Our adult lives reflect our upbringing, our education, our disposition, and we serve based on God’s word and our spiritual gift. Fine. But we are also following, mostly unconsciously, an idea, a method or an approach that is based on someone we deeply respect. You say it is God: fine. I say it may be your chosen Rabbi. You say you do not have a Rabbi; I say you may have a blind spot.
Story? I know a good guy who can’t quit quoting his Rabbi from seminary days. He is all in. He would say he is not quoting anyone; he has just studied the Bible and has come to his own conclusions. Is he a disciple of this Rabbi? Yes, and all the more so if he is willing to lose his job over it. He did.
Back in the day, John the Baptist had a circle of followers. He was their Rabbi and they, Andrew and Peter, chose him. When they left John for Jesus, they clearly risked being very disloyal, but John graciously, humbly, and wisely said, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” They left one Rabbi for another…one whose shoelace John the Baptist was not worthy to untie.
“Rabbi, make your disciples behave.” Rabbis have disciples…a circle of followers. Not the guys in the local parish or neighborhood, but the ones who have chosen him…even from far away.
My advice: identify those captivating Rabbis who may lead you astray. That super cool, but bad boy theologian at seminary. He gets invitations; the president or the board may fire him. He is cool, and he has your heart. He is not for you. Maybe he’s super old school. Same thing. Flee.
Maybe your Rabbi is John MacArthur or John Maxwell or Andy Stanley or Max Lucado or John Eldridge; all good guys and worth following. All have a strong and clear direction. All have enemies. Choose carefully. All are far away, and maybe you have not even met them. You have been to their seminars, read their books, quote them often. Nothing wrong, but you cannot really know them unless you are with them in their local situation and on their team. Choose carefully.
Maybe your Rabbi is the lead pastor who invited you to join the staff of the church you now serve. You have learned a lot from him. Good. Let him be your Rabbi. Maybe not forever, and beware of defending him to the max, even when you know he has missed this one, failed on that issue, or has some personal habit.
We live in a context where we barely have denominations; we are losing touch with our theological frameworks, and we are seeing the church innovate and change at a dramatic pace. We cannot find the old tracks to run on, and we wonder how to navigate the myriad choices and options. Choosing a Rabbi is a good way. Just choose carefully.
Do some see you as their Rabbi? Consider your responsibility carefully.