You Too Can Be a Rabbi!

I didn't have time for one thought on Sunday but it's an interesting one. If you missed it, I gave an overview of what the kingdom of God looks like on earth by looking at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Jesus closes out his message by telling us that if we are smart, we will put his teaching into practice. The kingdom of God only comes when his followers embrace and live out his teaching.

But what strikes me as especially interesting is that Jesus expected all of his followers to become rabbis. In that day only the best and the brightest rose to the level of rabbi (teachers of spiritual truth). But Jesus chose and entrusted the common people to follow him, put his teaching into practice AND turn around and teach others. How empowering is that? Jesus wanted to release thousands of rabbis into the world, not just a select few. Look at these two verses...

...whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19

...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:19,20

I think this is an area of incredible opportunity for the church...develop and release people to mentor other young believers. You don't have to be an "expert Christian". You don't have to be perfect. You just need to love Jesus and be willing to share what you know and don't know with someone else. You don't have to preach or teach. You can go for coffee or sit in a boat and fish...but you always have it on your radar to encourage someone else in the faith.

So who do you know who is younger in their faith than you that you can invite to do this with? A simple thing is to read a book together or just meet to discuss the Sunday sermon. I'd love to hear back if you do this.

Click here to download Sunday's message.