FAT Christians???

“I’m looking for FAT Christians who want a spiritual 6-pack!” The young Campus Crusade representative looked me in the eye when I asked about his approach to discipleship. He walked me through the familiar mnemonic: “They need to be FAT: Faithful, Available, Teachable.” Then, pulling out a pamphlet, he showed me a list of 6 spiritual attributes that become the goal of his disciple making. It looked like pretty good stuff (though I inwardly reel anytime someone puts a pamphlet between themselves and the person they are speaking with).

But the more I watch Jesus make disciples, the less I subscribe to the FAT acronym. Because when I look at the disciples, the only attribute they consistently displayed was “available”. And maybe even THAT’S going too far. Perhaps all we can say of the disciples is that they were “chosen”.

Mark records their reaction to Jesus walking on water: “They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves [feeding the 5,000]; for their hearts were hardened.” I walk away from that with a couple thoughts...

1.) Jesus could have chosen any number of bright young boys from the rabbinical schools who would deftly and eagerly grasp the spiritual and theological reality of his coming. Instead he chose jaded, washed-out fishermen and tax-collectors with mixed motives and hard hearts. Why? Not because they were easier, but because that’s the upside-down kingdom: God brings his weight to bear by defying all expectations. If those fisherman and tax-collectors can become love-shaped leaders of a fledgling church, then the credit goes to God and not to someone “living up to his potential.”

2.) In his disciple making, not even Jesus could unharden someone’s heart. Beliefs and motivations run very very deep in us. I’d love to tell you there’s some zinger of a trick that forces people to buy in to your ideas and beliefs. But if Jesus couldn’t do it using all the miracles recorded in the gospels, then I’m telling you, we can’t either. Only God himself can soften a heart and that’s the point: the credit can only go to Him.

So what’s the point in trying? Why waste all our time investing in the growth of others if we can’t actually affect change?

1. Jesus did it, and he commands us to do the same. He uses farming analogies to remind us that only God can make a plant grow, but he has given us an important job in planting and cultivating.
2. God kinda has this thing about people: he loves them and enjoys softening and growing them. So it’s not like we’re alone in the effort! In fact Jesus is so confidant in God’s involvement in the discipleship process, that he commands the 12 to “make disciples”... not to “kinda sorta hope that disciples are made”.

Jesus wasn’t working with spiritual FATsos. He related, taught, prayed, listened, and then picked. And what an unlikely bunch it was! But when they finally got it, not only did God get the credit, but they became a force to be reckoned with. They were the guys preaching at Pentecost, taking the gospel to India, healing the sick, casting out demons, managing disputes, and guiding the church with unnatural wisdom.

So if you decide to invest in the lives of others, remember that it’s not about finding the person with the most “potential”. It’s not about anything that we (or our “disciples”*) naturally are or do. It’s about being intentionally obedient to “make disciples” while giving the credit to God for doing what He loves to do: bringing freedom, growth, softening, healing, and obedience to His authority. He loves it when we invest in “lost causes” because that’s where He gets the most credit. That’s where we find ourselves pushed on by the strange wind of His upside-down kingdom.


Here’s one tool I like:

I find it helpful to think about discipleship as involving equal parts of the following (credit to WDA for this one):

Relationship: a deep, intentional friendship with those we disciple
Content: the “stuff” we teach and model
Accountability: our willingness to confront wrong beliefs and hold people to their commitments
Prayer: our commitment to regularly pray with and for our disciples.
Situations: Organic and intentional situations we find ourselves in with our disciples that can be harnessed to encourage growth.

See? R-CAPS: It’s an acronym. Yay! Just remember that if you put “Content” before “Relationship”, it spells CRAPS!



*I use the term “our disciples” to indicate people in whom we are intentionally spiritually invested. It sometimes feels arrogant to talk about “my disciples” but I’m reminded that Paul told the Corinthians to, “follow me as I follow Christ.” Our goal with discipleship is to encourage others to submit to Christ as we ourselves have submitted. So the question is... how deep does our obedience go?