Learning Discipleship from . . .MIB?
A few weeks ago, Pastor Joe was giving a talk about discipleship. While he was talking, I was thinking of illustrations of good discipleship. The movie Men in Black kept coming to mind. I hadn’t seen it in awhile so I decided to rent it and see what kind of principles of discipleship are in the movie.
In the storyline Tommy Lee Jones trains Will Smith to be his replacement. He doesn’t have Will sit through a bunch of classes, listen to lectures, memorize names and faces of all these aliens, etc, etc. He takes Will out and just has him follow him around. One of the best training moments is when they pull over an alien who is leaving his restricted district. The alien’s with his pregant wife who delivers a baby w/ the help of Will Smith. The alien tells Tommy Lee Jones he’s trying to leave the planet. Now Jones asks Smith, “What’s wrong with this picture”. He takes Smith through this bizarre event and afterwards evaluates the situation with him. He teaches Smith how to look at situations and how to understand what’s going on. It’s on the job training. As they go through “ordinary” situations, Jones is teaching Smith principles and how to apply them in the situations.
I’ve been studying counseling for the past couple months and what I’ve learned is that effective counseling takes place over the course of ordinary life. ‘Formal ministry’ (whether it’s sermons, bible studies, or actual counseling) is good for teaching them information. However most of the change and influence takes place during ‘informal ministry’. ‘Informal ministry’ is teaching them how to think through and apply the principles they have in their heads in everyday situations. It involves spending time with them – making them a part of your life. I think MIB paints a picture of good discipleship as Jones takes Smith around and shows him the ropes. It’s a good example of discipleship.
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