setting a clear example of what not to do. The non-disciple makeup can be helpful and useful. Uh, perhaps Josh, the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others. Don't do it the way he does it. This is, look at Josh. Anything you see him doing, you probably want to do the opposite.
All right. You do. I do. You watch.
Yep. I do. You help. That's the next step. You're not just watching. Now you're getting your hands dirty. Uh, you help. And the beauty in this step is that uh you are, you are granting this person some responsibility, but you're not just washing your hands of them. You're not dropping something on them. Um, you're and in that stage you're the still the primary driver.
Yeah. And so there's, there's a benefit to while you grant responsibility uh this person is not going to have something blow up in their face to the extent that they say I'm never doing this ever again.
Right? Uh, and and how many folks at the launching phases of whatever endeavor they're setting out to do stop at the beginning when they're not proficient yet say boy I could, this is too important for me to do, I'll mess it up.
So I do you watch, I do you help, and then there, there's a turn.
You do I help.
Yeah. I haven't abandoned you. I, I'm still there. I'm still supporting you. Uh, still making sure that uh, hey I can help you with this or hey you got questions. I'm right here. But you can sense a, a passing of the baton and some shifting of the responsibility because it's not I do now. Now it's you do.
You do. I help.
Yeah. You continue to back away.
Fourth stage, you do I watch.
Yeah. And now a lot of times I've heard model stop here. Uh, that's not what we've been called to do. This is being a disciple and and making disciples.
Making disciples. So there has to be another step. Uh, because now I, the one who initiated all of this. Uh, I do you watch, I do, you help, you do, I, I help, you do, I watch. Now you do, someone else watches, and you would begin the apprenticeship pathway with that person.
That's good, bro. And and that what I love about that, man, is that that is a simple pathway that no matter what tool you're using, um, if it's simple, effective, and reproducible, then you take somebody through that pathway, they're going to be able to go do it over and over and over again. And it doesn't matter what skill you're trying to train. It doesn't matter what tool you're trying to train somebody in. You show them how to do it. You have them practice it basically.
Yep. And you're, you're modeling it for them first. Then you're, they're assisting you, then you're assisting them.
Yep. And then you're watching to make sure things are going well, which is beautiful. It's great. It's not rocket surgery, bro.
No, it's not at all. It's not rocket surgery. It's not the surgery on rockets. Elon, you don't have to be, you don't have to be Elon Trump. You don't have to be a rocket surgeon.
That's good. I love that. Um, and so, uh, guys, listen, for those of you watching, you know, um, I want to, I want to throw out a few tools that you can look up and then we're going to get to that ninth principle in just a, in just a couple minutes. But lasers, sharks with lasers principles. Um, and so, uh, but some tools like, so this, this apprenticeship pathway, Timothy Box, MAWL, model assist watch leave, um, the it's I do you watch, I do you help, you do I help, you do I watch, and then you do and somebody else watches and and that will continue to help produce disciples who make disciples and it's a simple effective reproducible pathway that you can keep doing over and over and over again.
Yeah. Um, now sometimes that gets sped up and and I will say that like, uh, for example, um, I, I took a buddy of mine out on an evangelistic prayer walk uh to, to show it was more to model, but in all reality, um, it was really me modeling for him and him helping me and him seeing how it's done. And honestly after about an hour and a half of doing it, it, it doesn't mean that this has to be like a, like a six-month journey through that box. Now, some, some skills may require longer, but some simple ones, man, like I could sit down with you right now and if I showed you a gospel tool and I showed it to you, you watched, okay? And then you drew it two or three times and practiced it with me, you'd be good to go do it by yourself. It, it, it would take 15 minutes. Right now, there's other things where if you're releasing it, the more responsibility you're releasing of leadership, probably the longer that box takes to go through. Would you agree on that?
