What does avoiding flu have to do with discipleship?

The flu season has hit us hard. There are so many friends suffering with its impact. No one wants to get the flu. No one wants to spread the flu.

I had the flu last March. I had a 12-hour plane trip, two days previous and had attended church the night before symptoms began. I had hugged several people that night. Now people who know me know that I am not a natural hugger. Hugging used to be rarer than it is now. People hug all over the place at my church. Even on the home design television shows, it seems that people hug upon first meeting, but I digress. . . .

The day before I came down with the flu, I had no idea. I had a slightly lesser appetite that day so when I had a headache right before bed I thought I needed to eat something. I munched a few almonds before I went to bed. Around 1 am I woke up with chills, quickly followed by a bigger headache and body aches. Fever set in around 3 and I knew something was wrong. By 4:30 am, I was googling flu symptoms and had diagnosed myself.

When my husband woke up, I told him I wasn’t going to work, and I was sure I had the flu due to the rapid onset of all the symptoms. He told me I needed to go get tested to be sure since we had travelled to several countries over the past 10 days and it could be something else. I could not drive so he took me over and it was flu. He got TamiFlu and we stopped sharing anything to keep him from getting it. The hardest was keeping the fridge doors and sink handles clean—have to share those.

Not only was I sick, I was mortified that I could have infected other people including my sweet friend Shirley who had sat beside me at church the night before. I quickly texted her what had happened and that she should watch for symptoms. Fortunately, she didn’t get sick and no one else got sick that I know of.  I was out of work all week.

So, what does this have to do with discipleship? I picked up a flyer from the Centers for Disease Control on how to avoid spreading the flu (or any communicable disease). Stuck right in there is the sentence: “Train others on how to do your job so they can cover for you.” Discipleship is often looked at as learning scripture and obeying the Bible. Those are needed and necessary. But as disciple-makers, especially those of us in church work, we should be training others to do our jobs.

I used to think that having people exclaim “we missed you so much” upon my return to church/work was a compliment and they meant it as one. But, part of me doing a good job was to train them so they could do it. As I have tried to put this principle into practice, being gone is not as big of a problem. I used to have a long list to leave of what to do while I was out. Now that list is fairly short. Other people have information, keys, knowledge, items . . . whatever they need to operate in my absence or in my presence.

This is very freeing. But doesn’t that mean I’m not indispensable? Yes, it does and I’m okay with that. Being indispensable is an illusion anyway—no one is--everyone can be replaced. If you hold onto a task or position too tightly, you can squeeze the life right out of it. And it can squeeze the life out of you. We are human, we get sick, we have family members who need care, we go on vacation. It is okay. It is good.

So, beyond the not hugging, shaking hands, or covering my cough, I’m training others. Want to help in discipleship? Train others to do your job at church. God did not put us on this earth to hoard positions, titles, or tasks. He put us on this earth to serve and share Him through ministry to others. If you don’t train someone else, it can’t happen. If you do, it can happen for generations.