or a Cape May Warbler when they start off looking more like the eraser end of a pencil. Altricial parenting is not for the weak. Since chicks can’ t feed themselves, the job falls to a quickly exhausted mom and dad— constantly foraging, making trips to the nest every fifteen minutes, twelve to fourteen hours a day, without any me time. That’ s why altricial parents tend to lay fewer eggs; after all, life’ s going to get bonkers when it’ s time to feed that brood, so why make it harder on yourself?
There are pros and cons to each approach. Precocial birds get an adrenaline-fueled start, but their brain development tapers off later on. Altricial birds, on the other hand, might start slowly, but the parents deliver a steady supply of high-protein food, so their brains grow steadily to a proportionately larger size. It’ s a trade-off. Do we want greater expectations from the starting gate, or do we want to take the long view?
For the Christ-follower seeking to grow toward spiritual maturity— and for the leader who disciples them— the answer must be both.
Hatched for a Purpose
When it comes to fledging a new believer from the nest, churches and ministries can easily err at the extremes. If we lean in the“ precocial” direction, we’ ll focus on hatching at the expense of development— in other words, evangelism at the expense of discipleship. The presumption( usually unspoken) is that a new believer instantly has all the capacities of a mature believer, so if we can lead a person to make a decision for Christ, the Holy Spirit will take it from there. It’ s assumed this newly hatched life will instinctively know how to feed itself on Scripture, pray, and find healthy community in a local church. Yes, true conversion finds its way, and the Holy Spirit guides Christians through those early lessons so we aren’ t left alone to cannonball out of the tree. But biblically, the Spirit seems to love using the ministry of other believers to chart the path of discipleship. Our fledging strategy can’ t end at the initial commitment.
But we don’ t want to accept an altricial strategy either. It’ s far too easy for seasoned believers to view a new believer as a helpless chick, relegated to the nest until they can open their eyes and earn a few feathers. Before we let them out in public, we require them to complete our discipleship curriculum, sort out the incongruous aspects of their lifestyle, attend our membership class, and maybe memorize some catechism— all within the safety bubble of the nest. After all, rookies belong on the bench, right?
Somewhere between these two approaches, Jesus charts a different way.
The Maker’ s Dozen
Although Jesus certainly covered a lot of ground and influenced many people in three years of ministry, I regularly forget this shocking fact: His nest only contained twelve eggs.
By today’ s standards of leadership development strategy, that seems
19