Um, and so like if I'm, now if I'm leading a small group of people, well, maybe they sit with me for a while and they're in several sessions and then they're helping with several sessions and then they're leading several sessions and then I launch them out to go ahead and lead their own, right? Um, but if the, the more simple the tool and the more quickly reproducible the tool is, the faster that that pathway speeds up. Uh, so I just wanted to throw that out there. The, the, the evangelist at Prayerwalk. I took a buddy out like I mentioned a few minutes ago and within an hour and a half or so he was able to, he, he figured out what it looks like. He was able to go do it and the next time he didn't need me, you know, um, which was fine. Uh, but let me throw some out there. So that's one, prayer walking looking for people of peace. That's an incredible simple reproducible tool that anyone can do at any time in order to go find people that are far from God. We've mentioned on a previous episode uh the 15-second testimony. Great simple reproducible tool. We even gave ours a couple episodes ago. Y um, the three circles gospel tool. Incredible gospel presentation. Uh, there's one called the two kingdoms. That's also a great one for people that have a little bit maybe from a Mormon background or or even an Islamic background. Like the two kingdoms works incredible. It's a great gospel tool. Um, there's one called Jesus at the door. That's another really good one. Uh, just talking about Jesus knocking on their heart and what it looks like to open up to him. Um, there is uh, like discovery Bible study. We talked about that in the principle where uh scripture is the curriculum. That is an incredibly simple reproducible tool.
Yep. We use one that comes from you guys um based on discovery Bible study uh and a set of scriptures uh where you line up seven commands from Jesus, commands of Christ and and it's beautiful because if you, I know a lot of folks that would say hey like you got me convinced I'm in, like I want to do this. Um, but the thing that keeps me from doing this is I, I just don't know what to say. Uh, or I'm fearful that I might say the wrong things or miss something. Uh, so perhaps I might make an incomplete disciple or put blind spots spiritually in other people and and I don't want to make those kinds of mistakes.
Yeah. Uh, and so this is one of those things that I love where you got uh essentially seven, seven topics, seven commands from Christ and and you go through each of them. And what's so funny is that this doesn't necessarily have to be seven conversations. And you know the first one, uh, believe and repent. If I've got somebody that is not to believe or repent, like we probably don't need to be talking about baptism or the Lord's supper or or or giving. Let's stick there a little bit. We're going to, we're going to linger a little bit longer. But it gives you a pathway to follow where man if you, if you walk this pathway you're actually going to, you're going to get pretty far down the road with somebody, uh, the seven commands of Christ and DBS studies.
Yeah. Yeah. That's really good. And so I would just encourage you guys think about what tools you're using. Are they reproducible? Are they simple? Are they effective? Are they bearing fruit in people's lives? I mean, you could have a good tool and if it's not bearing any fruit, like try another tool, you know, or do it a hundred more times because sometimes it takes time to, to, to sharpen it and make sure that you're using it well. Um, okay. Let's, anything, well, before I move on, anything else on simple, effective, reproducible that we should jump into?
Yeah, I, I, I do think that we need to remember that this is not just reproducing skills in others.
Yeah. And again, like there are good things that we can do uh that are useful to the kingdom. Um, but they're, they're, they're not the thing. Uh, and this is going to segue into laser focus, but because I, I think these things are related. Uh, because if I lose laser focus, I, I'm, I might think that one of my primary jobs as a disciplemaker who happens to preach for a living is to make more preachers. And I do intend and hope to and and toil toward raising up other people. I just like Jesus said, do the same things I've been doing and even greater things than these. I, I hope to raise up people that are actually more effective than me. I hope that my sons and my spiritual sons uh actually carry the mission farther and more effectively than me.
Impossible.
Yeah. Not even. That's preposterous.
Better than you. No way. What a tragic view of people, right? If you think I'm the best and everything after me will, no one will be as good at this as me. Man, I hope they are so much more effective than me in every possible way. And and so what ultimately though we are, we are asking the Lord to do is multiply his anointing. Uh, we are asking for him to open his hand of blessing to another person. Uh, and what I find so beautiful about this is as he's blessing the people that I am in proximity with. Um, I do get
To, I do get to experience some of that from them. I know a young guy right now that, uh, man, just can't wait for the next thing that the Lord wants him to do. Uh, I, I don't know if I've ever met a more hungry disciple of Jesus than this young man. He's unbelievably hungry. That's great, man. And he affects me. He's much younger than I am. Uh, and he doesn't know nearly as much scripture or have as much experience as I do. Who cares? That doesn't mean that the, the things that God is doing in and through him, man, I am benefiting from them even as I pour into him.
Beautiful stuff.
