| Cell Parable: Hunger Once upon a time the master gathered with his five disciples, each one at a different level of spiritual maturity. "Today," he announced, "we will talk about the problem of hunger." "I'm not really hungry yet, Master. It's at least an hour before lunch," the spiritual newborn announced. "What does the Bible say about it?" the spiritual child asked curiously. There was silence for a moment. "Master," the new spiritual parent said tentatively, "I'm inviting two homeless men, Roger and Bill, to my house tonight for supper. Is this what you mean?" The Master smiled and nodded. He looked at the most spiritually mature man present, the spiritual grandparent, and they exchanged nods. He knew the older man was coaching the younger in how to love his neighbor as himself. "Master, I've done more," the spiritual teenager interrupted excitedly. "Yesterday I volunteered at the soup kitchen and served lunch to over a hundred hungry, homeless people!" The master was quick to notice the look of self reproach in the eyes of the man who would only be feeding two and decided a lesson was in order. "How wonderful a thing you have done," the master said to the spiritual teenager, who beamed with pride. "Now please name each of them and we will pray for them all." |
| The Spiritual Generation Gap: in our culture, many are biologically adults while emotionally adolescent or younger. Few Christians grow up to become spiritual parents; they prefer an endless adventure without responsibility. Few churches teach spiritual parenting as a responsibility; this is the major obstacle to biblical disciple making. The transition to spiritual maturity involves moving from an exciting but shallow ministry with many people to calm, deeply nurturing relationships with just a few people who have names. |
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| From Seminar One: Diagnosis www.disciplewalk.com/Resources.html |