Like Our Teacher

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master.
(Matthew 10:24-25a)

Being mature in Christ means that we look like our teacher. Our teacher is the eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There was a time when we had nothing to do with Christ or his teaching. We lived our life for ourselves, doing what we thought was best. We had no idea that Jesus, the author and creator of life, wanted us to be listening to him and doing what he said. Our life began changing when we started hearing what Jesus actually taught. We came to see that he is not like anyone else we have ever seen or heard. In listening to him we found ourselves being challenged to acknowledge that what he says is truth. What he said really strikes a note within us. Some of his teachings excite us and make a lot of sense as we realize what he is saying. But some things he said really challenges us and lead us into a deeper relationship with him and a greater trust. As we apply Jesus? teachings to our daily life, we grow in maturity. Maturity is not the goal, but the result of being faithful to do what the Lord says in the little things each and every day. Being faithful leads to much more being given. Eventually our growth is such an integrated part of our life, it is who we have become, that we are living like our teacher. What he taught us is being lived out in full. We look like our teacher, Jesus Christ.

In becoming flesh and dwelling among us, Jesus Christ only did what the Father showed him. What he saw the Father doing is what he did. As Christ's disciples, we learn to discern and do the will of our Father. It is not an adhering to a set of rules, but living for the glory of God because of God's great love by which He saved us from sin and death to live for Him.

Jesus said that he came to serve and not to be served and that is what we find throughout the gospels that reveal him to us. Following Jesus has taught us that it is better to serve than to be served. In our selfishness we wanted to be served. But in Christ we find great joy in serving others and seeing them blessed. Sometimes we experience great blessing in serving, but that is not why we serve. We serve because our teacher has taught us how to serve in his name and what a joy it is to see others coming to our teacher.

To look at Jesus? life is to look at the one whom Isaiah prophetically described as the Suffering Servant. Suffering makes no sense to us until we grasp the reality of sin and death and the powers of darkness at work in this world. When we recognize that suffering is the result of sin and is at the hand of the enemy of our soul, the devil who seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy, are we able to suffer for the name of Christ and allow God to use it for God. We don't seek out suffering, but neither do we deny Christ to keep from suffering. Though we cannot fully comprehend or even explain how God will ultimately use it for God, we ourselves have grown in our knowledge and love of God such that we can endure suffering and remain faithful to the end.

Suffering for Christ may include laying down our physical life for the sake of others. Even if it doesn't our following Christ leads to our laying down ourselves so that others may know him. Christ dwelling in us enables us to give all we have for his name. Our life is not our own, we have been bought with a price. Christ paid the ultimate price so we could look like him.

Growth towards Christian maturity

Not Like Anybody Else

Maybe it is an underlying and unconscious sense that we are a unique creation of God's, that there is truly no other human being in all of history who is exactly like us, that makes us seek to be unlike anybody else. Many of us may try to emulate our heroes, hoping to be like them. Some of us what to dress like them, walk or talk like them, or just do what it is we see them doing. Even if we emulate others, ultimately we don't want to look exactly like anyone else. We want to be different. Some of us may want to stand out in a crowd, so we look for radical ways to be different. Others want to blend in and not be noticed such that our differences are not too pronounced to call attention to ourselves. However we approach it, we want to be our own person, which in our minds means that we are not exactly like anyone else. The truth is, we can never be exactly like anyone else. The problem with our not wanting to be like anyone else is that we have no desire to look like Jesus Christ. Whatever it is that we know or heard about him, if anything at all, it hasn't resulted in our looking to him as the greatest authority and teacher regarding life. So, we go about living our life in whatever way we think is in our best interest. If asked how we are doing, we might say that we are doing the best we can with what we have. What we don't realize is that God wants something so much better for us and for the whole of His creation than whatever is the best we can muster. Apart from Christ, even doing the very best we can, we are not going to be doing the will of God the Father. We don't spend any time seeking to know His will, let along putting it into action. In our better moments we may help someone who is in need, but we won't be approaching life as one who seeks to serve rather than be served. We might be kind for a moment, but it isn't part of who we are in the depths of our heart because deep down we are selfish. Unlike Jesus, who endured suffering, we are not willing or capable of enduring suffering or being misunderstood or misrepresented. We do whatever we can to keep from suffering and vehemently defend ourselves whenever possible. As far as laying our life down for the sake of another? We might be willing to give ourselves in the heat of the moment to protect our family. Some of us may even be willing to enter the military, knowing that we might be killed, though we probably don't think that would happen to us. But to live our life in such a way that we willingly lay down our lives for the sake of others in an ongoing way just goes against our desire for self-preservation. Though we may not even know much about Jesus, once thing that we could say is that we look nothing like Jesus, nor are we interested in looking like him.

