Book Review – You Wouldn’t Want An Ostrich For Your Mama! Concepts in Disciple-Making

Another book I picked up in September this year was “You Wouldn’t Want An Ostrich For Your Mama! Concepts in Disciple-Making” by Bro Carlton Coon.   I cannot say how much I enjoy his writings.  I think the only book of his that I have not yet read is his funeral sermons book, not that is not relevant.  

As with previous writings of Elder Coon, this book is absolutely inspiring. It teaches many good concepts that will assist any church in its efforts in making disciples. Elder Coon’s style of writing that is easy to read by Christians of any level of maturity, from laymen to scholar.

The first quote that sticks with me from this book is “Anything less than growth & nurture is simply begetting children for the murderer.” It reminds me of a dream my pastor had years ago that he shared with the church several times.  It was about converts in the North American church.  He said that the mother was consistently in labor and the family was all in the room encouraging her through her travails. Child after child was being born. The doctor would take the child and place it on a conveyor belt that lead out of the room. Pastor said he left the delivery room and followed the conveyor to see how the children were cared for after birth. To his horror, the conveyor belt lead to a large pit, filled with babies, some dead and rotting other dying and crying out for nourishment and attention.  He said the pile was so huge he couldn’t guess at the number that were there, essentially abandoned by the mother.

As a movement we are so excited about getting people to the new birth experience, but after that we (as a whole) have a hard time taking care of all the new babies. This brings me to the second quote: “Don’t diminish the significance of the baby you have in the pursuit of the one unborn.”

“We may not keep them all, but we must try.” Discipleship is just as important as the new birth experience. Without it you have a spiritual abortion. The main thing that we must understand is that the church exists, not just to exist, but to grow.  To grow effectively, we need to not just grow numerically, but each and every individual MUST grow.  When an infant or a toddler ceases to grow, there is a health problem that needs to be addressed before causing irreparable damages.  Likewise, a new convert or a young convert must continue to grow, otherwise there is a spiritual problem that unless it is addressed soon, it will lead to worse problems.

While we need to grow in number, the number you get to walk through the front door isn’t nearly as important as the number you keep from exiting out the back door. Before a transfusion of new blood, a skilled physician will first find and stop hemorrhages. Or as the book states, “Don’t rush to focus on quantity, first achieve quality and then build from there,” and “You can’t grow His kingdom or the local church if you do not close the back door!” The title of the book didn’t make sense to me at first and honestly, it was a factor in why I waited so long to get it.  It started becoming more and more clear as I read the book and read what Elder Coon had to say about the ostrich. “A mother ostrich feels no emotional attachment.” Care about your converts, don’t be an Ostrich Mama!

One could sum this book up in these two final quotes. “Discipleship making is not ONE of the things the church does. It IS what a church does.” “Being present to help gravity keep a chair into place does not count as in having a ministry.” We are all called to ministry and if we want the church to grow, it will take ALL of us working together to get the job done.

You can purchase this book on Amazon for your Kindle (or Kindle app device) here.

Until Next Time
TRP