What it means to be a disciple
What it means to be a disciple
On a personal level, discipleship is something that I have always craved. I wanted an expert in a field for which I had passion, to guide me with a slow and steady hand as I grew in the field. As a youth, I longed for this structure and accountability. Instead, I had to make my way, on my own, and be completely responsible for my often meandering education. To be sure, I always relied on God, I always prayed to Him for guidance, and sought Him in everything.
Raised between the “rock” of Jehovah’s Witnesses (brought to the family by my father), and the “hard place” of the “Worldwide Church of God” (brought to the family by my mother), my only salvation was a direct call from God. He would have to be my leader, the Holy Spirit, my teacher; for there were no human true Christian disciplers in my life.
My lack of discipleship could have easily proved problematic; for as the decades flew by, I soon became the one who needed to disciple others. I lead youth groups, gave sermons, counseled and even married a couple. All of this time, the template I used was that which I gleaned from studying discipleship cursorily, my studies of the Bible, and the ideal in my mind of the discipleship I had always desired. I would try to give it to others.
The closest cultural inferences to discipleship that have inspired me over the years are both historical and fictional.
Historically, the system of apprenticeship developed in the Middle Ages, that came to be used by craft guilds and town governments intrigued me. A young person would apprentice himself to a master craftsman and learn his trade[i]. I had the rare and God-gifted opportunity to participate in the modern analog of this - the internship. For a semester, I worked for next to nothing for a defense contractor[ii] while in high school. I would have gladly paid to do this. Experts with masters degrees and PhDs. In physics and engineering would guide, encourage me, and set me on tasks working with high technology. It was such a powerful experience that it set my career direction to this day.
Fictionally, the most personally idealistic portrayal of discipleship has been the idea of a Padawan in the Star Wars Jedi mythos. A Padawan would apprentice himself to a Jedi master for intensive, years-long, one-on-one training. The Padawan would adopt a dress style and effectual manner that would identify him or her (or “it”) as a Padawan. A coming-of-age event called “The Trials” moved the Padawan out from apprenticeship, to Knighthood[iii].
I believe that the Star Wars Padawan storyline borrows heavily from the Jewish tradition of discipleship. At 6 to 10 years of age, a student would start “Bet Sefer.” In the time of Josephus, there were 480 synagogues “each with a Bet Sefer for teaching the written law[iv].”A student would study the Torah. On the first day, a Torah teacher would give each student a drop of honey, have them taste it and tell them, “May the word of God be like honey on your lips.” The rabbi would create an indelible image in their minds of the sweetness of God’s word[v].
After bar mitzvah, the best students would move to Bet Midrash, and the best of the best would move on to Bet Talmud. This had the longest duration of ages 15-30., but you had to be called to do this. Hence we have rabbi Yeshua telling his disciples, “follow me.” They would have counted it an awesome privilege to finish their education in this rare opportunity to be invited to Bet Talmud[vi].
So to be a disciple is to be invited to Bet Talmud, to leave behind all that we are doing and make the study of the Word of God primary. It is to be called by Jesus Himself to become His people.
Today I am so glad to be able to participate in a directed, in-depth study of the Torah, The Tanach, and the New Testament, to memorize the scripture, to even write a copy of my own someday like the kings of old.
I hope my children will have the privilege of having a talmudi guide them through their early stages of discipleship.
[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship
[ii] http://sec.edgar-online.com/1995/06/20/00/0000950112-95-001706/Section5.asp
[iii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi#Jedi_ranks
[iv] http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gutenberg/etext06/8jsph10.txt
[v] http://www.nwc.org/nwcmedia/Sermons/sermoninfo.asp?uid=263
[vi] http://www.khouse.org/articles/2005/616/
On a personal level, discipleship is something that I have always craved. I wanted an expert in a field for which I had passion, to guide me with a slow and steady hand as I grew in the field. As a youth, I longed for this structure and accountability. Instead, I had to make my way, on my own, and be completely responsible for my often meandering education. To be sure, I always relied on God, I always prayed to Him for guidance, and sought Him in everything.
Raised between the “rock” of Jehovah’s Witnesses (brought to the family by my father), and the “hard place” of the “Worldwide Church of God” (brought to the family by my mother), my only salvation was a direct call from God. He would have to be my leader, the Holy Spirit, my teacher; for there were no human true Christian disciplers in my life.
My lack of discipleship could have easily proved problematic; for as the decades flew by, I soon became the one who needed to disciple others. I lead youth groups, gave sermons, counseled and even married a couple. All of this time, the template I used was that which I gleaned from studying discipleship cursorily, my studies of the Bible, and the ideal in my mind of the discipleship I had always desired. I would try to give it to others.
The closest cultural inferences to discipleship that have inspired me over the years are both historical and fictional.
Historically, the system of apprenticeship developed in the Middle Ages, that came to be used by craft guilds and town governments intrigued me. A young person would apprentice himself to a master craftsman and learn his trade[i]. I had the rare and God-gifted opportunity to participate in the modern analog of this - the internship. For a semester, I worked for next to nothing for a defense contractor[ii] while in high school. I would have gladly paid to do this. Experts with masters degrees and PhDs. In physics and engineering would guide, encourage me, and set me on tasks working with high technology. It was such a powerful experience that it set my career direction to this day.
Fictionally, the most personally idealistic portrayal of discipleship has been the idea of a Padawan in the Star Wars Jedi mythos. A Padawan would apprentice himself to a Jedi master for intensive, years-long, one-on-one training. The Padawan would adopt a dress style and effectual manner that would identify him or her (or “it”) as a Padawan. A coming-of-age event called “The Trials” moved the Padawan out from apprenticeship, to Knighthood[iii].
I believe that the Star Wars Padawan storyline borrows heavily from the Jewish tradition of discipleship. At 6 to 10 years of age, a student would start “Bet Sefer.” In the time of Josephus, there were 480 synagogues “each with a Bet Sefer for teaching the written law[iv].”A student would study the Torah. On the first day, a Torah teacher would give each student a drop of honey, have them taste it and tell them, “May the word of God be like honey on your lips.” The rabbi would create an indelible image in their minds of the sweetness of God’s word[v].
After bar mitzvah, the best students would move to Bet Midrash, and the best of the best would move on to Bet Talmud. This had the longest duration of ages 15-30., but you had to be called to do this. Hence we have rabbi Yeshua telling his disciples, “follow me.” They would have counted it an awesome privilege to finish their education in this rare opportunity to be invited to Bet Talmud[vi].
So to be a disciple is to be invited to Bet Talmud, to leave behind all that we are doing and make the study of the Word of God primary. It is to be called by Jesus Himself to become His people.
Today I am so glad to be able to participate in a directed, in-depth study of the Torah, The Tanach, and the New Testament, to memorize the scripture, to even write a copy of my own someday like the kings of old.
I hope my children will have the privilege of having a talmudi guide them through their early stages of discipleship.
[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship
[ii] http://sec.edgar-online.com/1995/06/20/00/0000950112-95-001706/Section5.asp
[iii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi#Jedi_ranks
[iv] http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gutenberg/etext06/8jsph10.txt
[v] http://www.nwc.org/nwcmedia/Sermons/sermoninfo.asp?uid=263
[vi] http://www.khouse.org/articles/2005/616/
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