Hearing What Jesus Taught

Our growth towards maturity is possible only if we begin hearing what Jesus taught. We start to encounter some of the things he taught. It might stumble across a program on the radio or TV that draws us in without our really realizing it and we get a glimpse of him. Maybe we are invited to a church service or a home Bible study that starts exposing us to his teachings. Perhaps a friend who follows Jesus spends time with us and shares some of the things Jesus taught. Maybe, just maybe, we pick up a Bible along the way and open it us and begin reading it, particularly the gospel accounts of Jesus? life, death, and resurrection. Through whatever means it may be, we begin hearing the things that Jesus taught. At this point, we are only being exposed to what he said. We really don't grasp much of it, and we are not sure if it is true or not. But we are being exposes to Jesus and his teachings. He isn't like anyone else we have encountered. While we don't yet realize it, what we are hearing has to do with Jesus doing the will of His Father and challenging those he spoke to. We find him serving others, thought we don't notice that he is not seeking to be served. As we listen to his teachings we may recognize that he was rejected by those who didn't like what he said and suffered in ways that he didn't deserve to suffer. If anything starts to really click for us, it may be our feeling like he was misunderstood by those around him. We may even feel like his teachings are really tough. It may take us a while, but sooner or later we encounter Jesus saying that he would be put to death and be raised again on the third day. Hard as it is to grasp, we find Jesus laying down his life for the sake of others and even calling his disciples to do the same in various ways. There is one thing we are starting to learn about Jesus, which is that he claims to speak on behalf of God.

Realizing What Jesus Taught

The more time we spend listening to Jesus and thinking about what he said, the more deeply his words penetrate us. We think about what he says and look at the world around us and maybe even at ourselves in light of his words. We realize that what he is saying is radically different than the way the world is and the way we are. It begins to dawn on us that Jesus expects the things he says to be lived out. He is not just giving out information. Some of the people we find listening to him and following him go through some kind of transformation. As we investigate Jesus, observing him, listening to him, and looking at those who follow him, we begin realizing that he is claiming to be doing the will of God and calling those who follow him to do God's will also. In our more honest moments with ourselves, we admit that we have no sense of doing God's will. We feel challenged to understand what it means to believe God and do His will. Watching more closely, we begin to realize that doing God's will involves serving others. We notice that Jesus wasn't looking for people to serve him. Looking in the mirror, we know that we would much rather be served. Jesus's teachings are really challenging to us. Then there is this whole issue of Jesus telling his disciples about their being hated because of him and that they are blessed when the suffer. That goes counter to our thinking. We want to avoid suffering. That doesn't sound like a blessing. And why anyone would want to hate Jesus makes no sense to us, let alone our being hated because of him. As far as laying down our life for the sake of another, there are parts of that that seem to make sense regarding our family and friends, but Jesus talks about loving enemies and giving himself as a ransom for many. Those things leave us baffled. What is happening is that Jesus? teachings are being to take root deep inside of us. They are challenging us to think about what he said and to understand the implications. In some cases what Jesus says already makes a lot of sense to us. But there are other areas that get a little too personal for our comfort, as if he is speaking directly to us. Still other parts of his teaching see impossible to us. Nevertheless we are hearing and grasping more and more of his teachings.

