On Finishing Well (5): Teachability

 I've been looking at a fine article, written a few years back, about Finishing Well, by which the author means, "following Christ to the very end of our lives." I'm interested because, well, I've recently entered upon that potentially benighted state known as retirement. "Benighted," as you will see if you click on the link, means "overtaken by darkness." I don't want that to happen!

The article posits six characteristics of those who finish well. Of these, I have a word or two to say about the first three: Christ-centered, focused, and disciplined. You will notice that Christ-centered would seem to be an obvious one for one who wants to "follow Christ to the very end." But focus and discipline are more generic. They come together, for me, under the heading, avoid distractions.

The next trait in this author's list is teachable. Yes, I like that one. We are talking, keep in mind, about retirement, and so usually about people of a certain age. Gray-hairs, I might call them. Or in my own case, no-hairs. And it is not necessarily a common trait of our set to be teachable: to be willing and eager to learn.

I find it to be a rare trait. Many people, once they achieve a certain age, seem to disable their internal teachability mode. As with focus and discipline, this trait exists on a spectrum that not necessarily Christian. After all, one doesn't have to be a Christian to be teachable. Its my contention tat wen a Cristian pursues focus or discipline or teachability she pursues these things all along tat spectrum, not simply te Christian end of it.

So . . . advice to self: be always learning. Learn the names of those weeds growing in your lawn; learn how to fix a broken spoke on your bike; learn to read music, or the case for and against something before making up your mind, etc. There is, it seems, always learning to be done. 

As for the particular connection between being a Jesus follower and being teachable should be obvious. The very word disciple means student. The disciples often called Jesus "Teacher." By definition, a disciple places himself or herself in Jesus classroom, ready and eager to learn from the teacher. Our concern is for what Jesus says and what he does and where he leads.