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Spiritual School, Part 5: Graduation

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Introduction

(Here are links to the firstsecond, third, and fourth posts of this series.)

Ask upper-grade students what their immediate goal is and they’ll blurt out: graduate and get out! This disease, called “senioritis,” afflicts young people in their final year of school. They stop caring about their classes because they’ve hit their listening limit. And most of them are daydreaming about their future. So they tune out.

I remember those days! The teachers continued to lecture us, but we were a lot more detached than we were the year before. In our minds, we’d already moved on. Did you ever come down with a bad case of senioritis?

Throughout this blog series, we’ve been looking at how discipleship resembles the process of going to school. Since the stages are similar, the Christian life must have some counterpart to graduation. What does the Bible say about the spiritual graduation of believers?

Commencement

God’s Word presents three aspects of this stage and blends them together. It’s funny that we think of education as consisting of the 3Rs: “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic” because Scripture has its own set for graduation. These elements are: review, reward, and responsibility. Jesus expresses this combination in the parable of the talents.

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” – Matthew 25:14-23

This parable deals with work, but it fits within the context of education, too. At the end of their programs, some students take internships or field placements. These allow them to practice what they’ve learned. 

The rich man gave his servants the opportunity to show how well they learned to conduct business. (They must have been business majors!)

Review

Upon their master’s return, the servants faced a review, like a final exam. And the stakes are high because they want to graduate! Well, they did! 

These servants didn’t start out the same, nor did they end at the same level. One had more than another. As in school, one student is smarter than other  pupils and has a higher GPA. But there was no competition because none was necessary. In God’s kingdom, each of us will undergo an evaluation; no one is exempt.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” – 2 Corinthians 5:10

And there’s no avoiding this. Judgment is as certain as death.

“People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” – Hebrew 9:27

Reward

At their commencement ceremonies, students look forward to shaking the hand of a college president or dean and getting their degree. Hearing “congratulations” and holding the parchment–now all those classes are worth it!

Like the officials at a graduation, the master praised each of his servants: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” And he rewarded them, too: “Come and share your master’s happiness!”

The apostle Paul promises disciples of Jesus that one day we will enjoy the fruits of our labor.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23-24

Let’s stick to our training; the results will be worth it!

Responsibility

But the servants in the parable received more than a reward. The master assigned them greater duties: “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” 

“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” – Revelation 22:3-5

In this present world, school work, like all labor, is often difficult. We wrestle with stress, demands, and competing assignments. But in glory, we will serve our God face to face! And what’s more, we will join Jesus in ruling the universe! If that’s not a cause for praise, I don’t know what is!

Rejection

Unfortunately, there’s a fourth R. The parable isn’t finished. Jesus mentions three servants, not two. Here’s what becomes of the last one.

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” – Matthew 25:24-30

A man identified as a servant of a wealthy man, had great potential and an awesome future. But he threw it all away out of fear. This servant was afraid of his master. 

In some of His parables, Jesus teaches by contrast. He’s not claiming that God is a wicked, power-hungry thief. Rather, the Lord contrasts a gracious God with an evil man to liberate us to serve Him with our best efforts. If we took a class from a cruel teacher, self-interest would compel us to a good job to stay on his or her good side. The last thing we’d want to endure is an accusation of laziness. We’d dread the consequences!

But we serve a God of love who has so much more to offer us than some hard-hearted instructor. We can trust Him; we can do what Jesus has taught us. We needn’t bury our spiritual education; the more we invest it, the more it will multiply.

Conclusion

I wrote this series to draw out the similarities between school and discipleship. I hope that these five posts sparked something in you about how the Lord is working in your life and why He’s doing what He’s doing. 

But you can take this a step further. What else does the spiritual life resemble? How is following Jesus like joining the army or playing sports or farming the soil (see 2 Timothy 2:1-7)? There are lots of analogies; ask the Lord to open your eyes to what’s around you. As you do, you’ll fulfill Christ’s good plans for you a little more each day.

