Spiritual School, Part 5: Graduation

Introduction

(Here are links to the first,  second, 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.