When you read through the Gospels of the New Testament it is interesting to note how much time Jesus spent teaching both His disciples and the crowds of people who followed Him. Each individual who listened to what He had to say was forced to make choices. They could believe what He said and trust and follow Him or they could chose to reject what He said and walk away. The same is true for us today. It is to those who claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ that I wish to direct the words of this article today by asking the question, “How teachable are you?”

This question speaks to the issue of your level of commitment to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I have hand written in my Bible, copied from a long ago worn out Bible, of which the original source is long lost, the following quote, “A `disciple´ or `learner´ is not one who has already learned, but one who is always learning”. Do you feel you know it all, or are you comfortable with what you do know in terms of the Bible and your relationship with Jesus, because if this is where you are, you are not really in a place to be teachable.

There are two variables which determine whether a person is really teachable or not.

The first variable is based upon your willingness to learn things you did not previously know. On a scale of one to ten, how willing are you to learn? Most people will score themselves initially higher than they really are, because they do not realize teachability means we have a desire to never stop learning, and never stop desiring to be teachable. One of the ways to understand your true teachability is to ask yourself a series of questions,”What are you willing to do to learn and continue to be teach- able? What are you willing to invest to continue to learn and be teachable? How much of your time and life are you willing to give to continue to learn and be teachable? In fact how willing are you to really learn and be teachable?” The bottom line, for each one of us is, what are we willing to give up in order to learn what it means to be a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom? You can pretend to be a follower and disciple of Jesus all you want, but if you do not have a high desire to be teachable you will not likely take the necessary steps to become all that God wants you to be.

The second variable which deter- mines how teachable you are is seen in the answer to the question, “How willing are you to accept change in your life?” If you are not happy with your life, and who you are right now, you need to understand you have developed patterns, habits, thoughts and attitudes that are going to need to be changed. God´s Word talks about, transformation and new creations that are possible for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are called to set our hearts and minds on things above rather than on the things of the earth, but these require us to be willing to change, and be changed by God. Dr. Phil has a question he asks over and over again of people whose lives are messed up in some way. He asks, “How is this working for you?” The reality is, if we really want a different outcome for our life from where we currently are, we must be willing to change, we must choose to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to bring about the change we want and is necessary, if we are to be healthy, joyful, vibrant, Spirit-filled fully committed followers of Jesus Christ. The second variable to being teachable forces you to answer the questions, “Are you willing to change, willing to change the way you feel about things, the way you think about things and even the way you do things?”

Remember your ability to be teachable involves both the variable of your willingness to learn and your willingness to change.

I wonder if you realize, just how important this issue of being teachable really is to your spiritual growth and development? Have you ever stopped to think about the number of times you have responded to someone with a, “ya but”statement, especially if they have tried to give you some helpful advice? Have you ever said things like, “but you don´t understand” OR, “I have tried that in the past and it did not work” OR, “I cannot do that because ...” and then you give a list of “reasons” as to why nothing will help. The truth is, often things will not work because we are not teachable or willing to change so God can make a difference in the circumstances of our lives. Before God can work in our lives to change us we must be prepared to move outside of our comfort box, because only to the extent we are willing to totally trust Him to know what is best for our lives will we be open to change and be teachable.

How interested are you really, in learning what it means to be a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ, because your willingness to be teachable will determine the answer.

Rev. Bob McLellan is pastor of the Shelburne Grace Church of the Nazarene