Today’s reflection comes from Peter Nodding – thank you, Peter!
A good friend of mine was a school teacher before he entered the Baptist ministry. He used to say it is not what I teach, but whether or not the pupil/student learns. We might know a lot, but how much are we learning?
All of us have had opportunity to develop our technology skills during the present crisis. Like many of you I have learnt how to use Zoom, have been part of a leader’s meeting using the Microsoft Teams app, and have gained more knowledge about uploading video to YouTube. It feels good, doesn’t it when it actually works, and boosts our level of confidence?
The same principle applies in making progress in our Christian lives. A learner is another name for a disciple. We might receive a great deal of teaching, but how much are we really learning? I remember being quite sad a few months ago, having sat with a small group of people in a prayer meeting at another church, when a lady in her 70’s said to me privately that she could not pray openly out loud.
I reflected how I had been in the same place in my younger days and was so upset with myself when I didn’t pray out loud in prayer times. I so wanted to overcome it. I sat in the corporate prayer meeting at Bible college for months before opening my mouth, and afterwards, feeling upset that ‘I hadn’t prayed openly again’. So, I don’t want to appear unsympathetic with those of us who struggle, and I know that the Lord hears the prayer of the heart as well as those offered out loud. My sadness, however, is that I am convinced that sharing with one or more in prayer is an essential spiritual building block. How much teaching have we received about prayer with others, but have we learned how to do it?
Prayer is just one of the activities that Jesus had in his instruction manual. We can add: listening before we speak, overcoming self-interest, witnessing to our faith, loving the unlovely and so on. I have struggled (and continue to struggle) over the years with all the above. Thankfully I keep hearing Jesus’ call and encouragement, ‘You will only learn how to do it, Peter, if you practice it’.
One of the verses about Jesus to which I often return is from Matthew 11:29: ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’. My prayer is, ‘Lord, teach me gentleness and humility’. I believe these two qualities are the doorway to so much more from God.
May I/we be as quick to learn these spiritual lessons as readily as we have taken on board the new technology. Remember, they are spiritual lessons, and only truly learned through the help and power of the Holy Spirit.