A few days ago I was in Home Depot trying to get my new dishwasher out of the store using a lift truck. I don't have very much experience with lift trucks. And I struggled to try to push it from behind through the aisles and around the people in the store. I wasn't having much luck. Then a friend who was helping me on the project found me and said that I should take it through the other door and pull it from behind instead of push it. He was absolutely right. Pulling it was much easier because the load had to follow where I was going.
Life and especially discipleship can be like this sometimes. Discipleship is training others to live like Jesus. And for some strange reasons I try at times to push people to do the right thing. But that is not what Jesus did with His disciples. Sure, He challenged them. But He did so by saying, "This is where I am going. If you want to be a part of it, come follow me." Then, He kept on walking and let the person follow or not. They had to make a decision. But it was always their decision to make.
The push method doesn't work well. And I think that Jesus knew that. The pull method is easy to follow. You simply make a connection and offer to guide someone else. They either choose to hold on and follow or not. This method of discipleship provides the other person something to follow, which helps them go the right way.
Like the load on the lift truck, many people don't know where to turn or what to do. But when the leader is in front, the load or the person follows without difficulty. Sometimes it can be amazing what you learn while going about the day. I am going to try more pull discipleship from now on.
