What Two Blind Women Taught Me About Discipleship

Register for Flourish: Principles of Discipleship

What Two Blind Women Taught Me About Discipleship

I met Jackie and Ruth at a women’s bible study. Two dear women who both happen to be blind. They navigated the streets of downtown Atlanta with incredible independence and faithfully showed up for Sunday services and evening Bible study each week.

The first time we met, their usual driver developed a headache and asked if I could take them home. I was hesitant. I did not know them, I did not know where they lived and thought “What if I get lost?”  This was before the days of cell phones and GPS. The woman assured me their apartment building was 3 minutes away, there were only 2 turns, there was a giant sign outside I could not miss, and nothing could go wrong. 

Forty-five minutes later as I circled South Peachtree for the hundredth time, I felt we had been duped. The building was not marked, the two ladies in the back seat of my car could not see where we were, and none of us knew what I was looking for. The phrase “blind leading the blind” never seemed more appropriate than that moment. We were lost.

As I wondered if I’d be taking these two ladies’ home with me, the idea came to me to try and think like a blind person and describe the area in terms that might jog their ability to give me helpful information. “When you leave the entrance of your building, do you turn right or left to reach Peachtree? Do you immediately reach a crosswalk, or do you turn to find it? Which way do you turn? How many crosswalks do you cross to find Publix? Amazingly, the answer to those questions helped me find their building. I will never forget how they squealed with excitement when I went around the circle and hit a road hump.

Jackie exclaimed, “Oh this is it!”  She could not use her eyes, but the familiarity of that little bump told her we were home.
The three of us bonded that night, laughing at our lostness and realizing our need for each other. They needed my eyes and ability to drive, and I needed their knowledge and patience to find where we were headed. We found our destination, but what is more we discovered a friendship.

Sharing Christ Together

For many years the three of us met regularly. We laughed together, enjoyed life together, and most importantly shared Christ together. Jackie and Ruth taught me so much about the beauty of depending on fellow believers. We are not intended to do this life in isolation. We are relational creatures, formed in the image of a relational God.

God himself is relational because he is triune—three persons, One God. He did not create man because he was lonely, but he created us because his love for others overflows from within. John 15:9 Jesus tells his disciple, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love.” The Father’s love that flows from the Father to the Son through the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon us, and it beckons us into relationship with him and with one another.

Like Jackie and Ruth, we need to be willing to rely on others and look to them for guidance. We need investment from others who have had the eyes of their hearts enlightened by the Word of God and who have walked with the Lord longer than we have. We need the humility to be honest with others about our struggles with sin, inviting others to point us toward Christlike change and to hold us accountable along the way. Like Jackie and Ruth, we need to trust and follow those who are mature in faith and see a little bit further down the road than we do.

From Disciple to Disciple-Maker

While the idea of being invested in appeals to most believers, the call to then turn and invest what we have in others can be a deeper struggle. We are hesitant, like I was upon being asked to drive Jackie and Ruth home. We view ourselves as lacking in ability. We think to ourselves, “That’s the job of those in full-time ministry, but surely not me.”

When God calls the first disciples, he spent 3 years equipping and investing in them and then he did something extraordinary. Matthew 28:18-20, after the death and resurrection of Christ, he gathers the eleven disciples together and says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” He commissions them go and make disciples who spend their lives growing in the knowledge and grace of Christ Jesus together and who in turn begin discipling others.

Like those first disciples, we too are called to multiply. Christ calls ordinary men and women to follow Him, graciously gives us His Holy Spirit to indwell and guide us, and helps us to learn his Word and His way. He calls us to make disciples of others: to go and share the good news, to offer them the same opportunity to grow in Christ alongside mature believers.

We should never tire of growing in Christ alongside others, both those who invest deeply in us and those in whom we invest deeply.

Like my relationship with Jackie and Ruth, one of the beautiful parts of discipleship is that it changes all of us. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” As we enter discipleship, whether as a disciple or a discipler, we are changed from one degree of glory to another.’ It’s preparation for the eternal feast; a sample here on earth of the eternal glory we will share with Christ (Colossians 3:4). Praise be to Him!

Looking for your next step? Join us for Flourish: Principles of Discipleship starting October 4th. REGISTER HERE