This week I received a magazine called, "Voice" (September/October 2018) which had a very interesting article on, "Training Like Jesus" in which the author -- Paul Seger -- shows the difference between the way Jesus trained people, the way the Church throughout history has done so, and the way we tend to do so today. I found the differences quite fascinating, not to mention a bit convicting and very challenging. I trust it might not only be informative and thought-provoking for you as well, but challenging to consider. It gave me a much greater appreciation and respect for disciplers and pastors from the past. Enjoy.
Training People Like Jesus Did
"Life
on the mission field has honed my conviction and commitment to discipleship. I
have gained an appreciation for the absolute necessity of leadership
training. For years I have done both. Discipleship of new believers
and training men for church leadership became an indispensable part of missions
and ministry. But a visit I took to Israel this past year demonstrated
how woefully inadequate my approach has been. As we traversed the Holy Land and
rehearsed the life of Christ, it became obvious that His method of discipleship
differed greatly from the way we disciple and train...
The
Gospels speak of Jesus moving around the country with little reference to
distances he traveled. In my naivete, I failed to factor walking into the
equation. From His base of operations in Capernaum, Jerusalem was at least a
five-day trek (approximately 121 miles, walking the whole way)... What do
these distances have to do with the amount of time Jesus spent training His
disciples? It is obvious these long walks would have given inordinate
amounts of time to talk and train. Lengthy hikes with
conversations. Lessons and lectures were enabled by hours on the
road. Add to that the absence of television, internet, phones, movies,
electricity, and readily available entertainment, and the hours for teaching
and training rapidly stacked up. Evenings around the campfire allowed for
unhurried conversations. In the 21st Century we might wonder how Jesus
could train disciples in 3.5 years. We anticipate four years of undergraduate
work and then another three to four years for seminary. Yet in half that time
Christ prepared the men who would be the foundation and future of the greatest
initiative in history, the Church.
Most
preparation for ministry in the Western world takes place in a classroom and a
15-hour semester load is considered normal. Then, if there is an hour or two a
week with a mentor, it is considered an exceptional experience... But
when Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, it was to spend 24 hours a day
together for months on end. They ministered together, ate together,
worked together, relaxed together, socialized together and lived life as one.
We
will never replicate the teaching style of Jesus today. We have neither
the will nor the capacity to do this. But there have been phases of church
history where something similar happened. In the early years of the United
States there were no colleges and seminaries. Men who wanted to enter the
ministry did so by moving into the home of a pastor. They rose in the
morning and had devotions together. Breakfast was shared with opportunity to
converse. Study for messages filled their morning hours and were done together
(the older instructing the younger). Afternoon visits and evangelism were done
together with opportunity to debrief after the event. Evenings were unhurried
conversations around the table. "In eighteenth-century New England,
Christian leaders such as Jonathan and Sarah Edwards regularly had one or two
pastor-trainees move into their home (alongside their 11 children!) where the
budding ministers had opportunity to observe the quality of their marriage, the
reality of their spiritual life, and the demands of pastoral duties" (Ted
Engstrom, The Fine Art of Mentoring). How many pastors do you know who
have apprentices living in their homes? Would I be willing to do that?
Some
pastors were better at doing this than others, so it was suggested that these
shepherds do this full time. With these full-time shepherds, Harvard and
Princeton were formed to formalize the training and we never looked back. Our
jam-packed schedules, programs, and Western approach to education have become
the norm and crowded out the potential of training like Jesus. I'm not
sure we will ever go back to the way Jesus did it. He spent the time...
It would take a radical adjustment to ministry for the average pastor to
include a couple trainees in their home and schedule... Even though we will not
replicate the teaching style of Jesus, many of us could start moving in that
direction."
It
is challenging to consider and think that maybe the newest way of doing things
isn't the best or most effective. It's also challenging to consider the
depth of commitment it took to be disciples of Jesus. Or to be like a Sarah and
Jonathan Edwards and open your house already full of 11 children to the
watchful eyes of one or two pastors-in-training who watched (so as to learn)
your every move. Imagine someone (or a couple of someones!) watching how you
treat your wife and family, keep your house, spend your income, raise and train
your children, pray and study the Word, evangelize and train leaders, speak of
and interact with everyone in the Body of Christ, and seek to further the work
of the Gospel locally and globally.
Pastors
often talk about "living in a fishbowl" where people observe
everything you do. And that's with people looking on from the
outside! Imagine them living in your house 24/7 for a couple years at a
time! Yikes! For us who need our times of privacy to gather our
thoughts and regain strength, it's a daunting thought! We might all
say, "Only by Your grace, O God! Please give us what we need
to begin to disciple more like Jesus did."
With
You In Our Habitual Need For Grace, Pastor Jeff
