Duckling Disciples

I like to compare disciple-making to a family of ducks. So, if you’ve ever watched a mother duck leading her ducklings, it looks pretty much the same wherever you go. You’ve got the mother duck out front and then you’ve got her ducklings following her single-file. So, if you think about it. Only the first duckling is following the mother duck. The second duckling follows the first, the third follows the second, and so on.

So what I want you to notice about that situation is you don’t have to be a mature duck to lead a duckling, you just have to be one step ahead.

Now that may not seem like a big deal, but it is, it’s also important to note that in disciple-making, just like in a family of ducks, there’s only one mother duck … Jesus Christ. It’s not some seminary professor, it’s not some missionary, it’s not some pastor, only Jesus Christ is the mother duck.

None of the rest of us have achieved the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ. None of the rest of us is fully conformed to his image. That’s a process that we’re in and we will continue to be in as long as we’re in this life.

“Duckling Discipleship – Leading Immediately” is taught in session 4 of the Zúme Training.

Only Jesus is the mother duck but that doesn’t discount or disqualify all the rest of us from leading ducklings, because remember to lead a duckling you don’t have to be a mature duck, you just have to be one step ahead.

So even the newest disciple can be leading others in what he or she has already learned, in what he or she already knows, and in fact there’s an obligation to do this. This is why the Apostle Paul says follow me as I follow Christ Jesus. We all need to be saying that.

More Multiplication Concepts

This concept is part of the “Multiplication Concepts” series by Curtis Sergeant. Consider working through the entire series and challenging someone you know to do it with you. See an entire list of the concepts in the article titled “Multiplication Concepts”.

This same concept is taught in the Zúme Training course using video animation and is translated into 40 languages. “Duckling Discipleship – Leading Immediately” is taught in session 4 of the Zúme Training.

Zúme Training is an on-line and in-life learning experience designed for small groups who follow Jesus to learn how to obey His Great Commission and make disciples who multiply.