Liz McGregor writes:

One morning at breakfast while at a conference I sat beside a friend from West Africa. As we munched our cornflakes and drank some good Kenyan coffee, he began to tell me a story of his childhood and how he learned to look after cattle as a boy, spending time out in the bush with his father and their herds. Everything he knows about cattle herding, he learned from his father - from being with him, from observing him, listening to him, being given tasks to do, sometimes forgetting, sometimes making mistakes then, ultimately being given responsibility for the family’s herd.

I listened with amazement for it seemed a long way from where my friend is today, a well educated mission and church leader - but what gripped me most was how easily and clearly he went on to share with me what discipleship means to him, linking this story of his childhood to how Jesus trained his disciples.

Often people ask the question, How do you describe “discipleship”? That morning, as I listened, I realized how very helpful it would be to have a story or a picture that I could use when I am trying to help someone grasp what discipleship is all about. So, let me tell you a story……..

While wandering around the airport waiting for our plane home after a conference, I found a shop selling packs of seeds and roots of indigenous plants and flowers. Captured by a picture of a beautiful Hawaiian bamboo orchid, I bought a tiny plastic bag with what looked like a brown, dried out, twisted twig inside for about 1.00 pound sterling. When I showed it to my husband he just smiled at my dream of growing such a beautiful thing from what was in that bag!

Undaunted, when I got home I followed the instructions on the label and planted my wee brown twig. Some 3 years later – this was the result! The bamboo grew to over 5 feet tall and with careful nurturing produced many gorgeous, delicate, flowers that were a delight to look at.

Over the years I kept the instructions so that I could go back and check that I was on the right track. It needed quite a lot of water and protection from the cold so I kept it outdoors from May to October and indoors the rest of the year. I made sure the pot was topped up with new soil and I repotted as it got bigger. It didn’t always look beautiful and at times I thought it wasn’t going to make it. The leaves sometimes dried out and fell off leaving nothing but long, ugly bamboo poles. Sometimes if it had rained a lot I had to carefully cut off some canes that began to rot. And if it had been windy the stocks bent over and looked like they’d never get up again. Once or twice I almost lost it when a surprise frost attacked it or I just forgot to care for it. But, mostly I patiently tended it as best I knew how and then I watched and wondered and marveled at the amazing transformation its creator, God brought about – the mystery of how a twig became a beautiful bamboo orchid.

But there was one more step in my investment in this little twig. I learned how to reproduce this amazing miracle by splicing off new shoots and potting them on. Can you imagine my joy now when I visit the home of a friend and see a gorgeous bamboo orchid that came from my wee brown twig. And you know what I suspect? There are probably many other beautiful orchid plants now that have come from the plants that came from my cuttings that came from my wee brown twisted twig in a plastic bag!

And so as I end my tale of the bamboo orchid I think of what Paul wrote to the church in Colossae.

“God has chosen to make known (among the Gentiles) the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy which so powerfully works in me …so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge … so then just as you received Christ Jesus
as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness” Colossians 1:27 – 2:7

Something to ponder: I wonder how many principles of discipleship you see in my orchid story? For example, the picture on the packet promised something beautiful - God has promised that each one of his children has the potential for beauty as we grow in Him and become more like Jesus. (Zech 9: 16 & 17, 2 Cor 3: 18, Col 1:21 & 22).