Parent: “Al, listen to me, okay?”

Me: Staring out the window preoccupied, yet responding, “Okay.”

Parent: “Al, are you listening?”

Me: “Yes.”

Parent: “Please tell me what I just said.”

Me: Making eye contact and responding with great enthusiasm and confidence, “You said, ‘Please tell me what I just said.’”

Parent: “No Al, before that?”

Me: Quickly replaying the prior five to ten seconds, then quickly remembering and responding, “Oh, you said, ‘Al, are you listening?’”

Parent: “Good job, Al. You have your listening ears on. Okay, listen closely. When we get out of this car, people are going to speak to us. You can speak to them, tell them your name if they ask, and shake their hand or give them a high five looking them in the eye. If they would like to give you something, it’s okay to accept if you would like to, or politely decline. Remember to use good manners, saying, ‘please’, ‘yes or no thank you’, and ‘yes or no sir/ma’am.’ You got it, Al?”

Then they followed up with, “Okay, let’s see whatcha’ got. Hi, how are you?”  I’d strangely stare at either parent, thinking to myself, “Why are they acting as if they don’t know me?” But I quickly learned to role play with varying responses: “I’m doing okay. Thank you.”, “I’m good, and you?”, or “I’m doing great. How are you?”

Of course, I eagerly awaited their next cue, which was often “What’s your name?” to which I would respond, “Al Brown. What is your name?” Then came the high five, the shake of the hand, or the head nod  — up or down — with eye contact at all times.

As far back as I can remember, for some strange reason, my mother and father coached me in these types of interactions quite often. Whether at the grocery store, barbershop, church, school, their work functions, just about everywhere we went, now that I think about it, this exchange took place.

But why? Why did my parents, regularly and without fail, subject me to this mental preparation?

Little did I realize in the moment, but now see clearly, my parents were discipling me in relational unity in the context of the first E (Engage) and the second E (Establish) through the demonstrative use of the third E in the 4 Es discipleship principles at Mosaic: Equip.

Truly following Jesus means that we are to be equipped, and help equip others to find and follow Jesus together.

My parents were intentionally equipping — coaching, correcting, and praising — my siblings and me from a very early age to engage with people from all walks of life — whether they were believers and followers of Jesus Christ or not.

Through these engaging moments of discipleship that included more or less social cues as I aged and grew in ability, little did I realize, my parents were often establishing Biblical foundation and principles of how to conduct ourselves and how to love and serve others according to God’s word (Proverbs 22:6).  And what appeared to me as only preparing me for the next moment once we left the car, was in actuality equipping me for life. This leads me to these questions:

Who in your life is a step further (or gone before you) in their spiritual walk and is equipping you in following Jesus (Hebrews 13:7)?

In addition to persons that have gone before you, per se, what community of Jesus followers are you walking with as y’all equip one another in following Jesus (Proverbs 27:17)?

Lastly, but certainly not least, who has God given you influence to equip — family, friends, co-workers, or even complete strangers — who is new to following Jesus, or simply doesn’t know and follow Jesus at all (Mark 1:17, Matthew 4:19)?

Whether you’re the person equipping or the person being equipped to follow Jesus, none of us enters and navigates this world as a self-made person or a one-person show knowing all there is to know about life with any level of proficiency.

In short, we all need equipping at each and every turn in life. And it’s a powerful thing to be equipped and to equip someone in and through discipleship, especially when centered on finding and following Jesus Christ.

Discipleship not only engages and establishes us as image-bearers of Jesus Christ, but the equipping nature of discipleship transforms all of us as His sons and daughters — before, with, and behind — to the ends of the earth.

Alvin Brown