Building a Discipling Culture

Chapter 2 stands out the most to me, particularly the analogy made to the horse training. The trainer being discussed has observed and studied how horses act, so he can best approach how to train them. No matter how much the horse had been abused previously, the trainer was able to break through to them. This is an analogy to Jesus, who was capable of the same with discipleship. The fact that this chapter is titled “The Jesus Model” is significant because it illustrates our role as disciple makers. We are to be adaptable to any type of person or situation that is thrown at us. If we are unwilling to do so, that will hinder our ability to make disciples.
Chapter 3’s bit about the three learning types is also easily applicable. Classroom, apprenticeship, and immersion all offer necessary experiences essential to learning. The classroom is great for teachers communicating facts to students. But it doesn’t provide the kind of “in the field” experience that the other two promise. Apprenticeship allows for one to be taught by someone more experienced. Immersion forces someone to flex their intuition by picking up on cues and norms around them. With discipleship culture, all three are essential in order for someone to prepare to make more disciples. The example of a heart surgeon operating without first going through medical school and residency is an apt one. It’s likely that no one would want to be operated on if that was the case. Yet, the author says that our discipleship process looks similar to that all too often