Attending a Class vs. Studying a Discipline

     How many of you took a foreign language in high school or college? How many are fluent in that language today? Some, no doubt, are fluent, but the vast majority barely remembers anything they studied in those classes. I have asked the same questions to hundreds of people in many different classes and lectures over the last ten years, and the response is almost always the same. Conversely, I have many friends who are fluent in a second language and some who are fluent in many more. But interestingly very few of those people, at least among my friends, studied those languages in an academic setting, or if they did, will readily admit those classes were not what led to their current fluency. The fact is there is a vast difference between attending a class and actually studying a language, and the same is true for every other discipline.

     When we take a class most people focus on meeting the minimum requirements. That does not mean they are bad students. In fact, they may ace the course and learn a great deal along the way. But the syllabus defines for them what they study, when they study it, and what they can prove they have learned. On the other hand, when a person falls in love with a discipline and truly dives into studying it, their eagerness and experience cannot be contained or defined by a simple syllabus. They read and watch and interact with everything they can get their hands on that addresses the subject. Even when they are not in a class or reading a book, their minds are continually returning to their area of interest. There is little concern for passing a test or completing an assignment. Rather they find themselves completely absorbed in ingesting and digesting as much as they possibly can. They love it! They want to know. They enjoy the challenge and the personal growth it brings.

     Are you studying to follow Christ, or are you only attending classes? Do the Bible and its doctrine, the work of Christ and its blessings, and the mission God gave His people consume your thoughts and energize your life? Do you read your Bible because you ought to or because you want to? Do you attend church services because you need to or because you delight in it? Are you living to pass a test on Judgment Day, or are you delighting in learning, loving, and living with Christ? It makes a difference. -JME