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Train Yourself
Brian Mashburn
September 13, 2009
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Train Yourselves To Be Godly
Who would try to fly a plane without proper training? Who successfully does algebra without being equipped? To drive legally, you need to first be a student of driving (they even have the title 'student driver'), then be tested, and then, finally, be released with a license. Many, many folks have gotten married without any training, advice, or positive role models to observe and you can see where that has gotten our society.
If these lesser activities, all of which only affect this temporal life, really do need a minimum amount of training in order to be implemented successfully, and if they really deserve extensive equipping if they are to be maximized in a persons life, then how much more should we go into a regimen of training, equipping, and learning as we attempt to the live the life of Christ?
Would it not be ridiculous for me to send the kids I'm coaching onto the soccer field and expect them to compete, let alone win, without some training in the game of soccer?
But what if I gave them all uniforms, and shin guards, and cleats? Should I expect them to then play well? Of course not. Yet how many of us have been baptized, armed with a Bible, and expected to live the Kingdom-advancing, disciple-making life?
I remember a wise woman in Houston remarking, "That is one of the big blind spots that we have in our churches....we don't train."
Think about it...how many of you can name even one person who is "ahead of you" on the journey of faith who is (1) effectively changing the world for Christ, and is (2) intentionally equipping you to do the same?
We're going to have to get aggressive about this.
If you have invested hundreds of hours in some quality or skill of the disciple making life, we need you to coach, mentor, and train a few others. Would you? Please?
And if you are serious about the disciple making life that Christ has called you into, then you are going to have to be diligent, creative, and proactive in finding coaches, mentors, and trainers. Books, seminars, and personal requests of the few spiritual masters that you may be blessed enough to actually have around you would be a great start.
Just like Paul exhorted his apprentice Timothy: "Train yourself to be godly." (1 Timothy 4:7)
The world needs 'Pauls' willing to train, and 'Timothys' diligent in training. Would all of you please commit to be the latter, and when successful, the former?