Investment and Influence

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Discipleship takes time.

My wife and I enjoy avocados. We, in fact, have tried a few avocado pits to see if we could grow a tree ourselves. We poked toothpicks in the seeds and placed them in water. Once it began to produce many roots and the shoot was about two feet we planted it in a large planter outside. It took time to grow and cultivate that miniature avocado tree. Over time the tree ended up dying. We over watered it and therefore ended our endeavor of being avocado farmers. It took time and work to grow, cultivate and tend that miniature tree. We did a bit of research and come to find out an avocado tree might not produce fruit for up to thirteen years and possibly never yield a harvest. After finding out that information, we didn’t feel as much like failures after all.

I recount that story not to negate my point, but to prove it. Discipleship takes time, intentionality, relationship, and action. I represent the product of a few men who believed in the power of one disciple investing in the life of another disciple with the intent of multiplication. Who I am as a leader has been shaped by their investment and influence in my life.

A new name.

My dad, Chuck Goodrich, has taught me many things since he brought my brother Blake into his family and me. We were adopted-accepted into a new family. He offered and we chose to assume his last name. This act of love is only a glimpse of my real adoption in Christ. My dad has pointed me to the gospel time and time again. He has taught me how to love my wife unconditionally like Christ loves his bride, the church. How to cherish my children and raise them to love God and his Word. For that, I am eternally grateful and honored to call him Dad. He pointed me to an even greater Dad who would never let me down.

A Generous Servant.

Another man who has invested in other men for over sixty years and I is my Papa, Charles “Jimmy” Carroll. There are two things that I that stick out to me most, his generosity and servant heart. He grew up in a home that had dirt for a floor. At an adolescent age, he had to abandon school to help provide for his family. I have never heard him complain about anything. The altruistic actions he made at a young age-helped shape his generous, serving character. He has taught his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren generosity when it comes to our time, finances, and even our talents.

I accompanied him on many odd jobs for elderly members of our church. Through his example, he showed me how to serve others and not ask for anything in return, except for maybe a glass of sweet tea. I remember on one of the numerous jobs, either putting up a fence or taking out a rotted tree before hurricane season, he told me, “Kid, I don’t have much to give to others in need. However, God did give me two hands and a willing heart. I can utilize those gifts to show others that God loves them and I do too.“

“Living room” Discipleship

Kristopher Mendenhall is another man who discipled me in my early twenties. He taught me how to do the ministry in the marketplace and how to be intentional with members of my team and customers. When he first became my manager I was confused by his methods of leadership. He always wanted to meet with employees and guests in an area of our store that he called the “living room“. He didn’t care about how busy we were or time of day it was. If someone needed to talk and pour out their soul, he was there to listen and provide encouragement and friendship.

He never neglected to take care of his people or the responsibilities of the business. People came first and work second. Kris viewed his role of store manager as a disciple-maker of businessmen and women. These men and women would be equipped to take the gospel with them.

I believe these men and many others that have discipled me over the years have provided four key takeaways in making disciples who make disciples and so on.

Defining Success

The temptation in discipleship is to transform people into little versions of yourself. These men have lived their lives pointing others to Jesus as the example and not themselves. Disciple-makers believe that success is measured by the way they and those they disciple to imitate Christ.

Be a model

Being a good disciple-maker means to be a good model to imitate. These men have lived exceptional lives and are worth imitating. Don’t get me wrong, they are all flawed men and have their own sins, doubts, and fears. They all have pointed me to Jesus. The reality is that if having your junk together was a prerequisite for disciple-making not one of us would be qualified. We all sin and struggle through its consequences. No one is exactly where they want to be spiritually. It does, however, only need you to be one-step-ahead of another person to help them up a hill.

I’m not implying that we lower the bar, in modeling discipleship. Preferably we should realize that no one is perfect and should not be on a pedestal. Disciple-makers need to model a firm grasp on daily focusing on God’s Word and following in obedience. The discipleship process requires others to be brought into ordinary life.

Make Time

Making time and maintaining the margin to meet with others is one area that I have struggled with. To disciple and mentor people requires designated, scheduled time. Time has to be set aside to engage and focus on the development of others. These men took time out of their ordinary busy lives to mentor me. I am a better man, a better leader because they perceived the value in me and trusted God’s Word enough to teach me it’s truths.

Get off the sidelines

Eventually, the disciple matures enough to find someone they can now disciple in the faith. There is a required action. There is a need to contribute. A need to get off the sideline and “play the game.“ It might look like serving on a volunteer team for the first time, working a service project, or even going on a mission trip to another country. Remember, it merely takes someone one-step-ahead of another person to aid them up a hill. Helping others mature in their faith helps us mature in our own faith in Jesus.

Is discipleship worth the time?

If we look throughout the history of Christianity we see this played out over and over. What began as twelve disciples of Jesus Christ has turned into millions upon millions. We are the product of a person who believed what Jesus Christ said was true that they taught someone else, who taught someone else, and so on and so forth. The power of multiplication is evident when we read about the rapid growth of the church in the book of Acts. The Bible says life is like a vapor, it‘s here and then it is not. What we do and how we disciple others sets into motion the eternal impact of people‘s souls. We must disciple others who disciple others who disciple others. Discipleship takes time.