That's beautiful, man. So, so good. Yeah. Um, I think, I think to, to kind of, you know, put a pin in this section of it. Um, for, for simple, effective, reproducible, um, just I want you guys to listen and just to think about number one: do you even have a toolbox like that is clear where people can dip into it and, and do what you're asking them to do? Because a lot of churches, realistically, they don't have many tools that they're helping train their people in or equip them in. And it's really important to have a toolbox. So if you don't have one, build one. Like, uh, look at good tools on, uh, what are some prayer tools you can help your people learn how to pray with? What are some good gospel tools that, that they can use to, uh, share the gospel? What are some good discipleship tools that, that they can use in order to make some good disciples? Um, and so forth and so on. And so I think that's going to be really key there.
Um, but moving on into principle number nine. Okay. So simple, effective, reproducible tools. Principle eight. Principle nine, um, is laser focus, right? Um, the best discipleship churches and the best disciplemakers and the best discipleship movements across the world, man, they have, they have zeroed in, put the blinders on. We are going to be about discipleship, and that will be the laser focus of our lives, of our ministry, of our church. That is what we do. Um, which is a beautiful thing.
Um, I think that the danger sometimes is we get so distracted, you know what I mean? Like, it, it's, it's not, it doesn't, we lose sight of the main thing, right? What does it look like, do you think, man, to, to really just, just zero in, laser focus on, on Jesus's mission that he's given us?
Oh, you have to realize that this hasn't been anything other than discipleship for 2,000 years.
Yeah, that's what it's been.
Yeah, it isn't another thing. That's what it's been. Yeah. So, here we are in an, in an, in a time where I believe that God is calling us back to the core and primitive mission of the church. And I'm, and the, the building blocks for this have been coming for a while. I, I remember 20 years ago, uh, there was this, uh, at least in my context, there was this very strong and growing interest in the early church. Hey, how do the early church do things? We want to pay attention to the early church writings. Let's pay attention not just to the book of Acts but even the first couple of generations of the church, the apostolic fathers and, uh, and the apologists. Uh, what were they saying in writing, uh, in the first couple of hundred years? Because I think we can learn a lot from their perspective. I think that has grown to be, uh, some degree of restoration, continued restoration for the primitive mission, the core mission. Uh, that hasn't been anything other than what Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:20. It literally has not been another thing. So I, I, I have had to, as a leader, um, repent of my desire to be fresh or at least think I'm fresh and come up with new ideas, new innovations. Uh, Jesus does not need my innovation, uh, in his mission.
Yeah. In the way that he designed for his kingdom to advance. I'm not coming to him saying, "Jesus, discipleship kind of, kind of had its day, right? Might have been really good. Don't need to do that anymore. Might have been really good. Jesus, I don't know if you're aware of the internet, but there's a new thing. Like here's a new way." You have heard of the Graham Jesus.
So what happens when, when you, when you embrace the familiar, when you embrace, uh, what is really orthodox? Yeah. You start to shift what's powerful about the faith. Not as I came up with a new insight that I'd never had before. Because no matter how brilliant you are, you are going to, uh, get to the point where to find fresh and new ideas, you got to be pretty darn far on to the fringe. Uh, I am so grateful that the truth of the gospel, that the mission commanded by Jesus is as fresh and alive as the day he commanded it.
Yeah. Amen, man. The day he commanded it. And I want to be a part of the alive thing. Yeah. And that, that's where it's at. Amen, bro. I love that. Yeah. Our, uh, uh, let me share what, what that looks like for our team in India. So early on, and we kind of, we kind of stumbled into this because we, you know, our movement was, was, was kind of birthed out of this desire to see what God was doing in places like China happen in India. So like, I call my gateway drug to movement T4T by Ying Kai. Okay, that's my gateway drug to get into it all. Um, and, uh, but what, what ended up happening with that was, um, he in his book, him and Steve Smith talk about how Ying laser focused, like that was one of the principles. They don't call it this. Uh, but that's, that's really what happened. He decided to quit doing everything else except for two things. And basically what he said was, "We are going to equip, um, when we find believers, we're going to equip them on how to share their faith, make disciples who multiply. When we find lost people, we're going to share the gospel with them, and that's it." Okay? I mean, simple yet so profound, like that is the core mission, right? So in India, we, we took what we took that and we kind of put it into a phrase that we would say over and over and over again, and it became the thing that spread throughout our movement as a core piece of our DNA. And this is what still we say today. Um, which is crazy cuz if you, I don't know why, but South Asians love their banners, man. They'll put banners behind everything. Like when they're doing a training, they love their banner. It, it could be in the middle of a jungle in India, bro, and they'll be at a hut, but they've got a banner. They got a banner printed out. Some of them are even handwritten, but there's a banner. And on every banner, bro, it says this. And, and this is how we succinctly say it. We are going to train the saved and save the lost. That's it. And we will not do anything else. So all of our time, energy, and efforts are either training saved people on how to be disciples who make disciples, share their faith, lead house churches, whatever. We're going to equip them, train them, and release them, or we're going to go after the lost and the broken and the hurting, bring them to Jesus. Then the moment they become Christians, they go, so it's like a, it's like a cycle. Train the saved, save the lost. When they're saved, they get trained, and so forth and so on. And it's just a cycle. So they say, our guys will say it all the time. Train the saved, save the lost. Train the saved to save the lost. And that's how laser focus has played out in our movement is that if it's anything else, um, there's a lot of other people and ministries out there that can do it. For us, we're going to laser in on training the saved, saving the lost, being disciples who make disciples, and, and spreading the kingdom.
