How do you teach a group of know-it-all 19-year-old fishermen, a farmer or two, a political fanatic, a tax collector, and an embezzler about God's kingdom? How do you inspire them? Challenge them? Motivate them? Get them to listen to what you are trying to say?
In our times we like to organize classes. We gather material, prepare syllabi, and develop lesson plans. We assign a text and type reading lists. We lecture and do small-group discussion. We may even assign a paper or some other kind of project.
But how did Jesus do it? That should inform the way we make and train disciples. Jesus taught his by intentionally leading them into situations that scared the living daylights out of them, and showed them the glory and power of the kingdom of God. This week I preached from John 6:1-21, where Jesus did two things that pushed the disciples to their limits so they could see the kingdom at work.
It occurs to me that Jesus adopted the time-honored method of what we in home schooling call “lifestyle learning.” Everything he did in his Galilean ministry was for the learning benefit of the disciples. So when Jesus deliberately lured a large crowd of 5,000 men (not to mention women and children) to a desert place without food, or knowingly sent the disciples into a fierce storm on the lake, he was presenting them with opportunities to respect the kingdom.
A crowd followed Jesus to the wilderness, where he was watching for them. “Philip,” he said, “where are we going to get enough food to feed all those people?” Philip was so dumbfounded he checked the treasury and reported that 200 day’s wages (let’s say about $12,000) would not be enough to buy bread for them. Of course Jesus knew what he was going to do, but he was giving Philip a hard time. Andrew talked a little boy out of his lunch and Jesus let the disciples see first-hand how the kingdom opens to those who are determined to do God’s work. Jesus showed them the glory and the power of the kingdom.
Later, Jesus sent the disciples on back to Capernaum without him. The seasoned fishermen, well-accustomed to severe and unpredictable storms had trouble making it back. They hadn’t rowed four miles when they saw Jesus coming in the distance, walking on the water. They let him into the boat and immediately it was across the lake, in port at Capernaum. Jesus let them see how the kingdom calms the boisterous waves of wind and water. He showed them the glory and the power of the kingdom.
I think that somehow we have made church too academic and too institutionalized. We say we want to transform lives, but then we pour cold water on it all by offering classes. We make it too safe, too passive. We want to be nice, to avoid embarrassing or challenging people. We also make it too easy with what Bonhoffer called “cheap grace.”
If we use the method Jesus used we will deliberately put people into situations where they are challenged, intimidated, and afraid so they can be absolutely amazed at the glory and power of the kingdom of God. We will ask hard questions and do hard things.
How do you teach a rag-tag group of upstarts who think they know it all? First you gather the upstarts. Then you scare the living daylights out of them so that they are sufficiently impressed with the glory and the power of God’s amazing kingdom.
But how did Jesus do it? That should inform the way we make and train disciples. Jesus taught his by intentionally leading them into situations that scared the living daylights out of them, and showed them the glory and power of the kingdom of God. This week I preached from John 6:1-21, where Jesus did two things that pushed the disciples to their limits so they could see the kingdom at work.
It occurs to me that Jesus adopted the time-honored method of what we in home schooling call “lifestyle learning.” Everything he did in his Galilean ministry was for the learning benefit of the disciples. So when Jesus deliberately lured a large crowd of 5,000 men (not to mention women and children) to a desert place without food, or knowingly sent the disciples into a fierce storm on the lake, he was presenting them with opportunities to respect the kingdom.
A crowd followed Jesus to the wilderness, where he was watching for them. “Philip,” he said, “where are we going to get enough food to feed all those people?” Philip was so dumbfounded he checked the treasury and reported that 200 day’s wages (let’s say about $12,000) would not be enough to buy bread for them. Of course Jesus knew what he was going to do, but he was giving Philip a hard time. Andrew talked a little boy out of his lunch and Jesus let the disciples see first-hand how the kingdom opens to those who are determined to do God’s work. Jesus showed them the glory and the power of the kingdom.
Later, Jesus sent the disciples on back to Capernaum without him. The seasoned fishermen, well-accustomed to severe and unpredictable storms had trouble making it back. They hadn’t rowed four miles when they saw Jesus coming in the distance, walking on the water. They let him into the boat and immediately it was across the lake, in port at Capernaum. Jesus let them see how the kingdom calms the boisterous waves of wind and water. He showed them the glory and the power of the kingdom.
I think that somehow we have made church too academic and too institutionalized. We say we want to transform lives, but then we pour cold water on it all by offering classes. We make it too safe, too passive. We want to be nice, to avoid embarrassing or challenging people. We also make it too easy with what Bonhoffer called “cheap grace.”
If we use the method Jesus used we will deliberately put people into situations where they are challenged, intimidated, and afraid so they can be absolutely amazed at the glory and power of the kingdom of God. We will ask hard questions and do hard things.
How do you teach a rag-tag group of upstarts who think they know it all? First you gather the upstarts. Then you scare the living daylights out of them so that they are sufficiently impressed with the glory and the power of God’s amazing kingdom.
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