E03 The Duckling Principle
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E03 The Duckling Principle
This lesson was inspired by our precious and very experienced friend Curtis Sergeant.
Watch his training videos.
I’m passionate about Christians who want to bring their unbelieving friends to living Jesus and then lead them beyond. Some say that for a newly believing George to share the gospel to his Andrew and then lead his new Andrew in winning others, George has to be „properly“ mature and preferably experienced. I understand the concerns. However, it is more a matter of expectation than a series of real bad experiences that someone has seriously „missed the mark“; although even that happens… Careful observation teaches me that „spiritual age“ is not a guarantee of maturity at all. And low spiritual age does not have to be a handicap for inviting other people to the Lord Jesus.
Have you ever seen a duck with little ducklings? The mother duck walks first, and the ducklings waddle nicely behind her. Is that first duckling exactly following the mother duck? Not at all. It waddles around, and when it’s really tiny, it wobbles. Slows down and then catches up with all its power. No matter how zigzag or hesitantly the first duckling follows the mother, the second duckling follows the first one, and the third duckling follows the second, and so on. Or they form a sort of small flock. The fifth or sixth duckling can’t even see the mother duck over the others. It just follows the siblings preceding it.
The first duckling is, in a way, the „leader“ of the whole following group of ducklings! The qualification for this role is that it follows the mother duck, it is one step ahead of the others! The first duckling doesn’t know the way, nor the destination. All it has to do is follow closely the mother duck. If the first duckling gets blown by the wind or even if it arbitrarily veers off the path, the other ducklings will soon regroup and follow mom again. Some other duckling will become the first.
This is wonderful picture that can inspire us for ministry to our disciples. The bottom line: The first duckling follows the mom. By following mom, it becomes an object that all the other ducklings to follow.
How can a new George become an ambassador of Jesus? (2 Corinthians 5:20) I mean the one who makes other disciples for Jesus? The most important qualification for making and leading other disciples is simply to follow Jesus! And most of the time, just being one step ahead is enough.
New Georges have theological inaccuracies at first. A lot of things they just don’t know. And they certainly can’t articulate our postulates clearly. (The little duckling also wiggles in various ways until its little legs grow stronger…)
Aside from a small biblical knowledge, our new Georges are unsure about what things are right and wrong in the moral realm. Those who serve these new disciples know that this is natural. We have learned through abundant experience that a George needs his time. He is not able to change 16 things in one week. Not even in two months.
However, Jesus is working in George! Especially if we are engaging enough to give him an example of joyful interest in God’s Word and in applying it to our life. And also a model of daily living with the Lord and of our own obedience to what He says.
What do you think are the most important things we should present to George at the very beginning? Are they the deep truths of systematic theology? Is it radical moral correction? I agree, these are very important. However, in the early days and weeks, we prefer to focus on making George a „duckling“ following the „mama duck“ so that other ducklings would want to follow. We are trying to help new George to invite his friends to Jesus effectively right away! (I don’t mean inviting him to events or to church, but directly to Jesus!)
Thank You, Jesus, for the example of Your disciples inviting their loved ones to You right away. Your people did the same later, during times of great persecution. And in many places in the world they are still doing it today. Please teach us to teach our new disciples this effective sharing…