Recently I saw the an amazing device that creates scale models of objects and engineering drawings. Taking a topographic map of a golf course, they were able to create a 2″ long model of one of that course’s holes. Using software that estimated the stress points on a joint in various colors, the machine printed out a 3-d copy of the joint with those colors displayed, so the designer and his manager could hold the item and see the results.

In the same demo room was a handheld scanner. With it, the operator was able to create a 3-d rendering of an object. That engineering object could then be worked with until the changes were ready and the model was printed out for review, and then the final product was built.

I know Bible teaching because master teachers let me teach their classes with them in the room. I know witnessing because a pastor grabbed me to join his weekly home visitation schedule. One of the churches I helped had a pastor who had not grown up in the church, and neither had his deacon – they did not know what “normal” behavior looked like until I was able to teach and model it for them.

My model for discipleship comes from business: The way you train a new salesman is “You watch me, I watch you, you go do.” It’s a “lather, rinse, repeat” approach described in 2 Tim 2:2 – “The things you’ve heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, you teach to reliable me, who will themselves then be able to teach others.”

It is the job of every mature believer to find a protege and teach them the faith. That is discipleship. That is what will rescue the struggling church.