Thursday, November 17

A Rabbi

I'm not Jewish.

I've never experienced Jewish culture with Jewish people.

I have read a small amount about the "days of Christ" but "inadequate" would still describe my knowledge of His time-period.

Recently, I was given a CD of a message preached by Ray Vander-something (many of you are probably familiar w/ this man who speaks w/a New England accent). The message was entitled "Talmid Discipleship". I'll spare you the details which will take me 10-15 more "listens" of this CD to understand and soak up, but here's the main point:

In my culture (Land of the IPod and Blackberry), we typically refer to discipleship as a focussing on knowing more about Jesus Christ: what He did and why He did...what He said and why He said...etc. However (say "however" like you have a pipe in your teeth and reading glasses sitting on the edge of your nose), during the days of Jesus, discipleship was more clearly defined: Rather than know what the Rabbi knows, they are to BE what the Rabbi IS!

By the age of 12, every Jewish boy was to have the the first 5 books of the Bible completely memorized to a point in which they could refer not only to a verse but the words leading into that verse and the context in which they were being used...they're knowledge of the Scriptures(at the age of 12) surpases anyone that I currently know. If they were deemed "worthy", they spent the next three years learning the rest of the Old Testament (memorizing). Think of a 15 year old you know...do they have the entire Old Testament memorized with a capability of quoting words inside a verse? After turning 15, the boy would then study a Rabbi until he was 30...literally following the Rabbi into the bathroom as to not miss a thing!

History lesson:
When did Christ first take part in the Passover? 12 yrs. old
When did Christ begin his ministry? 30 yrs. old
See any special correlation? Jesus...Rabbi...hmmm...

Now you're in my head...how does the Jewish view of "discipleship" compare to the discipleship you hear preached and taught in your church? I understand the Bible clearly speaks to this: "Go and make disciples of all nations". I also know a disciple isn't just a person who has the Scriptures memorized.

Questions:
- Differentiate between a Christian and Disciple of Christ. Are they different?
- If they are different, is that okay? Why/Why not?
- If being a true disciple of Christ meant you needed to begin memorizing the Scripture, dedicating hours of your day to live and breath the life of Christ...essentially pursuing to mimic the His heart...would you seek discipleship?

I'm noticing that this post is extremely inadequate because it doesn't say all that's in my head, and it leaves unanswered questions. Sorry...I'll try to dump more thoughts as some later day.

Meanwhile...
We leave for Indiana on Tuesday morning...flat land and cloudy skies. I hear that Handy Andy has been taken over...I am grieving.

-DK

3 comments:

Unknown said...

So, I will try to reply to your other questions at a different time. THe last time we were in Marion, the Handy Andy had been taken over, but they still had the Noble Roman's bread sticks, the Krispy Kremes, and the GOOD vanilla and cherry syrup to go in the coke. It looks a little different, but so does everything else at IWU. If you are too disappointed, dont' fear, there is a Starbucks now!

D&K said...

As long as there is Vanilla Coke, life does not end. I quit drinking pop...hmmm...dilemma.

the lambs said...

Yes, Handy Andy is now a Marathon station/Circle K, but you know the manager. Mandy Mason runs the place. You have to go to Starbucks while you're here. It is so odd to be standing in an actual Starbucks in Marion, Indiana...looking across the street at Taco Bell and Walmart. It doesn't make sense, but we love it for date night!