Is that a catchy title or what?

The other day I found a blog post from Simon Sinek (a corporate consultant) writing about people on the left side of the bell curve. When Simon mentioned the bell curve, I immediately thought of manufacturing process control (I know that’s the first thing that came to your minds). Manufacturing process control exists to minimize variability in the manufacturing process.  The Japanese are the best at this.  They are not the best at creating innovative technological designs.  Where they excel is in designing things that are manufacturable.  They minimize the number of parts required to assemble a unit.  If you look at car bumpers not only do the Japanese design something with fewer parts, they use fewer different types of fasteners.  This helps control inventory, simplifies the supply chain, and makes it less likely that someone will use the wrong fastener, reducing the possibility of manufacturing defects. This is one reason their products tend to be the most reliable.  I could go on and on with this (I’m sure you’re enthralled) but I think my point is clear that in manufacturing, variability is bad.

I then thought of the bell curve in terms of people.  In society a certain amount of aggregation is necessary.  Clothing stores lump sizes into small, medium and large (I used to be small, grew into medium and if I don’t stop eating ice cream, I will continue to transition into large.  But I digress).  None of us fit these sizes perfectly but the alternative is for everything to be custom fit which is expensive and impractical.  So a certain amount of aggregation makes our lives more convenient.

All of this brings me to discipleship.  I feel that when we come to discipleship we need to discard the concept of the bell curve whenever possible.  The goal of discipleship is not to stamp out disciples like some manufactured part.  It is to help men and women in their pursuit of intimacy with God and through that intimacy, to fulfill their destiny.  And because we are all different, this is in many ways a singular journey.   While I am not against discipleship classes, at best they provide a foundation for growth.  They are a means to an end, not the end.  Aggregation, while convenient, forces us to ignore what makes us unique, different.  It causes us to miss what is beautiful about each and every one of us.  Maybe a better, albeit imperfect analogy for discipleship would be the college experience.  My freshman year I sat in a large lecture hall with over a hundred other students listening to physics lectures.  By my senior year, I was in classes of twelve to twenty students.  My senior design project was in teams of three.  While I was one of many students graduating with Industrial Engineering degrees that June, no two of us had the exact same path, or the same college experience.

Two hundred years ago, Eli Whitney developed the concept of interchangeable parts.  Without it, modern manufacturing would be impossible.  However, in the Body of Christ there are no interchangeable parts.  There are individuals, all uniquely handcrafted by the ultimate Creator.  I have a friend who is an expert on dream interpretation (he wrote his DMin dissertation on dreams).  If I have a desire to speak to him and he is unavailable, I never think, “I’ll just talk to another dream guy.”  What makes my friend amazing is so much more than his gift.  It’s the sum total of who he is.  And while there are others with similar gifts, there is only one like him.  While there are many people out there who have similar gifts to each of us, there is only one you, only one me.

I need to wind this down before it turns into another dissertation (my wife Joanie asked me if I have footnotes).  While I may not be saying anything new, I’m think I’m seeing it from another perspective.  Discipleship is about helping men and women grow in their relationship with the Trinity.  And it is not accomplished by looking at how we can process groups but by recognizing the inestimable value of each individual as a the  handiwork of God.  The purpose is to help men and women understand their who they are, who He is and through that ever increasing intimacy, be released to be all that God intends them to be.  That is the reason, “the why” of discipleship. And while the “how” of discipleship may change, the “why remains constant.  And I continue to find “the why” exciting.