Students or Spectators

The Gospel of Matthew closes with The Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Note that Jesus wanted them to make disciples not merely converts. Making a disciple begins with evangelism – sharing the truth of who Jesus was (the only begotten son of God), what He did (paid the penalty for sin) and what we must do to be saved. Once we are saved we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior” (2 Peter 3:18).

The Greek word for disciple is, mathétés. It means a learner, a student. It indicates someone who has expended the “mental effort needed to think something through.” Christianity is not based on emotion or blind faith. God invites us, “Come now and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18).

The Bible contains all that Jesus commanded His followers to know and do. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, Paul instructed believers to, “be diligent to present thyself approved to God -- a workman irreproachable, rightly dividing the word of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

The church plays an important role is discipleship. Believers are directed to meet to for instruction and fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25). Too often people attend church as spectators and not as students. Spectators are passive observers of Biblical instruction and worship. Students actively participate. Spectators want to be entertained by the music and message. Students want to glorify God and learn from Him. Spectators quickly forget what they heard; students meditate on what they heard. Spectators take no action based on what they heard; students put into practice the truths they learned.

The Hebrew word for “hear” is “shama.” Shama indicates more than just the sense of hearing. It also calls on the hearer to obey what they heard. Throughout the Old Testament we are instructed to “keep” (“shamar” in Hebrew) God’s statutes and commandments.

In the New Testament Jesus told His followers to obey His commandments, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus also taught “blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep/obey/practice it” (Luke 11:28). Contrariwise James warned, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22).

Jesus final statement encourages both the teacher and the student, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He will empower the instructor as they teach and the student as they learn and put into practice what they learn.

Let us be students that live out the scriptures that we diligently study.