Spiritual School, Part 4: Tests

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Introduction

(Here are links to the firstsecond, and third posts of this series.)

We’re not in school too long before our teachers want to double-check on how well we’ve been learning. That means tests! Of course, these will vary. A test for a kindergartner looks different than one for a college student, but the purpose for each is the same. We have to show the teacher what we know.

Some tests you can’t prepare for–remember pop quizzes? The only way to get ready for those is to stay current in your assignments. 

Most of the tests we took we knew about ahead of time. Before the exam (sometimes the night before!) we’d reread our textbooks, look over our homework, and review our notes. All to get a decent score.

The longer we stayed in school, the more we picked up tricks of the trade to help inflate our test scores. I remember the monitor of a national exam telling us not to answer every single question. Even if we didn’t know the answer, we were better off taking a guess out of four multiple choice options. At worst, we had a 25% chance of being right, but a blank was guaranteed wrong.

Other exams worked the opposite. If we weren’t certain about an answer, we were supposed to leave the question blank. Wrong answers would lose credit, blanks were neutral, and right answers earned points. Remembering all this gets tricky, but it’s what students have to deal with!

Like students, disciples of Jesus Christ get tested in a variety of ways. Big trials we know are coming, sudden tests of our character, and confusing situations where we worry there’s no right answer.

But there’s no need to panic! The Lord has good reasons for the tests we face. 

God’s Word

First, we can rest in the fact that God allows His own Word to be tested. He doesn’t ask us to go through something He’s unwilling to submit to. 

Here are two similar verses in the Old Testament that refer to the testing of the Word of God:

“As for God, His way is blameless; the word of the LORD is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.” – 2 Samuel 22:31 (NASB)

“Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” – Proverbs 30:5 (NASB)

Students not only take objective exams; they also write papers. Think of the two verses above as speaking about God turning in the Bible as His research paper. The question is, who’s grading it?

We all are! Everyone evaluates Scripture. They analyze it from their perspective of right and wrong and judge it by that standard. Yet God remains confident that His Word can withstand scrutiny. So sure is He that David and Agur (the ones speaking in 2 Samuel 22 and Proverbs 30) announce that Scripture will shield its students! If there’s one thing that people fear in school, it’s getting things wrong. But the Bible gets put through the ringer like no book in history and it comes out successful. God gets an A+ for His Word!

And so do those who trust it.

God’s Work

The Lord calls each of us not only to trust His Word but also to practice it. Discipleship involves more than memorizing verses; it requires applying Scripture to our responsibilities.

Here’s what Paul writes about the foundation of his ministry:

“The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved–even though only as one escaping through the flames.” – 1 Corinthians 3:8-15

For the work of the Gospel to succeed, it depends on many people contributing. Since God has designed each of us in unique ways, we don’t have to compare ourselves to anyone else. If we focus on Jesus, we will do well according to His plans for us.

But at some point, our labor will undergo testing. We question the wisdom of our decisions. Others challenge the legitimacy of our service. The enemy of our souls tempts us to cheat or give up.

And God Himself evaluates our work. In the passage quoted above, the status of our salvation is not at issue. God doesn’t demand that we work to qualify for heaven. Instead, He appraises what we’ve accomplished in light of its spiritual aim. If our deeds exalt Jesus, they’re like gold. If our actions diminish Him, God will treat them as weeds.

It’s easy to interpret this in educational terms. What we do in the power of the Spirit will receive good grades; what we do in the strength of our flesh won’t pass.

Conclusion

Discipleship hinges on knowing and doing the will of God as revealed in His Word. This doesn’t mean that the Lord wants us to do nothing but religious stuff. He has something better! He invites us to learn that the Bible is reliable and doing what it says is a wise way to live. In His spiritual school, Jesus is teaching us how to live in the kingdom of God. He will instruct us and test us so that we can fulfill His good plans.

with Bob Condly

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