The first and perhaps obvious conclusion from my thesis research was simply this: life transformation takes time, you cannot get around this. I wrote about the idea of time a few months back, and yet I believe it bears maintaining it in the forefront, if not for your sake then for mine.

Now before you role you eyes at me for stating the obvious, take stalk of your own learning experiences: how many seminars have you attended, at church or work, where the learning truly took hold and you changed? How many messages have you listened to that intrigued you and yet when the next week’s message came you hadn’t made any changes? How many times do you offer to go for coffee with a friend to try and help them solve a problem and you wonder why they don’t just make the changes you suggest?

The process of life change takes times, lots of time. The commitment to help someone begin the journey of discipleship is also long – one meeting won’t do it. A weekend seminar won’t make it happen.

I need to continually remind myself that everyone is on a journey, that many if not most lessons are hard fought as our own self-reliance, pride and ego get in the way of absorbing and implementing whatever life-change God has for us.

I catch myself often wanting those I am working with to just “get it,” to catch up to me in what I am learning, only to have one of the guys I’m with make a significant life change decision that I realize I have yet to fully grasp – maybe I need to catch up to them.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44-46)

How much time does it take for someone to be so enamored with the Kingdom of Heaven that they will do whatever it takes to be fully part of it? Oh I realize that many people have epiphanies during a service or at an event and they leave with a conviction that they are going to give their life to God, only to have life hit them in the face on Monday morning at work and it dwindles away. In no way do I want to question their experience, yet it takes time to build a foundation under that revelation for it to be life changing.

I am learning patience as I work with others. I am learning to enjoy watching the process. It is exciting when a light goes on and someone realizes the impact of a scripture verse, or makes a significant commitment to their marriage, or makes a hard decision at work that is truly kingdom inspired.

I know that I want to embrace the enjoyment of time. Jesus spent close to three years with his core disciples, day in and day out. Interestingly, when he left them, they didn’t think that they were ready, but he knew they were. Besides, he was leaving them with the Holy Spirit.

As you embrace the journey of discipleship, as you spend time with those you are leading, enjoy the journey, take the time, after all, God is still working on you.

The life of the leader is that of a learner – you don’t know everything and never will. One of the important aspects of leading well is to always have a teachable spirit. Once you think that you are fully competent, you are heading down a slippery slope. Yes, you are helping someone else become a disciple of Jesus and you will have more insight than those you are leading in many areas pertaining to discipleship, this is given. Yet you can never become complacent in what you know and stop stretching to know more, to gain wisdom.

“Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.”Proverbs 2:2-5 (NLT) You can’t beat Proverbs for talking straight!

I personally have worked through the same curriculum with different guys I have been journeying with about 8 times in the past 8 years. I have reviewed the same lessons, talked about the same scripture memory verses, read the same articles. And yet each week before I bring the guys together, I need to sit down, reflect on the material again, and ask God to reveal to me more, to determine what I still do not know and how this material relates to these guys specifically. I must ensure that I bring a posture of teachability. However, beyond this, I can’t simply rely on this material, I need to go beyond, and model what it means to be a lifelong learner. I need to be memorizing new scriptures, reflecting on new passages, reading new books – it can never end.

Now I fully recognize that we each learn in different ways. And you need to find the way that you learn best and keep it up, but never stop. One phrase I often use with the guys I’m working with is, “You can’t live on Sunday School information forever, there is more to know.”

I have personally enjoyed formal education as a way that I learn well. In this light, I recently completed a Doctor of Ministry degree from Tyndale Seminary in Toronto. “Transformative Journeys: An 8-Month Engagement of Integrated Discipleship Through Service Learning” was the thesis title. Yeah, not too exciting, and it won’t be on the best-sellers list. However there were 7 conclusions that I drew from this research that are very applicable to our desire to see others become disciples of Jesus.

Over the next months, I will share them with you. I trust that they will add to your knowledge base.

One of the reasons I started this BLOG last fall was not so much to provide insight to others but to help me on my learning journey. For me, there is something about having to articulate my thoughts that make them stick. So as I let you into the heart of my thesis, it is my prayer that you will grow, but know that I am learning right alongside you.

For the Kingdom . . . Matthew