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A Question That Lasts a Lifetime

Tradition! Tradition! Tradition!

Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof would be proud: Here at the Focus on the Family Institute, we have quite a few traditions. For example, when it's somebody's birthday, he or she stands on a desk in the middle of class and everyone else sings "Happy Birthday." It's entertaining for everyone … except maybe for whoever had to stand on the desk.

We also have meals together every Tuesday and Thursday. Not only are those great opportunities to fellowship with each other, but we're also able to get to know the Institute staff and their families. Plus, there's always plenty of delicious food.

There's another tradition here at the Institute. Every morning before class, we have time for devotions, but before we start reading the Word, we all stand up and recite the Sh'ma. The Sh'ma is a passage from the book of Deuteronomy that Jews throughout the centuries — including Jesus Himself — recited daily. Like Jesus, we'll recite Sh'ma in Hebrew; after that, we'll recite it in English:

Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.¹

Honestly, the first couple of days that we recited the Sh'ma, I felt a little bit strange. I mean, here I am, a typical American college student, reciting something neither I nor my 87 peers could understand. It was kind of strange and I definitely wasn't used to doing anything like that.

But then, Dr. Leland, one of our professors and a TrueU author, asked a question that has challenged me all semester. He asked us, "How badly do you want to be like your Rabbi?" He challenged us to be just like our Rabbi Jesus in all aspects of our lives and if that means reciting something Jesus recited every day, then we should be willing to do it.

Rabbis and Disciples

That question took on a much deeper significance when Ray Vander Laan (That the World May Know Ministries) came to speak to our class. RVL, as he's known around the Institute, studies Jewish culture and tradition as it was around the time of Christ. His studies have opened up familiar passages of Scripture in entirely new ways and he has incredible insight about the Word of God.

One of the many things RVL lectured on was the Jewish idea of rabbis and disciples. Two thousand years ago (and even still in some Orthodox Jewish circles), a young boy would be "apprenticed" to a rabbi for 10 to 15 years! This boy, the rabbi's disciple, would strive to become exactly like him. The disciple would imitate his leader in everything and would follow him everywhere — if the rabbi went to the bathroom, the disciple would follow, just in case he began teaching there. A disciple knew everything his rabbi taught and was intensely committed to becoming just like him.

Although it was the dream of every Jewish boy to become a rabbi's disciple, very few of them were chosen. All boys started school at the age of five; their biggest assignment was to memorize the entire Torah (first five books of the Bible) by the age of 12. If they succeeded, they continued their schooling until they were about 15, and this time, they worked to memorize the Tanakh — the entire Old Testament. If they could do that, then they were allowed to express interest in becoming a rabbi's disciple. He would follow the rabbi around for quite a while until the rabbi either told him that he could become a disciple or that he should just go home. We know that Jesus was a rabbi (he was called "Teacher" many times), so we can assume that Jesus went through this education process and he memorized the entire Old Testament.

Did I mention that a disciple was intensely committed to becoming just like his rabbi?

Sure, we call ourselves disciples of Christ, but are we really? Do we really know our Rabbi and his teachings? We can quote a few passages here and there and we're pretty familiar with all of the well-known Bible stories, but for many of us, myself included, we don't know our Rabbi as well as we should. The four Gospels are the greatest way to know Him, but how often do we sit down to read them for the sole purpose of knowing Jesus and his teachings? As RVL finished his lecture, he challenged us to read through a Gospel a month for three years. That's a long-term commitment which, quite frankly, intimidates me, but if I really want to be like my rabbi ….

Confessions of a Bad Disciple

After learning about rabbis and disciples, the question, "How badly do you want to be like your Rabbi?" kept following me. I knew what Jesus expected of the twelve disciples as a first-century rabbi; why should the standard be any lower for me as someone who also claims to be one of His disciples 2,000 years later?

I'll admit right now that I don't memorize Scripture easily, so I've maybe, sort of slacked off in that spiritual discipline. For example, it took me a month and a half this summer to memorize Psalm 27! I'm working on memorizing Psalm 139 right now — I have been for about three or four weeks and I'm only ten verses into it. (Imagine having to memorize the entire Old Testament!)

And how closely do I follow my Rabbi Jesus? Do I follow Him everywhere? Sure, it's a little different for me because I'm not following a physical person like the disciples were able to do. But do I still pursue God with the same kind of intensity? How intimately do I know my Rabbi's teachings? Probably not as well as I should. Yeah, I know the basic gist of what Jesus taught, but I don't know His teachings.

I'm not such a great disciple, am I?

An Opportunity to Become a Disciple

The great thing about the Focus on the Family Institute is that it's a community of disciples. Our purpose for an entire semester is to become more like our Rabbi. It's an opportunity that not many people are blessed with — I usually get so caught up in life that I forget that my priority is becoming like my Rabbi. I'm not saying that life doesn't happen at the Institute (we still have homework, our internships, and social lives!), but we're all doing life together and we all have the same goal of becoming more and more Christlike. I can't tell you how many conversations I've gotten into — in the apartments, at a dinner table, or on a car ride — that have challenged me spiritually. It's something that doesn't usually happen back at home.

The Institute is also a very real place. We all have struggles, but instead of pushing our weaknesses away — a reaction that many people, including me, have — we're encouraged to be vulnerable and open with our peers. For most of my life, I have not been open about my struggles because I've wanted to be the "good Christian girl." At the Institute, however, I've had several opportunities to become vulnerable in a safe environment, and I've taken advantage of those opportunities. I haven't regretted becoming vulnerable at all; in fact, I'm so glad I did.

C O F F E E  S H O P

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How badly do you want to be like your rabbi?

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So here I am, at this great place that encourages me to become a real disciple, but ultimately, it's a heart issue. I have had all these great opportunities to become more like my Savior, but I still have to choose whether or not I want to be more like Jesus Christ. While I will use many of the lessons I've learned in class, the greatest lesson I have taken away from my semester at the Institute is a 10-word question.

How badly do I want to be like my Rabbi?

I'll do whatever it takes.