Study 20 - What’s the goal?
God told Elijah that Elisha would succeed him as prophet (1 Kings 19:16). To Elijah, this wasn’t just a nice idea. It was his commission. Right from the word go, he knew exactly what he had to produce, and that goal would set the pattern for the training. After three years, Elijah could review his disciple’s progress and ask himself, ‘Is Elisha more like a prophet now than when I found him?’
Discipleship must have an objective. If a discipler doesn’t know what he’s trying to produce, how can he test his disciple’s progress? Your goal is not to place someone in permanent subordination but to prepare him for usefulness.
Commissioning, then encouragement
Elijah knew exactly what he was trying to make: a prophet to take his place. That knowledge gave both him and Elisha a firm foundation for the time they spent together. God told Moses, ‘Commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land’ (Deut. 3:28).
‘I charge you,’ said David to Solomon (1 Chron. 28:8). He then gave his sons the plans for the work on the temple, and continued, ‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work’ (1 Chron. 28:20). David left Solomon with no doubts about what he was meant to accomplish. Then he encouraged him to do it.
Paul said to Timothy, ‘I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction … discharge all the duties of your ministry’ (2 Tim. 4:1,2,5). Timothy knew what he was meant to be doing before he received the encouragement, ‘The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you’ (2 Tim. 4:22).
When Jesus sent out the Twelve, he first gave them specific instructions about what they should and should not do. ‘Do not go to the Gentiles or to the Samaritans but to the Israelites,’ he said. ‘Tell them that the kingdom of heaven is near. Heal people, raise the dead, and drive out demons. Take this, don’t take that. Beware of men. Keep going …’ (Matt. 10:1-28).
Then, having given them a definite goal, he continued, ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows’ (Matt. 10:29-31). First Jesus commissioned his disciples, then he offered words to encourage them.
Close companionship
God didn’t say to Elisha, ‘I think I’ll send you to one of the schools of the prophets. Which would you prefer – Bethel, Jericho or Jordan?’ Clearly these groups did exist (2 Kings 2:3,5,7) and accurately prophesied that Elijah would be taken up into heaven. But God wanted Elisha to learn from personal involvement with his anointed servant. He was going to take Elijah’s cloak, Elijah’s place. He was not going to receive information alone; he was going to acquire something of Elijah’s spirit.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church … He is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should refuse to accept him’ (1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10,11). Why should the church receive Timothy so readily? Because Paul’s cloak rested on him. This young man had worked alongside the great apostle. He knew Paul’s ways and would faithfully represent him.
Not possessive or exclusive
Although Elijah knew that Elisha was going to replace him in ministry, he wasn’t possessive. ‘All right, Elisha, you’ve got to cling to me now. Keep away from that school of the prophets. Don’t you dare listen to anybody except me. This is the way I do it. You just follow suit.’ It wasn’t like that at all. When Elijah called Elisha, he threw his cloak over him, but he put no pressure on Elisha to go with him. He wanted Elisha to know from the start that discipleship would not bring him into frightening personal bondage, so he gave Elisha space, the chance to think about it, the freedom to turn back (1 Kings 19:20).
He trained the same attitude to the end. On the very day of his triumphant ascension into the heavens, he made no demands on his young disciple. If anything, he tried to dissuade him from an overdeveloped personal commitment. But Elisha wouldn’t be sidetracked. He’d come to love his master and freely followed him – but more of that later.
This light touch on the reins continued throughout their relationship. Just before Elijah returned to heaven, he said to Elisha, ‘Stay here, the Lord has sent me to Bethel’ (2 Kings 2:2). In other words, ‘You don’t have to continue with me. I’m not forcing you.’ But Elisha wouldn’t leave his master. The disciple’s devotion was tested twice more, when Elijah went to Jericho and the Jordan, but still Elisha refused to be left behind (2 Kings 2:4,6).
Discipleship isn’t about servanthood but about friendship. ‘I no longer call you servants,’ said the Great Discipler. ‘Instead I have called you friends’ (John 15:15). Elijah wanted a relationship with Elisha that was based not on obligation but on love and trust. He therefore had to ensure that his disciple always had room to breathe, to hear from God himself. Since Elijah was training this young man to be a prophet, he couldn’t constantly tell him what to say and do. Elisha would then have become totally dependent on his master for the voice of God, and the prophetic word would have died when Elijah died. But Elisha had to develop his own gifting, his own personal relationship with God. Only then would God’s great purpose for him be realised.
Quote
‘Steadily [the disciples] responsibilities grew, and likewise their maturity developed. [Jesus] sent them out on their own, standing back whilst they tried for themselves; then gently correcting them, instructing them still more, until the time came when he could leave them altogether, knowing that his Spirit within them would continue to be their helper and guide. Jesus seems to have given his men as much responsibility as they could reasonable assume. He sent them out on their own, allowing them to have a ministry without him. Thus, he was preparing them for the time when he would no longer be present. It is best not to do for a disciple when he can do for himself. He must be given an opportunity to act independently and responsibly.’
David Watson, Discipleship, 1981, p.83 |
