Leadership Terminology
“You train your dog. You equip people.” Dr. Dean Everest Walker, as quoted by John Wasem in class today.
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Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
So from now on I have to say “I equipped my boyfriend to email me every day?
That’s a judgment call on your part.
I have to say that humans train each other all the time.
That’s probably true. But in the context of the church and leading the church, “training” seems to communicate that there are more tasks to be managed than people to be led.
I think Dr. Walker was saying that discipleship is not training someone to jump through a bunch of hoops. It’s providing people with the tools and encoruagement necessary to follow Christ on their own and within the community. That’s the distinction he was trying to make, I believe.
Do I train people? Sure. Aiden and Alyson have been toilet-trained. Did I train Aiden to like IU basketball? No. I did give him the necessary tools to understand the game and that the Cream and Crimson is always good. 8{)}
Actually, if you look at Scripture, I think it’s Ephesians that says it’s the Word of God that equips. Maybe he would have been better off saying “empower,” or something like that.
What if I said “My boyfriend is equipped.” That would mean well trained, right?