Day 24 -- Always a White Belt

There are certain things I value in people more than others. Love, absolutely. Gentleness? Yes. Honesty. Of course!

But I think as I do this journey more and more I'm aware that in general there are two sorts of people: those who know it all, and those who are still learning. Personally, I prefer the teachable ones...the ones who don't have it all figured out. God and life can instruct them and they actually learn and grow. And their fruit gets better, and larger, and richer, and more abundant in every season because as they go through life and learn, they prune themselves for growth.

I'm a Judo guy. It's been a long time since I was actually on a mat in a dojo, but I've learned a ton of life lessons in the context of a sweaty gi's (the white pajamas we wear when working out) and physically clashing wills. I remember in my first club, in Tucson, when I was in high school; there was this guy named Kevin Kneafsey. He was an excellent Judo-ka...student of Judo and advanced quickly. What I most admired about him though was that as he advanced, he refused to put on the new colored belts he was handed. Instead, he wore the same ratty, sweat and blood stained white belt he wore night in and out at the dojo.

That belt was a sign for him of his on-going commitment to be a learner...growing in the art of Judo well past himself...constantly striving for a deeper understanding in his body and Spirit of the principles of redirected force in human confrontation.

Jesus valued teachable people as well. One of the purposes of his earthly ministry was to teach and demonstrate the principles of what he called "the kingdom of heaven." He wasn't referring to an afterlife. He was referring to this life and to the shape of love and forgiveness in the communities they create. But to learn Jesus' kingdom, you have to un-learn unforgiveness, hard-heartedness, and so many of the closely held and coveted values of your lives.

When it comes to following Jesus, we will always be white belts. This is ok. If we come at life in general, and Jesus specifically, with the attitude of learning and receiving, chances are we'll walk away transformed. Because no doubt that Jesus is an experience that changes us all; all we know and understand.

May you find your "white-belts" this week, fasten them around your waists, and then ask the Great Teacher to teach you the ways of his life, his death, his resurrection, and his kingdom!

Pastor Nathan