The other day my son was wandering aimlessly around my room. He does this on a regular basis. He’s a lot different than his sisters. He likes to explore. He looks for things to play with, destroy, toss around the room. Anyway, the other day as he wandered around my room he glanced over at me and saw me brushing my teeth. I look at him, waved, and in a flash he was gone.
One minute later… wandering boy came back in the room. He approached the bathroom, and when I turned to look at him he was brushing his teeth. Yes, he was doing exactly what I was doing — except he was dancing a little more than I was. [The boy is constantly dancing.]
This little interaction amazed me. In that moment I realized he’s watching my every move. He’s learning how to live by watching me. It was then I thought, a lot of what I teach him will be taught informally. It will be taught by how I live.
I think this is true of discipleship as well. In churches and communities people are taught formally. This means they are taught in a classroom, small group, or on a Sunday morning. This is good thing. But, people are also taught informally. They learn by watching others. They see what others do, and put it into practice.
The apostle Paul realized this. He said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” [1 Cor. 11:1]. He also said, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” [Phil. 4:9]. Paul challenged his followers to copy his lifestyle, to learn from how he lived.
One of my goals in life is to model a life worth living. Sure, I’m not perfect. I don’t get it right all the time. But I want to teach well by how I live. I want to show others how to brush their teeth, not just tell them how to brush their teeth.