The NCAA Tournament is in full swing, and the Razorbacks are still in it! They play tonight at the ungodly hour of 9:09 pm, meaning it will be around 11:30 before we know if the Hogs will keep dancing into the Elite Eight. Like many of you, I filled out a bracket for the tournament. It’s interesting how quickly we become experts as we are choosing teams. I found myself thinking, “Well, they’ve lost six of their last eight, no way they’ll win” or, “Their 3-point defense is really good, they should have no trouble beating that team” or other seemingly well-thought-through insights. However, the reality is that I’m no college basketball expert; I rarely watch games that don’t involve the Razorbacks, and I have never played organized basketball (other than church league, does that count?). My perceived expertise based on stats has not played out in my picks, as I’m almost dead last in our church staff bracket challenge!

I believe this can happen on our road to discipleship just as easily as on the road to the Final Four. We can become experts in the Scriptures without truly knowing the God of those Scriptures. We can learn the name of every King from Saul to Zedekiah, we can memorize the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, we can sweep the “Bible Trivia” category on “Jeopardy,” we can recite the 23rd Psalm or the Lord’s Prayer, but none of this on its own will make us a disciple. Don’t get me wrong, these are all good things to know and can help us on our journey, but discipleship is about knowing the person of Jesus, not just knowing about Jesus. Becoming an apprentice of Jesus is living as He lived, loving as He loved, shining His light into the world, offering others the Bread of Life and the Living Water. As John Mark Comer says in his outstanding book on discipleship, “Practicing the Way,” our job is to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do as Jesus did.

Paul puts it this way to the Ephesians (4:11-13, 5:1-2):

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ…Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

May it be so for you and for me this week as we seek to be apprentices of Jesus!