The “Crawl, Walk, Run” Mindset

from Patrick Morley

Volume 255
November 5, 2007

A team of highly competent businessmen started a men’s discipleship ministry in their church. They immediately scheduled a men’s seminar and made plans for hundreds of men to attend. They used all their business expertise to plan and rally the men. Essentially, they tried to “will” the seminar into existence. But they had to cancel because not enough men registered.

Wisely, they realized they had tried to run before they had walked—or even crawled. They went back to a “crawl, walk, run” mentality. They reminded themselves that when building a men’s discipleship ministry they needed to be patient.

Two years later, those same leaders had won the involvement of their senior pastor. They had built relationships with key men in the church. They rescheduled a men’s seminar and are expecting great results.

Are you disappointed by the “small” start to your men’s discipleship ministry? You shouldn’t be. Why? Because God isn’t. Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not despise the small beginning, for the eyes of the Lord rejoice to see the work begin” (TLB).

Building a sustainable men’s discipleship ministry is simply going to take longer than most of us think. That’s because we are “building relationships with God and others” not “joining together for a task.”

We need to “crawl, walk, run.” If you want to build a dynamic discipleship ministry to every man in your church in two years, you will “force” some things and violate “relationship processes” that simply take more time. Relationships take time. We have to “earn” the right to be heard.

Don’t try to do in two years what will take five or ten years. Check yourself by asking, “Is it time to crawl, walk, or run?”

If you hit a wall, don’t give up. Instead, back off and give your plan more time to develop. Such small beginnings make God happy.

Patrick Morley, Ph.D.