Accepting What Jesus Taught

Attempting What Jesus Taught

When it happens in us will vary from one person to another, but at some point we start putting into practice some of the things Jesus taught. For some of us, it happens early in our following him. Something Jesus says strikes us and we know we cannot just listen to his words, but that we must do what he says. Some others of us hear what he says and wrestle with or even ignore it for a while until eventually we realize that we need to do what he says. Some times as put his teachings into practice it radically transforms an area of our life and relationship. Other times it seems slow and even difficult to move forward. We may even feel like we stumble and fall time and again, but what we don't do is claim that Jesus doesn't know what he is talking about. It may be hard at times. Even impossible to comprehend, but since we are growing in our love and knowledge of Jesus and have some areas that are being lived in light of what he said, we keep attempting to do what Jesus taught. During this phase of our growth, we are both learning what the will of God is and how to discern it in the Bible and apply it to daily life. We find ourselves praying that God's will would be done here on earth as it is in heaven, and asking Him to accomplish His will in our life. Without our really having to seek them out, we are encountering opportunities to serve others. Sometimes it is through a particular activity or project we get involved in. But at other times it shows up in what appear to be the most unusual ways at work, at home, in our neighborhood, and even with strangers or in unexpected places. We also notice a shift taking place in our heart and mind where we would rather serve others than having others serve us. We may even look at times when others are serving us as being an act of serving them. Though the idea of suffering and being misunderstood are not something that comes easy for us, we are starting to see that the spiritual realm is makes talking about Jesus and living for him a battle at times. We are coming to realize that the world is covered in a spiritual darkness that doesn't want to come into the light because its deeds are evil. What Jesus said about persecution is starting to make sense and we may be experiencing it is some form from time to time. Because our love and knowledge of Christ is increasing, a heart of compassion and concern for others is expanding within us. Time and time again we find ourselves giving up some right we have for the sake of another person. Without consciously thinking about it, we are learning to lay down our life for the sake of others so that God may be glorified. We may not see it in ourselves, but those around us are noticing that we are looking more and more like our teacher because we are making every effort as far as it is us to us to live out his teachings. We are also beginning to grasp that it isn't through our own power that we are living the new life we have been living, but it is Christ in us.

Living What Jesus Taught

Maturity in Christ is seen in us as the teachings of Jesus are what directs the way we live day in and day out. It is through gradual growth in living out what he taught that we mature. There are no short cuts. Nor do we pick and choose which of his teachings we want to apply and which we don't. Belonging to Christ means that we learn and do all that our teacher has taught us. We grow as we are faithful in the little he has given to us at the moment. If he imparts to us a little knowledge and understanding, then we put it into practice in our daily life. Should he decide to give us an opportunity to serve someone, we are faithful in our service for we do it in the love of Christ. Hearing and doing is no longer an issue for us, it is a way of life. A wonderful and joyous way of life in which we do all for the glory of God. Our old self-centeredness has been crucified with Christ. Doing the will of our heavenly Father is both our prayer and our reality. Serving rather than being served is a blessing though we do it in love, not to receive a blessing. Suffering and being misunderstood goes with being a Christ follower. In fact, we have gained experience in both suffering in the name of Christ, being misrepresented, maligned, and rejected, that we know that God's grace is sufficient to see us through whatever it is we do for His glory. While we haven't been called upon to pay the ultimate price of giving our life blood for another, we realize that we are laying down our life on a regular basis for the sake of others so that they too may hear the gospel and believe it. Living what Jesus taught has led to our looking like Jesus. It has not been by our effort, but simply our response to the very Word of God that abides in us. We didn't initiate the changes that have taken place in us. We certainly cannot take credit for it is God working in us both to will and to do all according to His good pleasure. Our response is to glorify God for we are experiencing His great love. We are so convinced that Jesus? teachings are eternal truth, that we use every opportunity to make disciples for we know God's design for us is that we look like Jesus Christ.