Life in Seminary (4)
DISCIPLESHIP TODAY
Classroom learning is the typical methodology that is being adopted in education today. Students are confined within four walls to receive knowledge from the lecturer's speech. As the knowledge transmitted is mostly theoretical and abstractive, students often struggle to apply them in real life situations.
Even in churches today, discipleship is being 'done' through classroom learning, where Christians are required to go through different stages of discipleship classes. It is naively assumed that they will reach Christian maturity once they complete all these classes. However, the reality shows otherwise as even after they have 'graduated' from the classes, these 'mature Christians' struggle to apply the tons of doctrines that they learned in real life, eventually forcing them to discard the knowledge altogether.
How about the methodologies of apprenticeship such as this and this? As much as apprenticeship is unheard of in the Protestant Church, this was how our Lord discipled his 12 disciples. He did not confined them within the four boring walls of a classroom andspit speak knowledge and facts into the minds of the disciples. He invited them to share in a common life together with him, and the disciples learned the most not from his articulated teachings, but from the observation of his lifestyle, which was his teaching-in-action. The disciples learned how to live the way of Christ simply by watching how Christ lived among them.
Therefore, to prevent theological students graduating from seminaries knowing how to do church but do not know how to live, there is an urgent need for the lecturers to live among them and live the way of Christ for them to emulate. Likewise, to prevent Christians completing the discipleship courses in church with lives untransformed, there is an urgent need for Christian educators to be among them and be Christ to them.
Yes, it is a near impossible task to change the current methodology in seminaries and churches to the way Jesus discipled his disciples. To be honest, Jesus' way is idealistic but unrealistic, especially in this pragmatic world that we are living in, for who is so foolish to be willing to splash so much time, energy and money etc. to adopt such a kind of discipleship?
However, be reminded: to follow Christ is to defy the norm of the day, to follow Christ is to be radically crazy.
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.
Classroom learning is the typical methodology that is being adopted in education today. Students are confined within four walls to receive knowledge from the lecturer's speech. As the knowledge transmitted is mostly theoretical and abstractive, students often struggle to apply them in real life situations.Even in churches today, discipleship is being 'done' through classroom learning, where Christians are required to go through different stages of discipleship classes. It is naively assumed that they will reach Christian maturity once they complete all these classes. However, the reality shows otherwise as even after they have 'graduated' from the classes, these 'mature Christians' struggle to apply the tons of doctrines that they learned in real life, eventually forcing them to discard the knowledge altogether.
How about the methodologies of apprenticeship such as this and this? As much as apprenticeship is unheard of in the Protestant Church, this was how our Lord discipled his 12 disciples. He did not confined them within the four boring walls of a classroom and
Therefore, to prevent theological students graduating from seminaries knowing how to do church but do not know how to live, there is an urgent need for the lecturers to live among them and live the way of Christ for them to emulate. Likewise, to prevent Christians completing the discipleship courses in church with lives untransformed, there is an urgent need for Christian educators to be among them and be Christ to them.
Yes, it is a near impossible task to change the current methodology in seminaries and churches to the way Jesus discipled his disciples. To be honest, Jesus' way is idealistic but unrealistic, especially in this pragmatic world that we are living in, for who is so foolish to be willing to splash so much time, energy and money etc. to adopt such a kind of discipleship?
However, be reminded: to follow Christ is to defy the norm of the day, to follow Christ is to be radically crazy.
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.
G. K. Chesterton
Labels: Reflections
posted by Dan at 8/10/2007 09:25:00 pm
4 Comments:
Dear Dan,
I enjoy reading this rather provocative post of yours.
But it seems to me that the fact Jesus was able to carry on his "method" of discipleship is because of the prevailing Palestinian culture of its day, ie disciples follow and live with their masters.
If I am not wrong, this "Jesus and his 12 disciples" culture was not even part of the Greco-Roman society - hence you do not see this particular type of apprenticeship being practiced in Pauline communities. So I suppose Pauline communities failed miserably in its spiritual formation according to your criteria of apprenticeship. (Perhaps you may raise the issue of whether the failure of Paul adpoting the Jesus model of apprenticeship could have very well contributed to the majority of the problems faced by Pauline communities).
I guess one must be careful in appropriating the "model" of Jesus and his 12 disciples carefully in the present context. To apply this literally and wholesale as champion by you, I think, is at best naive and unrealistic and at worst a misapplication and misappropriation of the scriptural texts by completely ignoring the cultural gap. But again, unless you stongly believe that all that is in the scriptures are to be and should be followed and modelled "literally." If this is the case, why not Pauline communities model? Aren't they part of scripture as well?
I may be wrong here, but it's just 2 cents worth.
In any case, I hope to continue on this conversation with you.
I agree with what you say, but I think that intellectual and abstract discourses have their place in education. Education is in itself plural and in its ideal state pluralistic. Different people learn differently and hence, there is a need to have a environment that is receptive to this plurality.
The way I see the current education methodology is not revolutionizing it by totally changing it to a commununal experiential type of learning paradigm but instead of addition. This communal experiential learning should be in parallel with the current education system (which still needs reforming but its basic tenets of academic development is crucial and certain education like 'science' or 'arts' which fits better with different people).
Hope this comments find you well, Mr Daniel :p
I forgot to add the point that education is holistic therefore we need both (and more) streams described above.
Besides, theory and practice must move together. Head and the heart :)
The heart without the head is a foolish one.
Jon,
Thanks for dropping by. I understand your concern about the feasibility of Jesus' model of discipleship. But what if I tell you that what I am sharing here comes out of a lived experience, and is not merely an abstract concept?
Doulous,
Jesus delivered many intellectual discourses to his disciples in communal living, no? It is through communal living that the disciples were able to see abstract concepts in action (in the life of Jesus). This kind of education, to me, is holistic.
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