The Jesus Education Model: Learning and Doing Simultaneously

The Institute for GOD is one of the only colleges where every student serves in places like this. It is arguably the only one where they’ll do that alongside their professors, Jesus-style.

In Mark 6:7-12 Jesus sends his students on a mission: 

 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. 

Looking at the above text, we can see that the disciples received some specific things:

• Authority over unclean spirits (verse 7)

• A list of what to pack, and not pack, and wear (verses 8-9)

• Rules for conducting themselves in host homes (verse 10)

• Instruction on how to handle rejection (verse 11)

In the following verse of Mark, readers are then informed of the carrying out of the mission (verse 12), as well as the mission’s result: proclamation that resulted in repentance, demons cast out, and sick people cured (verses 12-13). This passage closes with a surprising result. The disciples did what Jesus said do, independent of his presence, and it was a success! The question we have to ask is what contributed to this success?

Again, this story begins in the 6th chapter of Mark, the shortest of the four gospels. The five chapters before this one provide all the context we need to understand what I’m calling “Jesus’ Discipleship School” - a school where the teacher (Jesus) demonstrates the concepts his students (disciples) enact, so that they learn how he approaches issues. This quick survey will demonstrate what I mean.

It’s really hard to do what you’ve never seen. Structuring our learning-and-doing model allows a dynamic back and forth between gaining understanding, practicing implementation, and reflection and feedback from people who’ve done it before.

Demonstrating the Way in Mark

Below you will find a list connecting each element of the disciples’ experience to Jesus’ own in the preceding chapters. Before he asked his students to do something, he showed them how. (This could also serve as a critique on hasty mission prep that pushes people onto the field without enough time in the classroom.)

Preaching Repentance - Mark 6:12

• Mark 1:15 - Jesus’ first message is “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe the good news.”

• Mark 1:38 - Jesus takes his disciples into neighboring towns to proclaim the message above making them witnesses to his method.

Casting out Demons - Mark 6:13

• Mark 1:21 - Jesus rebukes an unclean spirit in the Capernaum synagogue.

• Mark 1:32 - Jesus cast out the demon-possessed brought to him in Simon’s town, he also stayed there until he left the area.

• Mark 5:8-13 - Jesus casts the spirits out of the Gerasene man

Healing the Sick - Mark 6:13

• Mark 1:31 - Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law of her fever

• Mark 1:32 - Jesus heals all the sick that were brought to him in Simon’s town

• Mark 1:41 - Jesus heals a leper

• Mark 2:11-12 - Jesus heals the paralytic, and forgives his sin

• Mark 3:5 - Jesus heals the man with the withered hand

• Mark 5:34 - The hemorrhaging woman is healed through her faith and touch of Jesus

The above list is by no means exhaustive, but it demonstrates the point that I’m trying to make. Jesus’ disciples were exposed to the activities they successfully participated in throughout their journey with Jesus up to this point in the gospel.

It’s also worth noting that Jesus experienced rejection at Nazareth in the verses just before our focus narrative, providing the training ground for what the disciples could have experienced when sent out on their own. It’s also important to note that peppered in between all the events listed above are the teachings of Jesus. These teachings provided educational context for the experiences the disciples were having on the mission the went on in Mark 6. 

The biggest takeaway from all of the above is that Jesus’ style of education consisted of his students learning and doing simultaneously. It reasonably stands that, if we want our educational systems to be modeled after our Lord, we should implement the same kind of system. 

Starting every day with prayer is a powerful tutor we pray our students hold onto for the rest of their lives.

Learning and Doing at the Institute for G.O.D.

At the Institute we do this in a few different ways.

On Campus in Nashville:

• Students meet regularly with mentors who help bring context to what students are learning in the classroom and experiencing in their every day life.

• Our Student Life ensures the values taught in the classroom are practiced in housing including prayer and accountability group meetings.

• Faculty and staff regularly discuss issues pertinent to student experiences in life in the classroom, open office hours, and conduct special forums for discussion.

• We offer practicums where students learn skills useful in ministry from faculty, staff, or alumni.

• Students are deployed to help those in need in Nashville every Wednesday after chapel, helping them keep in mind that learning God’s Word goes hand-in-hand with doing it.

• We provide a tight-knit community of faith where students and teachers live in a shared neighborhood and regularly see each other outside of academic settings, so students can see faculty and staff live out their faith.

Students don’t go on the field alone, and they don’t go without guidance. Professors, alumni, and current missionaries and third world development experts are there to guide students on-the-field experiences.

For International Trips (students at the Institute spend 20+ weeks abroad during their undergraduate experience through 3-4 sequenced trips):

• Students meet with seasoned mission facilitators and cultural experts (read what those are here) to learn the cultural particularities of the country they will travel to, minimizing culture shock so they can hit the ground running.

• Trips are facilitated by faculty, staff, or alumni and incorporate biblical education pertinent to the experiences students have in the region.

• Many of the people we work with in the countries students serve are also taking classes at the Institute, giving opportunities for cross-cultural conversations about implementing lessons learned in the scriptures.

• Facilitators give live feedback to students as they implement projects or programs so the things they have learned in the classroom are properly executed on the ground.

We make sure all of these things happen because we recognize the value of what Jesus demonstrated in the opening chapters of Mark. Education is more than what happens in the classroom, and it’s more than what happens while doing something. It’s a fusion of the two and that fusion is best experienced in environments where people in positions of authority recognize that it’s Jesus’ way, and that’s part of the way that students become spiritually mature, competent professionals who can impact the world!