via TJC
“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.“
—2 Timothy 2:2 ESV
“Now how many generations of disciples are in this verse?” my friend asked.
“Uhhh…” I needed a minute to calculate. We were at Waffle House, and my mind was on the incoming hashbrowns.
This friend of mine was an experienced disciple-maker, a Kingdom Man in the truest sense of the term. I respected him greatly—after all, he had recently agreed to disciple me.
“Say the verse one more time?” I requested.
“Sure,” and this time, he recited it slowly with more emphasis and used four condiments on our table to represent each generation & drive the point home:
“And what YOU…” He took the salt shaker and placed it in the center of the table…
“..have heard from ME…” Then, he took the pepper placing it in front of the salt.
“…in the presence of MANY WITNESSES…” He held the salt shaker up again before placing it back down to signify the same generation as “YOU.”
“…entrust to FAITHFUL MEN…” Then, came the Splenda—he put it behind the salt.
“…who will be able to teach OTHERS also.” Last but not least, the ketchup, placed behind the Splenda.
“Ah—four generations!” I exclaimed after I finally got it.
“Yes! You see, this verse is a blueprint from God. He wants you to find your own Timothy to teach the Word of God. And afterwards, you ought to encourage Tim to find his OWN Tim! And so on & so forth.”
This simple lesson, explained to me using four condiments, changed my entire understanding of disciple-making. The point isn’t just to disciple someone—it’s to enable him to disciple into the next guy, creating a reproductive, generational ministry.
Daily Battle Order:
Are you discipling someone right now? (If you are a Kingdom Man, your focus should certainly be in this direction throughout your entire life!) If so, what are you doing to ensure he is equipped to disciple his own man? Are you encouraging him in that direction? If not, do so today! Ask him about his efforts to do regularly!
No Christianease here!