The Disciple as Learner
Everyone who
glories in the name "Christian" ought to be a true disciple of
Christ, one who commits himself to lifelong learning from the greatest teacher
of all.
When
Jesus calmed the storm, the disciples found themselves wondering in awe,
"What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?" Recall
that since this incident occurred rather early in the public life of Jesus, the
disciples hadn't yet recognized the divinity of Christ.
But
the important thing was, the disciples were reflecting about who Jesus was and
learning from what they saw Him do and heard Him speak. Thus, they proved
themselves "disciples," which is another word for
"students."
Too
often today, however, that essential nature of discipleship gets forgotten. For
everyone who glories in the name "Christian" ought to be a true
disciple of Christ, one who commits himself to lifelong learning from the
greatest teacher of all. But too many "Christians" obliviously act as
if they already know enough about God and religion! For, they don't regularly
read the Bible at home, they don't study catechism lessons, they don't utilize
parish libraries and other resources, they ignore magisterial efforts to
catechize, they don't pay attention during homilies, and they don't reflect
about who Jesus is and learn from what He did and taught.
Here's
a simple test: What have you learned in the past week from Jesus or about Him
or anything about your faith and morals? Or in the last month? Or year? If you
find yourself hard-pressed to mention anything in particular, that's a sure
sign of a need to take Christian discipleship more seriously!