May 4, 2016

Continuing in the series of the 7-step discipleship process that was originally published in 1934 by Forward Movement, we come to step three.  As a reminder, the first two steps were to Turn and Follow.  Which, by the way, makes complete sense if you think about it.

The third step in this discipleship process is Learn.

At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus commissions his followers to go and make disciples, to baptize and teach.  In other words, Jesus is commissioning his disciples to make more disciples.

A disciple is one who both follows and learns.  We are all followers of Christ by virtue of our baptism.  It was at our baptism that we, or people on our behalf, were asked, “Do you promise to follow and obey [Jesus] as your Lord?”  And we, or our sponsors, answered, “I do.”  So through our baptism, through our participation in the life of the church, and through our attempts to live as Jesus lived, we are followers of Christ.

But a disciple is also one who learns.  We begin learning at an early age, first by watching the world around us, then by imitating what we are seeing and hearing, and then by learning skills and concepts far beyond where we started.  Hopefully learning is a life-long endeavor.  How many of us, though, basically ended our religious education after fifth grade, or after our parents no longer forced us to attend Sunday school?  How many of us do not feel the need to learn anything new when it comes to our faith because, “That's the way we've always done it and God never changes?”

For us to become a disciple in the truest sense of the word, we need to spend time learning.  Christianity is like the ocean: if all you know of the ocean are the waves crashing onto the beach, you're missing out on more diversity and wonder than you can imagine.  There is more diversity and wonder in Christianity than you can possibly imagine, but you won't know about any of it unless you take the time to learn about it.

Take time to read the Bible regularly.  Delve into the Church Fathers and Mothers.  Read a commentary on your favorite biblical book.  Discover a new prayer practice.  Expand your knowledge of Christian music.  Attend Bible study between services.  Join the book group.  Submit an idea for an after-service forum, and then attend.  Order something from Forward Movement.  Become familiar with more than pages 355-365 of the BCP.  Learn about icons.  The list is endless and only limited by your imagination.

Discipleship is more than simply tagging along for the ride.  It takes effort and intentionality.  It requires us to not only follow, but to learn.  It can challenge us and make us uncomfortable, as well as reassure us and comfort us.  You are a disciple of Christ; what have you learned about your faith this week that you didn't know about last week?

Amen.