For “Living Disciples” School is Always in Session

For everything, there is a season…

—Ecclesiastes 3:1

The calendar has now turned to September.  Like many others where I live, my kids went back to school the day after Labor Day. Although the astronomical season of summer lasts another three weeks, and summer weather can sometimes last well into September and October here in Maryland, Labor Day is viewed by most people as the “end of summer”.  The neighborhood pools close until Memorial Day, and the beaches are much less crowded than they were just a few days ago.  Football season is upon us now, and before too long the leaves will change color and fall. And believe it or not, in just a little over 100 days it will be Christmas! 

So much of our life organizes around the academic year—including the life of our church communities.  When school closes for the summer in May/June, we tend to follow their lead  and shudder the formal learning (and most other activities) until fall.  To be fair, the decision is practical, since this is a time many people—including church leaders and their families (like my own for example)—plan vacations.  People do, after all, need a season to rest…  I for one enjoyed my summer vacation.

As late August and September comes, schools and colleges resume classes, sports practices get rolling, and activities at church also ramp up back up.  After Labor Day, as Warren G. Harding put it, life sort of “returns to normalcy”. 

We tend to take a break from formal structured learning during summer at church, but when we decide to follow Jesus, it’s not just "year-round school" we sign up for—but lifelong learning.  

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In the ancient world, when someone wanted to learn something, they usually sought out a Master to teach them.  They became an apprentice and literally “did life” with that person, living with them, following them everywhere they went, and learning everything they knew.  They didn’t just learn about a subject in a textbook, they learned it by "living it"—by doing the things that their Master did.  Eventually they themselves became teachers who taught others what their Master had taught them.  This is what we see Jesus doing with his closest followers—whom we know as the Disciples. 

My son Brady and his coach Kevin.

I’ve lived through an example of that this summer with my son Brady. He has had quite a few training sessions with Kevin Munson, who is a relief pitcher for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (of the Atlantic League).  My wife found Kevin online this summer and he agreed to take Brady on as a student. The hours of one-on-one training both in the batting cage in the bowels of the Blue Crabs Stadium—and on the field where they play—has helped Brady to feel more confident in his game.  He even made his Middle School team!  He’s excited about the year ahead.  That makes his dad happy—and makes the price we pay per lesson seem worthwhile. 

Kevin has not only taught my son about baseball; he’s taught him skills that will translate to his life.  

Kevin Munson on the mound
in relief for the Southern Maryland
 Blue Crabs on September 1.

Brady has learned that sometimes you will be tired, and, on those days, it will be tempting to just go through the motions, or to bail on attending practice altogether. These are the moments when the rubber hits the road and you must decide how badly you want it—whether theit be baseball-related or some other goal in life.  Through this apprenticeship to Kevin, Brady has also learned that while he may have physical limitations (due to his asthma), they probably are a bit beyond what he thought they were at the beginning of the summer. Most of all, he’s learned how much it means to have someone who believes in you and your capabilities—and thus pushes you a bit beyond your comfort zone to help you achieve your full potential.  Did I mention Kevin is also a Christian?  We didn’t know that when we started. 

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Our relationship with Jesus (particularly as Teacher) has similarities to my son’s relationship with his baseball coach. Although we will certainly form a theology, or beliefs about God, along the way, my sense is that Jesus is less interested in telling us what to believe about God and more interested in showing us how to live life with God.  Theologian Dallas Willard said that “discipleship is a life” spent “learning from Jesus how he would live our life if he were us”.  Now, that doesn’t mean Jesus lives our lives for us, but it does mean that if we “enroll in his class” and follow him day-by-day, he promises to show us how to live. 

Of course, what makes our apprenticeship to Jesus a little more challenging than Brady’s relationship with his baseball coach, Kevin, is that, with Jesus we have to learn to communicate with a Coach we can’t see with our eyes.  But Jesus promises that if we follow him, he will train us to have “eyes that see” his presence and “ears that hear” his voice.  We will begin to see that we can indeed learn from Jesus as we journey through life.  He will make himself visible in ways that speak uniquely to each of us.  

Just as Coach Kevin took time to learn who Brady was and works with him differently than he might with another student, Jesus crafts a curriculum for each of us that is unique to who God has created us to be. 

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As I mentioned already, Brady takes lots of private lessons (he actually has two coaches he works with). While they both have been essential to his growth as a baseball player, ultimately baseball is a team sport.  You need nine players to field a team and you have to work together to pursue your goals.  At baseball practice, Brady works with the other players on the team and becomes familiar with their habits (and vice versa), and together with their coach, they figure out how they work best together and what gives them the best chance to succeed during games against other teams.   

In a similar manner, while one-on-one training is an essential part of spiritual growth, Christianity is not meant to be a solo activity   No, it’s about God’s people working together as a team to accomplish what God needs done on the “field” of life.   We live out most of our day-to-day Christian faith in the context of community, both within our church and in the broader context of the place where we live.   Group activities are a good opportunity to practice interacting in a group of like-minded people how we want to behave when we are about in the larger world outside the church walls.  In this sense, it kind of works the same way baseball practice works for Brady and his teammates. 

Individual study and group study are of a piece; one activity complements the other beautifully. It takes a balance of both to mature as a follower of Christ.  

I know from experience that there is something powerful that happens when a group studies the Bible or a book together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But, I also know that I am most likely to experience the group study that way if I’ve been learning on my own between classes.  When we’re in a healthy group, the exchange of different perspectives around the table is spiritually enriching.  We discover that we need not agree on everything to have fellowship together and learn from one another.  In fact, we might actually learn the most from those who have a different perspective—that is, if we truly listen to them.  

It takes intentional practice to get past the human tendency to think that our view is the only orthodox one and that our job is to convince others of their wrongness, i.e., to win the argument at all costs.  In this day and age, it seems the ability to simply listen to and respect one another is a lost art.  Healthy group study can help us regain that God-given capacity.

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My church adopted a new vision statement last year. It is a simple statement of who our community hopes to be.  We say that:

Through God’s love we will engage and 
empower everyone to be living disciples.

There’s a lot there to unpack in that sentence, and we’re still fleshing out what this looks like in practice in our community.  However, I particularly like the phrase, living disciples—which came from one of our youth who participated in the discussions leading to our new vision.  The phrase implies a vibrancy, a dynamic and growing faith, always learning and exploring new paths beyond the well-worn comfortable and familiar ones—always open to new ways of experiencing God individually and in community.

It’s safe to say that if my church—or anyone—is going to achieve this vision of “being living disciples,” continual learning at the feet of our Master is not optional.   

No matter what age you are, or how long you’ve been “going to church”, no one is allowed to say “I’m done. There’s nothing more I need to learn from Jesus.” When you think about it that's kind of an arrogant stance to take—ever.  Maybe Jesus' reply to us when we presume to think we've got it "all figured out" when it comes to following him is similar to what the venerable Jedi Master Yoda once said to his adversary Count Dooku.  Maybe he sort of chuckles to himself and says: “Much to learn you still have.” 

So whether it be in a formal classroom setting, with a group of friends gathering for spiritual discussion and fellowship, or simply through your own personal studies, I hope you take the next step in your "curriculum for Christlikeness" this fall.   I encourage you to keep “fanning the flame” that Christ has lit within you"—2 Timothy 1:6.  Remember, Christ is counting on us!   There is no “Plan B”.