Discipleship Triage

These are great thoughts from Deepak Reju at 9Marks...

Picking Fruit Off of a Tree by Deepak Reju
from 9Marks by Deepak Reju

One of the ideas I've learned on our staff is to be strategic about the men I disciple and invest in. One of our staff pastors has often talked about being deliberate in investing in low-hanging fruit---men who show a lot of potential, who demonstrate a teachable heart and desire to grow, and with a little investment will themselves be able to invest in others. These low-hanging fruit quickly become disciple-making disciples!

The nature of pastoral ministry is that you get all types of requests for help---bad marriages needing attention, wives struggling with depression, young men and women sorting through who to marry and what to do with their life, physical sickness and hospitalizations, etc. Pastors tend to spend most of their time investing in high-hanging fruit--those situations which take a lot of time, energy, prayer, love, and investment, and often reap very little fruit. Without trying, you'll get plenty of these situations come across your door.

Don't get me wrong---to be a pastor is to be a shepherd. A fundamental part of your job is to care for the sheep, both through their good and bad days. Yet, what often happens is that a pastor's schedule can get over-run with high-hanging fruit, and we rarely take the time to deliberately invest in the low-hanging fruit. We spend our days investing in that which reaps very little harvest, without spending any time picking the low-hanging fruit.

So, here's my question for pastors: How deliberate are you at investing in the low-hanging fruit?

Are there men in your congregation who are FAT (faithful, available, teachable) and with a little investment might also be reaping greater fruit for the kingdom? Are you strategically investing in men who might one day become elders and one day come alongside you to shepherd the flock? Look at your schedule and consider if you are always reacting defensively to the problems that arise in your church, or are you deliberately scheduling time with the members who seem to be low-hanging fruit?

Both parts of necessary for pastor ministry, and yet one (high-hanging fruit) tends to get much more attention in our schedule compared to the other (low-hanging fruit).

HT: 9Marks