The Disciplemaking Genius of Jesus (Part 3): Learning Together

By Bill Allison and Dave Garda- Cadre International Minisries(Posted with permission.)

See also:  Part 1, Part 2

Learning Happens in Community

When I went back to college later in life, I was told that I had a “math deficiency.” (Iʼve been told worse.) I ended up having to buy an elementary mathematics book and re-teaching myself some basics. Everyday I worked through a portion of that pitifully boring math book—alone. However, once a week I met with a tutor who monitored my progress (or lack thereof) and tried to answer my many questions. (“Why would anyone plant a garden in the form of a triangle and then use the Pythagorean Theorem to measure the hypotenuse?”)

One day I asked my tutor, “Help me understand integers”—and I pronounced it exactly like itʼs spelled: “in-TE-gers.” My tutor smiled and said, “You mean, integers”—and she pronounced it “IN-ti-jers.” Sensing my embarrassment, she said, “Itʼs okay. You couldnʼt have known this simply by working through the book by yourself.”

Right then and there I realized this: solo book learning is a good start, but a fuller, deeper learning happens in community. In my math community (with a tutor and few other struggling students), I learned to correctly pronounce mathematical terms Iʼll probably never need—such as “integer.” (My math is up to speed these days, but you may have noticed that I still have a significant math deficiency in my attitude.)

In Jesusʼ day, this fuller, deeper, communal learning, was known as havering. And as it turns out, haver learning is a critically important part of the disciplemaking genius of Jesus. Why? Because you will never fully come to know and experience Jesus or disciplemaking by simply working through the Book by yourself.

What follows is the second of eight leading indicators that you could be experiencing a Jesus-like Disciplemaking Learning Community. I offer these— not as definitive or exhaustive—but simply as indicators—to help you begin to wrestle what a Jesus-like Disciplemaking Learning Community looks like for you.

“As iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another.” —Proverbs 27:17

“But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything.”  —Mark 4:35

 A DLC requires haver learning.

A DLC gathers together to learn to love God, love people, and make disciplemakers. When we speak of learning, we are talking about growing and being transformed by God, together—not just taking in information for the sake of having head knowledge. A DLC is way more than that. A DLC embodies the Hebrew concept of friendship (known as haver) that finds its fulfillment in the practice of grappling in twos or threes over the application of Scripture and doing life together. A DLC (a haveruta) supports these Jesus-like disciplemaking friendships.

While someone will necessarily be the initiator or facilitator of a DLC gathering, Jesus said that when we are about his business of making disciples that he would “be with us” (Matthew 28:20). The presence of Jesus is the disciplemakerʼs reality… not simply a theory. Therefore, a DLC is not a gathering where one studied leader gathers disciples to teach them while they sit passively. Nor is it primarily a network meeting or an organizational meeting. Nor is it a group that pontificates on the finer points of theology/Christology as a mere intellectual exercise. Rather, a DLC is a gathering where we seek to follow Jesus, together, learning from Jesus and each other.

Critical Question

A central learning question a DLC seeks to wrestle is: “What does first century Jesus-like disciplemaking look like in a 21st century Western world?”

Thatʼs the question that has been keeping me up at night for years. I love this question because it puts me into the mode of learner. In order to begin to answer this question, I must first become a student of the disciplemaking genius of Jesus and then exercise wisdom and discernment as to what Jesus-like disciplemaking looks like today. (Two very helpful resources that have helped me and those in the DLCs Iʼm a part of wrestle this question are The Merged Gospels and Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus.) While I have a few ideas about what first century Jesus-like disciplemaking looks like in 21st century Western world, I openly confess Iʼm still short on answers and long on questions. Iʼve got a lot to learn. I invite you and those in your DLC to wrestle that question with me—and to share with me what youʼre learning.

At the end of a DLC gathering, I like to ask these types of reflection questions that keep the focus on learning together:

1. What did you learn/relearn from Jesus today?
2. What is your next step in becoming a Jesus-like disciplemaker?
3. With whom will you share this when you leave here—and when?

Once everyone has had an opportunity to reflect and write some brief bullet thoughts in response to each question, I ask them to gather in twos and threes and have them share with each other. Then I have them pray for each other.

Note well: No haver learning = not a DLC.

Pause, Ponder, and Discuss

Pause:

A DLC embodies the Hebrew concept of friendship (known as haver) that finds its fulfillment in the practice of grappling in twos or threes over the application of Scripture and doing life together.

Ponder your DLC:

 gathering—————- teaching—————-havering

    1        2        3        4        5        6        7       8        9        10

Discuss your thoughts.

From the Disciplemaking Trenches:

Our DLC has been nothing short of life-changing for me. I have a vision for making any equipping I do be more Jesus-like. I have personally seen some GREAT fruit from equipping by havering and am very grateful to have seen havering modeled. Thus, I have a new heart for making disciples like Jesus. The equipping resources, tools, and training we get are a ridiculously good. I am not exaggerating at all when I say I use what I learn in our DLC 10x more than I ever use what I received in college. – DLC Member