AN ATTITUDE OF TEACHABILITY (MT
SERIES: THE ATTITUDES DISCIPLES REVEAL,
PART 5
GCEFC: February 1, 2009
INTRODUCTION
1. We’ve been working our way through Disciple Distinctives. Those qualities
that make a disciple of Jesus Christ distinctive from those who are not.
Different because of the old gospel song: I
have decided to follow Jesus...no turning back, no turning back.
2. First we looked at 5 Commitments Disciples Make.
a.
A
commitment to the Word of God.
b.
A
commitment to Prayer.
c.
A
commitment to Community.
d.
A
commitment to Transformation.
e.
A
commitment to Service.
3. We’re now looking at The Attitudes
Disciples Reveal. Being a disciple not only means we make commitments
that non-disciples don’t make. But we reveal attitudes that non-disciples don’t reveal.
4. Which is not to
say that you must be a disciple to
reveal godly attitudes.
There are plenty of people out there who reveal godly attitudes who are not disciples of Christ.
5. But disciples should reveal certain
attitudes BECAUSE they’re disciples.
Those who are not
disciples reveal them in spite of the
fact that they’re not.
a.
For
example, there are people in good physical health who don’t exercise. But
people who exercise tend to be in better physical health than those who don’t.
b.
People
who continually borrow money tend to have financial problems. But not everyone
who continually borrows money has financial problems.
c.
Some
of the finest people you will ever meet are not Christians. They don’t know
Christ as Savior and make no claim to follow him as a disciple.
d.
They’re
just fine people. They’re nice people. They’re people you’d appreciate having
as a neighbor or a friend.
e.
But
being a disciple is not just about being a nice person. It’s about being
transformed into the image of Christ. It’s about following the ways of
Christ—not just adhering to certain positive socially preferred standards.
f.
But
though there are people with good attitudes who are not disciples
of Christ—we EXPECT a disciple to
reveal certain attitudes.
g.
Jesus
touched on this issue in LUKE
6. We’ve looked at 3 attitudes so far
that disciples should reveal.
a. An attitude of humility.
b. And attitude of thankfulness.
c. And an attitude of wonder. Sheer
wonder at who God is and what God has done.
1. Today we add to the list one of the
most important attitudes of all. Because without this attitude, it’s very
difficult to cultivate any of the others.
2. I’m talking about the attitude of TEACHABILITY.
3. To be teachable means to be capable
of being taught. It means you’re apt to learn. Predisposed to learn, prone to
learn, inclined to learn.
4.
It
means you’re not just willing to receive instruction—you’re enthusiastic about
it. As Winston Churchill said: The most
important thing about education is…appetite.
5.
This
makes perfect sense when you consider that a disciple is at core a learner. To be a disciple is to place yourself voluntarily into a teacher/learner relationship.
6.
Jesus
is the teacher and we are the learners. So for a disciple to not be teachable
is about as contradictory as it gets.
7.
So
let’s take a few minutes and look at one of the key passages in the New
Testament on the teachability of a disciple.
A.
TRUTH IS REVEALED TO THOSE WHO HUMBLY
RECEIVE IT
1.
In
2.
Throughout
the gospels, it’s clear that the truth Jesus had to impart was imparted to
those with a certain kind of attitude.
3.
It
was not the attitude of an arrogant know-it-all. Not the attitude of one who
felt they had nothing to learn and nothing to be taught.
4.
But
Jesus compares the kind of person to whom truth is revealed to a child. The truth was hidden from
the wise and learned—but revealed to little children.
5.
Now
we must understand that this is not an anti-education statement. That God is
opposed to learning and growth. To the acquiring of knowledge and information.
6.
No,
God is favorable toward learning. That’s why he gave us the Bible. That’s why
there are so many commands in the Bible about growing and about studying and
about learning and about listening.
7.
It’s
not an opposition to learning. It’s an opposition to arrogance about learning. It’s not those who already know
everything (the so-called wise and learned) that Jesus reveals his truth. He
reveals it to those who are like children.
8.
I
don’t think he means children literally, though children are certainly capable
of receiving spiritual truth.
9.
His
point is that truth is revealed to those who are LIKE CHILDREN. Like children in that they know they don’t know, and
they’re eager to learn what they don’t know.
10. Children are obsessed with
learning. They want to know everything. Think of all they learn in their first
few years of life.
a.
They
learn how to eat, how to crawl, how to use the bathroom, how to walk.
b.
They
learn how to verbalize their thoughts and intentions.
c.
They
learn how to read and write. How to express themselves.
d.
They
learn how to resolve conflict and how to ask for what they need.
e.
Children
learn a phenomenal amount in their early years. It’s when children grow up that
they often lose their insatiable appetite for learning.
11. Jesus is saying that his disciple
must have an attitude of teachability like
a child. A child knows he doesn’t know. And he knows who does—and he humbly
learns from them.
12. Now I realize there are exceptions
to this. Some children are stubborn and refuse to be taught. But they are not
typical. Most children are eager to learn—that’s why Jesus uses them as an
example.
B.
JESUS REVEALS TO THOSE HE CHOOSES
1.
The
next verse (V27) creates a problem
for some people. Jesus says: All things
have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him.
2.
Some
will say: Well that’s not fair! How
arbitrary for Jesus to pick those to whom he will reveal truth. But there are
two important things to keep in mind.
a.
