On Sunday, we talked about the process of discipleship and what that looks like. Discipleship is a lifelong process of turning from sin to redemption by growing first and then reproducing. We also took a look at how Jesus demonstrated that process in His own life. The idea that Jesus was willing to submit to this discipleship process of student and then teacher showed me two main things. The first thing it reveals is the beauty of God's character, and the amount of trust we can have in His ways. The second is that His process is so much better than any process we would/will choose.
Discipleship is a lifelong process of turning from sin to redemption by growing first and then reproducing
If you think about the classic leadership structure in America today, most leaders require things from their constituents that they aren't willing to do themselves. You can take one look at our country's current political situation and see that truth. The character of most of our leaders has been questioned because they say one thing but they do another. This is the beauty of what Jesus did by coming as a baby and submitting himself to the same process that He is calling us to. He isn't asking us to do something that he wasn't willing to do first and set the example for us. He is infinitely greater than any leader found among men.
A common phrase that you will hear if you've been in a church for a while is that God's ways are higher than our ways. While this statement is absolutely true, I wonder how many of us can truly grasp the concept and truly trust God's process. You may even be reading this now and thinking, "Well of course I believe that. He's God!" But I challenge you to take a closer look at the decisions you've made in your life and see if they actually line up with what God has called us to. The crazy thing about rejecting God's process is that His process is so much better than ours; it's perfect. The process of discipleship is just one example of His perfect process. The king of the universe chose to humble himself and submit to this process even though he didn't seem to need it. If I were Jesus, I would probably have starting teaching immediately because I would know that I already had infinite wisdom and knowledge. Thankfully I am not Jesus and He chose to go through the process despite His present perfection.
His ways are often so opposite from what we think, we may not always understand initially. But when all is said and done, we will be able to look back and see the beautiful story that was written through every process God asked us to go through.
-Kelsey Turner