As I met with a new group of guys on Tuesday morning and once again started on session one of the discipleship curriculum I’ve chosen to use, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Here we go again.”

This group of three guys in a sense replaces a discipleship group that I just finished connecting with in August and who have been with me for almost two years. I’ve given them what I believe they need to take the next step. Whether they like it or not, whether I like it or not, they don’t need me any more, and I do them no favours by continuing to meet with them on a weekly basis. It’s time to move on – sink or swim.

As disiplemakers, we always have time on our minds.

My Time: As the leader of the group, I recognize that I have committed my time. Time to review the weekly material that we will work through. Time to review the memory verses that we’ll engage with. Time to think about and pray for these guys that I believe God wants to do some amazing work in. Time to get up at 5:15am to be able to start our 6:00am gathering in downtown London. Time to call them between gatherings to check in, send them cards of encouragement, invite them over from time to time, etc.

Development Time: There are no quick roads to discipleship. It takes time. A couple of years in most cases, for someone to be at a point where they have embraced the important and life-giving habits in their walk with God. That they in essence have learned to “feed themselves” spiritually and are ready to venture out and take responsibility to build into the lives of others. This won’t happen in a weekend seminar or a message on Sunday – although these activities may create the momentum to desire something deeper. I recognize that over the next couple of years, this new group of guys will be encouraged one week and frustrated the next. They’ll be enamoured with who God is one week and mad at him the next. They’ll be ready to take on the world one week and question their faith the next. It’s all part of the journey that I will get to experience with them. And it won’t happen in a day, it takes time.

The Ending Time: I must always begin the journey in discipling others with the end in mind. There will come a day when I must move on, for all of our sakes. It would be very easy to simply stay with the same group of guys for decades and find a comfortable place to connect. Yet life isn’t about my comfort, it’s about the Kingdom of God. It has also been my experience that any group which meets for too long eventually loses its edge and becomes lethargic. In the process of discipleship one cannot always stay as the learner, you must become the teacher.

So as you begin your journey of building into the lives of others, remember, it’s all about TIME.

Blessings . . . Matthew