Yep. Amen. Yep. It's, uh, there's a lot of good things to do. There's a lot of good things. I, I think that, uh, and we see it various times, uh, in American history and now across the globe as well, uh, where many people have said, "Hey, we got to address healthcare issues in, in, in the place where we live. We got to build hospitals, uh, we've got to increase the, the quality and the length of, of people's lives, uh, in this place." And so, man, how many, how many places you go and, and you're going to find a hospital, uh, named St. Francis or all over the place. Uh, man, especially among Catholics, uh, so many of the big denominations, they've invested money in those things. We're not saying those are bad things to do. Not at all. In fact, I, I have a conviction that if you are in that vein already, uh, and that might be, "Hey, I'm building hospitals," or, "Hey, I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm feeding the hungry. Hey, I'm, I'm building shelters." And I am doing whatever I can to address poverty and childhood poverty or, or addiction cycles. Um, those are all incredible things. Even in the church, uh, there's all these ministries that exist within the church. Uh, and we're not saying to our kids' ministry, "Time to shut down shop, guys. We're simplifying and you've been wasting time, right?"
Not a chance.
Yeah, I am convinced that the ministries that are in and around the church, the ministries in church, the parachurch ministries that are connected to churches, that almost, if not all of those ministries can be purposed for that very thing.
Yeah, absolutely. That very, and that's, and I've heard you say that. I've even on this series even said it like I've heard you say, "What does it look like to hijack every ministry for the sake of discipleship?" And so that's 100% true. Can, can we have a doctor in a Christian hospital who's leveraging their practice for the sake of making disciples? I know a couple of them actually. Absolutely. And they can, abs 100%. Can a, a, a, a person leading an orphanage in a difficult area leverage that orphanage for the sake of discipleship? Absolutely. Um, we just have to make sure that we are laser focusing on the things that Jesus has really called us to. But like you said, it doesn't mean we don't do those other things. Um, but can we leverage them for the sake of the, the mission that Jesus has given us? Man, I think about the broad picture here because we're making a bet that making disciples is actually going to make a difference in all of those things.
Absolutely, man. I have a, I have a mentor who, uh, still pours into my life, uh, that I'm so grateful for, a guy named Greg Johnson, who was, uh, raised in Ethiopia and lived, uh, his ministry career mostly in Kenya all his life. And one of the things that he said to me, he was talking with, with another missionary. It was just kind of privileged to hear the two of these guys talk in shop, uh, that had both been missionaries for 40 or 50 years. And they said, "We, we believe that, um, that, that we shouldn't have any orphans. Like we don't want any orphans in, in, in our towns. We want to make sure that every kid has a home." Um, he said, "But in, in the context that we've been in, we, we can't build enough orphanages, uh, we literally cannot build enough of them. But what if we were fostering a society that was not as broken?" Yeah. They, so they have to take a step back and begin to say, "Man, we actually believe that the core mission of the church is eventually going to lead to a better, healthier community where, where an orphanage isn't even needed anymore."
Exactly.
Absolutely. Yeah. What a beautiful thing. And that's the, and that when we play it out, that is the outcome of real discipleship and real transformation. It's, it's if we can make enough disciples who are looking and loving and acting like Jesus, then that means families get restored. That means there's less brokenness and less, uh, difficulty and pain, um, there, there are less people where, uh, there's less need for things like orphanages, and because those are, those are really, I mean, there are real reasons why, uh, kids are orphaned that is not, that doesn't have to do necessarily with like somebody just like giving their kid away, but, but, uh, but a lot of times across the world, it is, it is because of a lot of broken things that are taking place, and the more we can get the love and the power and the transformative work of Christ into society and into culture, it will lead to, uh, those things potentially not even being needed anymore, which is a beautiful thing to think about.
