The Training Genius of Jesus (Free Training Tool)
As a certified teacher for the state of Illinois, I sat through hours upon hours of college classroom lectures in a university that had the reputation for being one of the best teacher training colleges in the United States. Ironically, I was often lectured to by people who had not taught in a public school classroom in years—and in some cases my professors had never taught in a public school classroom.
I was being trained to “swim” by dry people.
While I valued the classroom instruction of my professors, I knew deep in my heart that it could be quite possible to pass all the classroom tests, become a certified teacher, and yet still not really be able to teach effectively in a real school situation. (Getting certified by the state doesn’t really mean one can actually teach. It could simply mean you are an OK test taker.)
To become a REAL teacher, I needed some wet swimming instructors to come alongside of me and show me how to "swim" in a real “school” (extended metaphorical pun intended).
By far the most authentic training and equipping I received during my under graduate experience happened that one semester I student taught in a real school under the skillful guidance of veteran teachers. Why? One reason was because these veteran teachers used all of my foibles as teachable moments. When they saw me falling—which was often—they caught me and redirected me. I fell—but they made sure the falls were not fatal. And because I felt the need to learn (a natural byproduct when you know you are failing)—I listened to my trainers and immediately applied what they said. Indeed, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. (Before I did student teaching, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about teaching because I sat in all those college classes about teaching. Back then I had twenty-five keys to success in teaching. After about a week into my student teaching adventure, I had about one hundred and twenty-five challenging students—and NO keys to teaching success.) Furthermore, when my veteran cooperating teachers observed something good—they affirmed me and then showed me how to do it even better.
The instruction and teaching I got in the college classroom to be a teacher was, for the most part, good and foundational. But nothing beat the on-the-job training I got from actually teaching under the wise supervision of skillful veteran trainers who loved, invested, and did everything they could to make me wildly successful as a teacher.
What does all of this have to do with disciplemaking like Jesus?
If you truly want to train people to swim as disciples of Jesus, you must dare to do exactly what Jesus did. You must dare to wade into the waters of disciplemaking—rather than simply talking about it from behind the safety of the lectern on the side of the pool.
If you really want to train people to swim, you must get into the water with them.
While I valued the classroom instruction of my professors, I knew deep in my heart that it could be quite possible to pass all the classroom tests, become a certified teacher, and yet still not really be able to teach effectively in a real school situation. (Getting certified by the state doesn’t really mean one can actually teach. It could simply mean you are an OK test taker.)
To become a REAL teacher, I needed some wet swimming instructors to come alongside of me and show me how to "swim" in a real “school” (extended metaphorical pun intended).
By far the most authentic training and equipping I received during my under graduate experience happened that one semester I student taught in a real school under the skillful guidance of veteran teachers. Why? One reason was because these veteran teachers used all of my foibles as teachable moments. When they saw me falling—which was often—they caught me and redirected me. I fell—but they made sure the falls were not fatal. And because I felt the need to learn (a natural byproduct when you know you are failing)—I listened to my trainers and immediately applied what they said. Indeed, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. (Before I did student teaching, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about teaching because I sat in all those college classes about teaching. Back then I had twenty-five keys to success in teaching. After about a week into my student teaching adventure, I had about one hundred and twenty-five challenging students—and NO keys to teaching success.) Furthermore, when my veteran cooperating teachers observed something good—they affirmed me and then showed me how to do it even better.
The instruction and teaching I got in the college classroom to be a teacher was, for the most part, good and foundational. But nothing beat the on-the-job training I got from actually teaching under the wise supervision of skillful veteran trainers who loved, invested, and did everything they could to make me wildly successful as a teacher.
What does all of this have to do with disciplemaking like Jesus?
If you truly want to train people to swim as disciples of Jesus, you must dare to do exactly what Jesus did. You must dare to wade into the waters of disciplemaking—rather than simply talking about it from behind the safety of the lectern on the side of the pool.
If you really want to train people to swim, you must get into the water with them.
Need a first step into the waters of Jesus-like disciplemaking? Get 3-4 of your closest friends together and slowly wrestle through this FREE training tool titled, The Training Genius of Jesus.
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