The other day I had gone out to watch Toy Story 4 with my wife and kids. Now, I’m a big fan of the Toy Story franchise and am drawn to the power of its storytelling, which is sweet, compelling and keeps you on the edge of your seat. And just like the first three instalments, I wasn’t disappointed with the fourth one either.
Interestingly, I found myself drawing an unexpected parallel in the relationship between Woody (the leader of Bonnie’s toys) and Forky (the new friend that Bonnie literally makes). And that parallel is to do with discipleship or disciple-making. (For those not in the know, Bonnie is the kindergarten girl who owns Woody and Forky and the other toys).
How do we follow Christ’s command to make disciples? What are some of the attitudes that we need in order to become successful disciple-makers? Here are a few thoughts that came to me while I was in the comfort of the PVR at Select City Walk:
1. Recognise who that disciple belongs to
Both Woody and Forky have their shoes marked with the word “Bonnie”, which is their owner’s name. No matter how mature we are as disciple-makers, we need to know why we are doing this in the first place. It is because the disciple’s Owner & Maker has placed a high premium on him/her – he has stamped His very own name on that child of His. It is, therefore, no wonder that Woody goes out of his way to show Forky how important he is to Bonnie – because Forky’s existence matters to his owner.
When this is settled, we stop putting our lives at the centre of the universe. The command comes from the Lord. It is He who equips us on the way, and it is He who sustains us when we feel like giving up.
In the end, our reward and our joy is in Him because we know we do it for His glory alone.
2. Be ready to teach Kingdom principles… patiently
When Woody introduces Forky to the rest of the toys, he calls himself “trash” because he was made from stuff thrown into the trash bin. We see Woody reminding Forky again and again that he is a toy (God’s child), not trash (of the world).
As disciple-makers, we notice that the new believer sometimes wants to go back to the dark kingdom where he used to be, because in a sense that was his home. Old affiliations, old habits and old tastes still have their appeal to a newly born-again Christian. But now that the new has come, now that the translation to the Eternal Kingdom has happened, we need to reinforce that truth again and again.
Just like Woody, who tirelessly throws Forky into Bonnie’s bed even though Forky wants to go back to the dark comfort of his old existence, we need to continually encourage young believers to go to the presence of the Father who loves them.
3. All of our disciple-making needs to be rooted in love
There is a scene where Woody’s expression turns into that of horror when Forky, in a moment of freedom, decides to escape from Bonnie and her toys.
As church leaders (pastors, deacons, home group leaders and mature believers), there will be moments in the lives of those whom we disciple when the temptation of sin is more appealing than the suffering road to glory and reward.
At that moment, we need to resist the urge to get our spiritual guns and beat them with rods to come back to fellowship. Instead, we should have a spiritual horror in our hearts because we realise that when they stray, they are in the hands of a powerful enemy who will do anything to swallow them alive.
May our hearts be filled with the compassion of a mother and the firm determination of a father to bring our Father’s children back to Him. May we not sugarcoat the truth to them but may we do that out of love and compassion.
So, who is that person in your life that you are discipling? To whom are you telling the stories of God and His majesty and His power and His great compassion and mercy? Who are you travailing over in prayer so that they are formed to the image of Christ?
Ask (God)
Seek (with eyes wide open)
Knock (until God shows you)
Abe serves as an elder at Fusion Delhi. He grew up in Nagaland and Assam, and currently lives in Delhi with his wife and their two beautiful girls. Abe works at an MNC in Gurgaon and has been dabbling in writing for almost two decades now.