Second on this series of Crash and Burns is the hidden world between the teacher and their students that can be more than it first appears to be. I have escaped this trap myself mostly but I have seen many of my disciples fall into it because I failed to bring the problem up into the foreground. It is only later when they come to me and ask why they can’t get their groups to multiply down in the generations I realise my failure. This would be, in my opinion, the second biggest cause for a network failing to multiply down the generations!

I have been a professional trainer from time to time over the years. I have worked with the Queensland Police Service, State Emergency Service and the St. John Ambulance as a trainer. I started off in the Police and there you either sank or swam. It was their methods that protected me from this particular pothole but also caused a blind spot in my subsequent disciples many years later. Their motto, “See one; Do one; Teach one”, taught you to think on your feet, immediately apply what you learnt and then be able to pass it on to someone else. It was a bit harsh at times so although it is ingrained into me I tend not to inflict it on my disciples. None the less this system hid a deep problem with myself.

In the West there are some assumed communication roles, particularly within the Student/Teacher relationship. A good, effective teacher/communicator needs to find the tempo of their target audience quickly. It is the role of the teacher to find the right level of communication in speed, vocabulary, methods, timing, evaluation, etc. to suit their intended audience. Even their voice, body language, temper, patience, etc. must be modified to the specific audience at that particular instance in time. Teachers are taught to weed out any mannerisms, ticks, habits or even “loud” clothing that might distract our audience. My memory of University lectures are filled with male lecturers that had monotonic sleep inducing voices or habits like scratching their crotch repeatedly. Or female ones with perfume that could make your eyes water in the hallway; low cut dresses that completely took attention away from the subject, etc… Both sexes had their nervous coughs, “umms” or pacing up and down like a caged animal. Good “Teachers” avoid all these pitfalls.

In the West students have a role too. They are to attend and do their best. It is up to them to be supple and malleable. It is up to them to point out any deficiencies in their teacher’s delivery that will prevent them from attaining a skill or knowledge so that the teacher can modify their delivery if possible.

In other parts of the world these two assumed roles are definitely NOT the case. In fact the two roles are exactly reversed!

As a master or topic expert it is their job, their benevolent gift, to share some of their precious knowledge with someone lesser. They will choose to do it in an arbitrary manner that suits the master. How ever it comes out, what ever comes out, it is up to the student to catch it, absorb it, and apply it. It is the student that must do all the work at communicating! Once again the old chestnut of Patron/Client and Honour/Shame comes into play. You would dishonour your teacher to tell him that he is deficient in some way and bring shame on yourself for the inability to absorb the precious gift thrown at you! It is your job to take what is given and then bring honour back to your patron teacher.

This therefore can create a rift in communication if the teacher and student are not from the same world view. For instance I would routinely ask my students if they had any questions before we moved onto new ground. If they came from an honour/shame background they would all say that everything was fine and they had no questions or needed any special attention to clear something up. They would have to admit that they had failed to catch the great prize that you lowered yourself to give them. Worse if they really did not understand because of some communication break down on the part of the teacher then no one would be willing to dishonour the master. Gaps would be left unfilled.

If this dynamic is not realised then the teacher could inadvertently and happily continue in complete ignorance that many in the class were in fact clueless. The error would only become apparent at the time of the test when people failed. Once again bringing great shame to the students.

What has insulated me somewhat from this is that I have never been a “teacher”, that is someone that imparts knowledge to someone but a practical “trainer”. You could define a trainer as someone who does a skills audit on their audience and finds out what they are missing for them to succeed. The trainer then sets out to fill in the voids. The “see one, do one then teach one” was quite harsh on the students (me too when I was on the receiving end of that as a young pup) but one axiom from that process did ring true and I use it extensively today instinctively.

That is: “If you can’t see them doing it, assume that they can’t do it! Keep them doing it in front of you until they can do it.”

Although I did this from the beginning when I first started to disciple people I never expressly told them this axiom and expected them to pass it on. Thus many would pass on information but fail to make competent disciple makers who could make disciple makers! I had to go back and retro fit it in areas where I had failed to pass the axiom on overtly. Sometimes opportunities were lost in the catch up.

This axiom also gets around the honour/shame problem with a western trainer and eastern student as well. If you are getting them to constantly do mini demonstrations and tests you are always taking the pulse of their education process. They don’t have to hide anything from you and you don’t have to guess what level they are up to. It is a win win scenario for western or eastern alike!

So where are these mini demonstrations and tests conducted in the disciple making process?

On the macro scale (the big picture) you build in the training process of MAWL. Every encounter, Every moment is an opportunity to train.

1. You first Model what you want them to do.
2. Then you Assist them to do it beside you.
3. Then you step back and Watch them do it by themselves.
4. Finally you Launch them off to do it by themselves knowing that you are always there to catch them if they fall.

On the micro scale (the small day to day tasks) is is done in the AIM/T4T/1/3, 1/3, 1/3 sessions.

The first two thirds are for the trainer to observe, take note and do a skill audit of strengths and weaknesses of the group and what needs to be added or bolstered. It is the last third of any meeting that these mini tests and practice sessions occur. This last session is your problem solving think tank and group hive mind.

If you want everyone to have their own fully functioning group then they have to be able to do all the required tasks such as: witnessing, leading the group, taking up an offering, conducting the Lord’s Supper, be able to baptise someone, etc… Furthermore they have to be able to pass these skills on down the line to their disciples.

That last session should be a safe, friendly environment where students should feel at ease of falling down while they learn. If they can not do it amongst friends in a closed setting they will never be able to do it out in the real world! Use this time not just to go over the lesson again or work on their testimony but to problem solve and practice real world tasks. Remember: “If you can’t see them doing it, assume that they can’t do it and keep at them until they can do it!” It is your job as disciple maker (trainer) to equip, encourage and commission these people to go out and do the same.

Demystify stuff. Take the strangeness, spookiness and weird out of tasks and get them comfortable with them. Keep things simple! Recently I got someone to (actually, physically) practice how to baptise someone (me). It was in an Indian Cafe over lunch. There was a moment when we were alone in the room so we went through a “dry” baptism next to the table. It took two minutes. No one but the owner saw us and he seemed unconcerned. Obviously pick your spots well with discernment. (We were well known to the owner.) The point being is that I now “know” that ‘Fred’ is actually capable of baptising someone and more to the point I “know” that he has an idea of how to do a mini-test for his disciples as well (Modelling the training process as well). Hopefully I will get to see him test one of his disciples in the same manner soon.

Properly equipping and giving them permission to equip others is the key to reproducible groups of disciples. These mini-tests are the key to avoiding world view clashes as well. So now these reproducible groups are no longer restricted to a single world view people group. They can now spread freely!

I hope this helps

Macka