"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Mathew 16:13-17
I believe Jesus' main goal with walking with his disciples, mentoring them, discipling them was to get them to a place where they could hear from the Father. Hear God's voice speak to them so the could listen to his voice and obey what he is saying to them. The simplest definition of a disciple is someone who listens to what God is saying to them, and the does it. Hearing and then obeying.
Can you hear from God? And as importantly, if our goal is to make disciples who make disciples; Are you comfortable training others to hear from God? I want to introduce you to a tool called "the Learning Circle." It is a toll that can help you here from God
Above is a diagram of a learning circle from a training event. I will break it down to you.
Kairos event: you are traveling in life and a kairos moment happens. This can be a blessing or a speed bump. A dream at night. A change in a job. An argument with your wife. An unexplained blessing. A family or personal situation. Or something that happens to a friend they come asking you for advice.
If Someone comes to me with a kairos event and I want them to hear what God says to them about the event.
Observe: Spend time observing what actually happened, who was involved, what was said, what was done. Where it occurred. Look event from all angles
Reflect: on Their observations: Why do you think it happened? What did that mean to you? How did you feel? What were your motives?
Discuss: First two I am mainly listening. I then discuss with them. I use the Three "Ts"
- Testimony: a personal story of something similar that happened in my life or one that I know of.
- Teaching: Is there a teaching from a book, video, article that relates.
- Testament: Is there a passage of Scripture that relates or addresses aspects of the event.
These three steps: Observe, Reflect, and Repent all occur on the repent and hear side of the circle. This is where we observe and reflect on what happened. We repent where needed on our participation in the event. And through the discussion, three "T" and prayer we hear what God is saying to us. What is God saying?
Next we move to the believe and obey side of the circle. One this side is where we believe in what God has spoken to us and how we are called to obey it.
Plan: We Observed, reflected and Discussed the Kairos moment. We have discerned God's voice. Next then is forming a plan. Depending on the Kairos event, it could be: If negative event.How am I going to prevent this from happening again? If positive, How am I going allow this to happen more often? How am I going to obey what I heard God telling me to do.
Accountability: What form of accountability, metrics, or other means is going to be put in place to make sure that the plan is carried out.
Act: Set starting time for plan and being acting on it.
Allot of this we do intuitively. This tool simply puts it down in an outline form. So often we in the church when asked about something reply with "generic" reponses. "Just spend time in the word" "Pray on it." "Spend time hearing what God is saying to you." If the person heard that last reply, they probable walked away saying to themselves. "Ok, but how do I go about hearing from God?" Also, if someone comes up to you and says a kairos moment has happened to them and asks for you to help them determine what God is saying to them, you have this tool to help you.
Think about a recent Kairos event in your life. Spend time going through it using the Learning Circle. Get together with your spouse a good friend and tell them about the learning circle. Have each of you think of a kairos moment and take turns leading each other through the learning circle.
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comments box below.