About eight Kentucky Minutes from Mrs. Eric

My wife brought the Alexander Campbell wood to all of us sitting in the pews at Madisonville's First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) this morning ...

Why don’t we study? The word “Disciple” means student or pupil. So to say that we are Disciples of Christ is to say, in fact, that we are students of Christ.

This week’s stewardship emphasis theme is the spiritual discipline of intentional faith development. This should be a natural for us; after all, we have a denominational heritage of intentionally developing our faith. We are part of a Restoration Movement that takes seriously the scripture in Acts 2:42 when it says that after Christ’s death, the followers of Jesus “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” And so the founders of our denomination who first called for a return to the “ancient order of things” were devoted to an intense study of the scripture.

So, why don’t we study?

While a senior in high school, I had the chance to go to Bethany, W.Va., and visit the historical home of our church’s founder, Alexander Campbell. Walking the grounds of his home, one can’t help but notice the small hexagonal study building on the southwest corner of the yard that Campbell had built in 1832. It’s just one room--like a potting shed or an out-building--but the walls are lined with shelves for books, and beams of beautiful light shine down through a cupola onto the desk ... the perfect place for hours of disciplined study of scripture and prayerful reflection. Being in that study, I could not help but feel in my soul the power and enrichment that intentional Bible study and prayer bring to the life of a disciple of Christ. Study was such a part of Alexander Campbell’s life that for five summers after Campbell’s death, his widow kept the chair from his desk sitting beside his grave.

We are a church movement founded on intentional faith development, so why don’t we study?

Why are their Sundays when the Sunday School teachers are huddled around the office corridor saying, “I hope someone shows up today”? I’ve talked with mothers and fathers who say they don’t have time for that sort of thing right now. Maybe when the kids are grown they’ll have more time, they say. I’ve talked with retirees who say they used to study the Bible, but, … well …, been there, done that--like there is such a thing as being a “retired Christian.” I’ve heard from young adults who say they just can’t seem to find a class that speaks to them, as if they are powerless in creating such a class on their own. I’ve talked with youth who have a lot of questions but aren’t sure if they’ll be here next week for Sunday School because their parents have scheduled something more important for them to do.

How can we spread the word of God to the unchurched or how can we teach our children to be disciples if we ourselves are not students? How can we foster for others a path of intentional faith development in this church if we ourselves are not walking down that path?

Our ministers and Sunday School teachers and Worship & Wonder storytellers and youth leaders and Bible-study leaders and CWF leaders are already providing an abundance of amazing opportunities for us to strengthen and nurture our faith. They spend hours of their week preparing important lessons for us, aiming to pass on the faith to us and create groups of mutual support. And the new education building will provide shelter for even more opportunities for members and strangers to grow in faith, but only if we recommit ourselves to being students and teachers again.

When I think of the Christians whose walks I admire--all of them, all of them were faithful students of the Christian tradition. All of them were good stewards of their time and made study in community a priority.

Fellow Disciples, let’s live up to our name. It’s time that we become students again.