That's great. It sounds, uh, like you're describing the kingdom of God. The kingdom coming. When the kingdom comes, yeah, heaven begins to come to earth, right? I mean, that's what we pray for. That's what Jesus asked us to pray for.
Yep. Uh, may your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Yeah. Beautiful thing, man. I think that is, uh, a worthy thing to give the rest of one's life to. Yeah. And I cannot think of anything that is a better and more impactful way for a person to spend their, spend their breath and their days than in the service of, of that king and his mission.
Yeah. Beautiful, man. That's so good. Um, I want to, I, I've used this actually many, many episodes ago, but it, it fits with exactly what we're talking about. So, let me, many, many episodes ago. Many, many ago. So, but I do want to, I do want to end with it because I think it's a good illustration on this of, of this just laser focus, right? Um, uh, several years ago, I was, um, I, I love to play video games with my kids.
Yep. The truth. Eat them bad.
The truth is I love to play video games period. But for a grown man to say this out loud, it sounds a whole lot better if I say with my kids. So I was playing a video game, not with my kids. Just, just me. And, uh, you were practicing for those times that you would, you would play.
Exactly. I was practicing to destroy them. Yes. When kids win against me, when my boys win against me, they have earned it. I promise. Um, and so there was one game though, there's no, it doesn't matter what it was or what game it was, but the whole point of it, what you're playing Mortal Kombat or something, you can't say it out loud. I can't say the name.
Okay, got it. The name is unspeakable. Probably wasn't Mario Kart then.
Uh, it was not Mario Kart. But, uh, the whole point of the game though, um, like the goal at the end was to climb a mountain and kill a dragon, slay a dragon. And the whole, the, the whole idea is you could do it at the beginning, like you could climb the dragon. Your character was not strong enough to do anything. You'd be destroyed. So you had to do all these side quests in order to build up your character, get better armor, get, get better, uh, weapons so that you could slay the dragon.
Exactly. So, so tons of side quests. Here's the problem though. The side quests were unlimited. They, like, they continued to spawn all over the map, and you could keep doing them. It was a massive world, and you could get involved in all sorts of side lines and side quests and side stories and, and honestly, here's the truth of it, reality. I could still be playing that game 10 years later and never climb the mountain and kill the dragon.
Wow. Like there's so much stuff to do. Like I could still be playing it, and I'd still be having fun with it. It'd be fine. Um, why am I telling you this story? Um, the temptation and what Satan loves to do is to get us distracted with side stories and side quests where we never accomplish the one thing that Jesus has really called us to do. Yeah. And that's the danger. The side quests aren't bad. Those things actually made my character better. They, they, they helped the virtual world that I was in. They, they gave me better armor and better equipment and all sorts of beautiful things. A lot of times for the Christian leader, man, it's not a decision between good and bad. It's really between good and what's best, right? And so often Satan distracts us with side stories and side quests or shadow missions that really aren't tied to the core mission God's given us. And we have to be careful. Yeah. Because some of those side quests, although they could be good, the enemy could use them to keep us away from the laser focused core mission that he's given us. And so the side quests again are not bad things, but how could we leverage them to help us accomplish the main thing and to make sure that we're doing that with all of our hearts.
Amen to that.
Yep. Amen to that. I agree. Come on, somebody. That's right. That's right. That's what we got to end this with. Come on, somebody. Go to black. Perfect. Well, thank you, Jace. Appreciate you. Thank you for, uh, watching and/or listening to this episode on the Disciplemakers podcast. If you were watching, I hope you were listening.
Yeah. Well, if you were watching, if you watched this on mute, then that would be funny though, if you watched it on mute or potentially backwards would be even funnier. So, fair enough. Uh, but, uh, guys, listen, we love you. We're grateful for you. Check us out at discipleship.org. We've got tons of great resources, uh, and we would absolutely love, love, love to see you at one of our upcoming events. And so check out which ones those are going to be on discipleship.org, and we would love to meet you there. But until next time, uh, let's just give it all we have, guys, to get simple, effective, reproducible tools that can go out there and to stay laser focused on the mission that he's given us. [Music]