Скачать или смотреть The Alongsiders Model and working with Challenges

When Jesus called His disciples He invited them to follow Him. It went deep. Being a disciple of the Master in the Jewish context meant that you had to go with Him everywhere he went - literally. You ate what the Master was eating, you walked the way He walked. His thinking was to become your thinking. You literally imitated the Master.

Within that relationship with the Master there was space to work with the Master, to go on internship, to teach, to ask questions, and to listen. The attention of the Master was on His disciples - the people who gave everything to follow the Master.

We want to follow Jesus and be His disciples. We’re talking about this kind of discipleship in which we will give everything to follow the Master - Jesus. How can we specifically do that today?

An important principle is the principle of obedience. Being a disciple of a master means you need to do what He says.

Let me give you an example.

I have a thing for guitars and there lived a guitar builder close to where I lived. When I was around 18 years old I asked him if he’d let me build a guitar at his place. I would just do it myself, but of course I could’t do it yet. I needed the help of a master. And so I asked him the question if he wanted to help me and his simple answer was: “come by Wednesday afternoon”. Of course I was at the doorstep of his workshop that Wednesday afternoon and step by step he told and taught me how to build. I still have that guitar.

Now imagine that he began to explain to me how to do it, that Wednesday afternoon, but I simply decided not to be obedient. He told me to use a scrape, but I decided that a saw would be better.. Or he taught me a certain order in which I should do it, but I just did it the other way around. Of course there wouldn’t have been a proper guitar if I had done that.

In the Gospels, but also in the letters of the New Testament, we read a lot of commands. Things we - as disciples of Jesus - should do. The call to ‘love each other’ is one, but there’s also the statement that says that true Godliness is visiting widows and orphans. This has a more indirect command in it. Truly, the Bible is full of it. The question is: do we do what Jesus tells us to do? Studying it, discussing it, reading it, praying for it… All of that is great - but the question is: do we do it? Do we live it out?

Alan Hirsch - someone who walks after Jesus as a disciple himself and who encourages others to do the same - explains that in Greek culture, of which a lot of our ideas originate, they assumed that if we put enough knowledge in our head we eventually will believe or embrace it and eventually do it as well. From your head to your heart and hands, so to speak. Think - feel - do. In that order.

On the other hand, what Alan calls, the Hebrew way of learning, is the opposite way around. By doing something, you experience it, and will eventually ‘get it’, know it and understand it. From your hands to your heart, to your head. Learning by experience. To do, to experience, to feel, to think. In that order.

You could put these two ways or approaches on a line. At one end, the Greek way of learning and at the other the Hebrew way. Both extremes may not be a 100% true or exclusive, but it does give us much to think about. For example: where would you put your school on this line in terms of learning? Or a course that you do? You could also think of your church, where would you put that? The youth club?

When Jesus gathers His disciples around Him the first thing He does is hit the road together. You will find them drinking wine at the wedding in Cana, they see Jesus laying His hands on the children while He explains to them how important children are for Him. Together they eat at the house of one of the religious leaders and they see how Jesus is offended. The parables, you name it. Education in the context of the situation, in action.

That is why we work with challenges. Challenges are missions that you can do together with your younger brother or sister. All these missions come directly from Scripture. By obedience you do what your Master - Jesus - tells you to do, and that’s how you will learn and grow.

Challenges mostly exist out of 4 blocks which you can accomplish in about 4 weeks. That way you work on a theme for one month and can deepen the theme throughout the weeks. Of course you can go through the challenges at your own pace. You can do it quicker or take more time.

Of course you have all the space to creatively fill them in and adjust them to your situation and place. Remember our idea of co-creation as described in the previous video.

Growth happens at that place of obedience. As disciples of Jesus we want to be obedient to Him. Therefore we want to pick up the commands that Jesus gives and carry them out.