Brushing Teeth and Discipleship

Every night before Joseph goes to bed, he has a routine.  And the beginning of bedtime begins with telling him it is time for him to brush his teeth.  In the last couple of months, Joseph has been insisting that he brush his teeth himself.  Liz has taught him how to brush his teeth, so no big deal.  All the better for lazy Daddy, so I just have been leaving his toothpaste on the toothbrush and leaving him to have at it.    But there was a problem.  His idea of brushing his teeth had devolved, without supervision, into sucking the bubble-gum-flavored toothpaste off the brush and chewing on it.  And I wasted many irritating nights telling him to stop chewing on his toothbrush and to start brushing (and making sure he knew I was annoyed that he was doing it).   But then it occurred to me: the boy is three years old.  He has not mastered tooth-brushing.  He still needs help and a model.  So last night, I brushed my teeth with him (even though I still hadn't had my after-the-kids-go-to-bed dessert) and showed him what I was doing.  He did a great job, and it was even kind of fun to teach him.   It occured to me this morning as I was brushing my teeth alone that this story is similar to discipleship.  Making disciples is about relationships and modeling.  We cannot tell someone once how to do something, lay out materials, make programs available, and then expect spiritual toddlers to get it right.  (Sometimes we even express shock or irritation when they get it terribly wrong.)  People need models and they need patience.  And if we actually take the time to do it, we might find that we find just as much joy in it as they do.   "For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?"-- 1 Thessalonians 2:19