I did most of the disipleship course at St Pauls...

It radically altered how I look at disipleship. We examined the jewish system of learning that was present in Jesus day. There were three houses of learning. All young boys (and some girls) started in Bet Sefer (house of the book). During their time in Bet Sefer, they were required to memorise the first five books of the old testament (known as the torah). Boys attended Bet Sefer from the age of 6-10years of age.

Entry to the next house of learning, Bet Talmud (house of learning) was restricted to those students who were considered to be the cream of the crop. Children who did not go on to Bet Talmud, usually began learning the family business. Students attended Bet Talmud from the ages of 10-14. During this time, they were required to learn and memorise the entire new testament.

The third and final house of learning was called Bet Midrash (house of learning). For students to advance to this stage, they had to be the best of the best, and the rabbi personally chose those who he thought capable of learning his yoke(interpretation of the law) with a view of teaching the rabbis yoke to others. A disiple usually began their public ministry about 30years of age

Jesus, a man who many called rabbi, went completely against the culture of the time. rather than picking educated young men, he picked fishermen, tax collectors, people that likely never got higher than Bet Sefer and certainly never would have graduated from Bet Talmud. Jesus picked his disciples, not because of who they were, rather because I believe, he say who they would become. He wants to be in relationship with us, not because of who we are, and how educated we are, but because when he looks at us he can see the type of people we will become

As christians we often talk about having faith in Jesus and trusting him. I wonder how many of us, actually stop to consider that Jesus picks us, because he has faith in us?

Mathew 14:24-32 32and by this time the boat was far out in the lake, tossed about by the waves, because the wind was blowing against it.25 Between three and six o'clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water.26 When they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. "It's a ghost!" they said, and screamed with fear. 27 Jesus spoke to them at once. "Courage!" he said. "It is I. Don't be afraid!"28 Then Peter spoke up. "Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you." 29 "Come!" answered Jesus. So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus.30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water. "Save me, Lord!" he cried.
31 At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him and said, "What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?".32 They both got into the boat, and the wind died down.

We all know the sotry of when Jesus walked on water. And most people assume that when Jesus rebuked Peter, he was rebuking him, because Peter had not trusted in Jesus. How many of us ever stopped to think that Jesus wasnt angry because of Peters lack of trust in himself, Rather Jesus was angry because Peter was not trusting in his own ability.

Jesus was completely counter cultural, he chose his disiples based on who they were, not how much they had studied. He associated with the tax collectors, prostitutes and the other assorted people of the day.

He broke down sterotypes and completely blew peoples word views to smithereens. Talking to the samaritan woman at the well, when confronted by an expert of the law, who asked him "who was his neighbour". Instead of giving an example that was nice and comfortable, he pounded on the point that not only do we have to love people who we may have issues loving, but we have to be prepared to let them love us. Jesus told the story of the good samaritan, the samritains were considered by the jews to be unloveable and people they didnt want to associate with. In a contempory society, that could mean homosexuals, occultists and prostitutes...