A Biblical view of learning (3)

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me…” Matthew 11:29

A work of God’s Spirit
We have made the point that true learning – of which, in spite of all our many and variegated efforts, there seems to be but little in the contemporary Church – is a work of the Spirit of God. Unless He penetrates our souls with the two-edged sword of God’s Word, we will never truly learn anything. We may acquire a certain amount of facts about the Bible and religion, and even master a few hand formulas and practices, but we will not learn in the way that Jesus intends unless His Spirit accomplishes this work in us.

The Spirit of God is at work within the followers of Christ, teaching us His Word, guiding us into all truth, making us willing to obey the Lord, and preparing us to do exceeding abundantly beyond what we’ve ever dared to ask or think before (Ezek. 36:26, 26; Jn. 16:13; Phil. 2:13; Eph. 3:20). He is faithful in all His work to accomplish that for which the Lord has sent Him to us.

But learning, while it is in the first place a work of God’s Spirit, is not exclusively so. As Jesus implied in His command, we must take up the responsibility of learning to which He has called us, both on our own and in community with others of God’s people. Learning is not something that happens to us, merely; it is rather something in which we participate and for which, therefore, we have certain responsibilities.

We must understand and embrace these responsibilities, and pursue them faithfully – working with the Spirit of God for the sake of our salvation (Phil. 2:12, 13) – if we would know the kind of learning God is preparing for us.

Learning on our own
The human role in the learning process is two-dimensional. It encompasses what we must do on our own, as individual learners, and what we must seek to gain from and contribute to the community of which we are a part. In each of these dimensions three responsibilities await us which must be diligently attended to if we are to become true learners. We’ll consider first those responsibilities that fall to us as individual learners.

Take up the disciplines of learning. In the first place, as individuals, it is our responsibility to take up the disciplines of learning day by day. These include reading, prayer, meditation, reflection, planning for action, and applying what we are learning to our lives.

Learning is hard work precisely because it involves change; it requires us to process new information, assess the state our affections and priorities in the light of that information, and consider the implications and applications of this to our daily lives. This is a daily discipline which will only bear consistent fruit when it is consistently observed (Ps. 1).

Included in this is the necessity of maintaining a continuous self-watch so that we are able to discern areas of needed correction, reinforcement, or improvement in our walk with the Lord (Prov. 4:20-27; 1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Jn. 8), and of listening for the Spirit as He searches and guides us in the way we should go (Ps. 139:23, 24; Jn.14:8-13).

Seek the Lord. The second responsibility of each individual learner is to seek the Lord continuously for the learning only He can provide (Ps. 105:4). As we read and study our Bibles and other valuable learning resources, and as we participate in classes or attend to the preaching of the Word, we can expect to gather a wide range of insights and understandings that must be processed, through our affections and values, into meaningful acts of obedience and good works. But, as we have seen, this is the Lord’s work, Who brings His fruit, gifts, and power to light in us (Gal. 5:22, 23; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Acts 1:8) in the everyday circumstances of our lives.

By maintaining a disposition of openness to the Lord’s leading and seeking Him in prayer at various times throughout the day, we may expect to make the most of the opportunities He brings our way for carrying out the lessons of our study in all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities (Eph. 5:15-17).

In addition, seeking the counsel, advice, and insights of our fellow believers can also yield the Lord’s direction for how we must obey Him.

Work learning out in love. Finally, since the goal of all instruction is love (1 Tim.1:5), we must be careful to make love our aim and to work hard at showing the love of Christ to the people around us. Love is the fulfillment of God’s commandments, as John reminds us (2 Jn. 6). As we are studying, praying, listening to the Lord, maintaining a careful watch over our daily lives, and seeking the Lord in prayer, we will improve the likelihood of realizing the fruit of true learning if we bring to mind the opportunities for loving others that we can expect to encounter each day, and gird up our minds in advance for doing so when the opportunities arise (1 Pet. 1:13; Ps. 90:12, 16, 17).

Love is the proper end of true learning; it is what the Lord is working to accomplish in and through us. If, as we are studying and learning, we can discipline ourselves to envision and to anticipate love coming to expression through us, we will be more likely to realize that love, for God and others, as each opportunity for loving emerges in our daily path.

Learning in community
There are also three responsibilities which we have as members of the believing community which we must give attention to if we are consistently to grow in true learning.

Submit to worthy teachers. The Lord has placed the office of teacher in the church and has called faithful men and women to take up that role for the equipping of the saints and the building-up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11, 12). Evidently receiving instruction through faithful and able teachers is something every believer requires (2 Tim. 2:2). We may participate in that teaching through a wide range of means: attendance at worship, participation in courses and other instructional settings, reading books, and so on.

Every believer needs some regular means of being taught by worthy instructors, those whose understanding and experience of the Word of God can further our own walk with Him and help to equip us for service in the Body of Christ.

Learners and teachers all. Second, we must all also realize that God has called each of us to share in the duty of building-up our brothers and sisters in the Lord. As the Word of God and instruction in the life of faith are taking deep root in us, we must look for opportunities to teach and admonish others, so that they may grow with us (Col. 3:16).

Often we will find that we only fully and finally grasp what the Lord is trying to teach us as we teach and explain to others what we have been studying. So let us seek out learning opportunities which encourage sharing together in the process of instruction.

Stimulate one another to love and good works. Finally, as those in whom the Spirit of God, the Holy Comforter, dwells, we must make it our business to encourage our fellow believers in all aspects of the life of faith, especially in learning to do good works of love (Heb. 10:24). Thus the entire community of the Body of Christ reaches out continuously to all members in order to inform, encourage, stimulate, and support the work of furthering the Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit (Rom. 14:17, 18). As we are walking about, talking and fellowshipping, doing our work, or just enjoying one another’s company, we will fulfill and important part of our calling in the Body by faithfully making the most of every opportunity to stimulate one another to love and good works.

The Spirit of God, working with the Word of God, alone can accomplish true learning in us. But it pleases Him for us to be actively involved, both as individuals, for our own sake, and in community, benefiting from the gifts of others and contributing to their walk with the Lord as well.

For more insight to this topic, get the book, Rediscovering the Lost Tools of Learning, by Douglas Wilson, from our online store.

Or read the article, “Listen to the Spirit,” by T. M. Moore.