First
is that God owes nobody anything. He
doesn’t owe us life, or forgiveness, or mercy, or even truth.
b.
All
that God gives us is an act of his grace—including the revelation of himself.
Jesus says in JN 6:44: No one can come to me unless the Father who
sent me draws him.
c.
So
there is a sense in which we can only respond to the grace of God if he has
already extended his grace to us. I don’t fully understand this. Nor does
anyone else.
d.
Second
is that it clearly shows that discipleship is borne out of relationship. A disciple learns and grows in relationship with Christ.
e.
It’s
not just about acquiring information. It’s about relationship. Only those in relationship with Christ—those to whom he chooses to reveal truth—can receive it.
f.
You
can only grow as a disciple of Christ when you’ve responded to his call to follow him. And you can only respond to
the call if you hear the call. And
you can only hear the call if he chooses
for you to hear it.
g.
If
discipleship is not about relationship, then we are simply collectors of
information. We need truth to be transformed. But truth alone is not enough. A
disciple needs a master with whom he’s in relationship.
C.
THE CALL INVOLVES LEARNING WHICH
REQUIRES TEACHABILITY
1.
V28-30 bring it
home: Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.
2.
Rest
from what? Rest from weariness and rest from a burden. The weariness comes from
trying to live up to an impossible standard.
3.
The weariness
comes by trying to be righteous on our own terms and through our own efforts.
This doesn’t make us righteous—it just makes us tired—it just makes us weary.
4.
But
we also need rest from a burden.
Specifically the burden of our sin and guilt. There is no heavier burden in
life than sin and guilt.
5.
In
fact, when someone is not burdened by sin. When someone feels no guilt for
wrongs done, society has a name for such a person—they’re called a sociopath.
6.
Sin
and guilt ARE a burden. And it’s
that burden that Jesus offers to remove when we come to him.
7.
Rest
comes when we no longer have to strive for righteousness. And the burden is
lifted through his forgiveness of our sins.
8.
Then
he says: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
a.
Discipleship
is about learning. And being Jesus’ disciple is about learning from him. And learning through him. And learning by
his example.
b.
He
uses the analogy of a yoke. A yoke was a wooden beam placed between 2 oxen that
connected them for unified work.
c.
The
yoke allowed the oxen to plow together as a team. It allowed the stronger ox to
encourage the weaker ox—much stronger than he would have been alone.
d.
The
yoke Jesus offers is similar. It allows Jesus and his disciple to work
together. To be yoked with Jesus is to benefit from his strength and his power
and his wisdom.
e.
And
the yoke forced the team to move in the same direction. It helped keep them
united toward the same end and purpose—it unified them.
f.
And
the yoke was a means of discipline. There might have been a tendency for one ox
to be a slacker. But there were no slackers in the yoke. You either kept up or
it was very uncomfortable.
g.
The
main difference in the yoke of the oxen and the yoke of the disciple is that
the yoke of the disciple is voluntary.
h.
Nobody
asked the oxen if they wanted to be yoked. The farmer just slapped the yoke on
and cracked the whip—no choice.
9.
But
Jesus OFFERS US the yoke. He says take my yoke upon you. You take my yoke upon
yourself. You put it on. Then we can work together.
10. Then he says learn from me—for I am gentle and humble in heart. Which is not the trait you would expect from the sovereign Lord of
the universe.
a.
Jesus
has all authority in heaven and on earth according to the Great Commission of MT 28. He holds all the cards. He holds
our eternal destiny in his hand.
b.
Yet
he’s gentle and humble in heart. As Jesus’ disciple we have the privilege of
walking with the sovereign Lord of the universe—but who is also gentle, and
gracious, and kind, and understanding, and forgiving.
c.
So
yes, it’s a yoke. But the yoke is shared by one who is gentle and humble. What
more could we possibly ask? How could it be any better than this?
11. Then Jesus ends in V30 with a strange statement. He says: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
a.
How
can this be? The yoke is a burden
itself. The yoke is heavy. The
yoke is unbending. The yoke is burdensome. Or is it?
b.
I
suppose that most of you came to church this morning in a vehicle of some kind.
c.
You
know that big iron thing in the front of the vehicle? That large, heavy, iron
thing under the hood? What’s it called again?
d.
You
know if you removed that heavy iron thing from under the hood, imagine how much
lighter your car would be. You’d reduce the weight hundreds of pounds.
e.
Surely
that would make it easier for the car to go. It would certainly improve the gas
mileage. Less weight for the vehicle would have to be an improvement.
f.
But
of course it wouldn’t be an improvement at all! It’s that heavy iron thing
under the hood that makes the car go at
all! It’s the car’s burden that
sets it free!
g.
And
such is the yoke. It appears to be a burden. It appears to be a stifler and
restrictor of freedom. But it’s neither.
12. When Jesus says his yoke is easy
and his burden is light, he’s not saying that the life of the disciple will be
a cake walk. He’s saying that life with him is the best life there is.
13. It’s life that’s based on truth. It’s life that’s based on what’s right because our guide is the truth. Truth can be hard. But it’s truth that sets us free.
14. We’re teachable when we humbly submit to what Jesus wants to teach us.
15. We’re teachable when we obey what Jesus teaches us through his
Word.
16. We’re teachable when we are not arrogant about what we know or what
we don’t know. In humility we allow ourselves to be molded and shaped by our
master.
17. We’re teachable when we admit that
no matter how far we’ve come—we aren’t there yet.