Get your Tassels Dirty

A few weeks ago at Youth Group we talked about putting your tassels on. Scroll down a bit and you can read the post about it. This week, we talked about the importance of getting those tassels dirty.

To get a true understanding of this we jumped back a couple thousand years to early Jewish schooling-Bet Sefer. Jewish students started school at about 6 years old. There first objective? Learn the Torah. Learn it so well in fact that you have the whole thing memorized. No biggy, right?

Wrong. The Torah is the first five books of the Bible-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Students would generally have this memorized by age ten. If they were unable to do this, their Rabbi would tell them to leave to go and learn their family's trade. If they were able to memorize it, they were quizzed on how well they could understand and apply it. If they couldn't do that well, their Rabbi would tell them to go home and learn their family's trade. If they could do all of that though (which few could) their Rabbi would take them on to the next level of schooling-Bet Talmud.

What do you do at Bet Talmud? Nothing too crazy-you only memorize the rest of the Scriptures which, at this point, was through Malachi. Yea, that's the entire Old Testament, 39 books of the Bible! If you couldn't do it, you were told to go home and learn your family trade. If you could do it (and could understand and apply it) you became one of the Rabbi's disciples. Once you were a disciple your goal was to be like your Rabbi. (Remember that!)

This stage of education was called Bet Midrash. At this point, the only students who were able to be with the Rabbi were those who the Rabbi knew could do what he did. To those who could do what He did, the Rabbi would say "Come, follow me."

That is what the student would do. He would leave everything behind and follow his Rabbi wherever he went. So much so that by the end of each day, the students would literally be covered in dust that the Rabbi kicked up as he was walking. They were getting their tassels dirty.

Then comes Jesus. This is where it gets interesting. When Jesus went to call His disicples he went to a bunch of Jewish school failures. Check out Matthew 4:19. Look at what Jesus says to these Bet Sefer dropouts-"Come, follow me."

Now, I don't know about you-but whenever I've failed I would do just about anything to have a second chance. Don't miss this-these guys were getting a second chance! Keep reading Matthew 4. It says that they left their nets and followed Him. They didn't take in their catch for the day first, they didn't say goodbye to their parents, they didn't pack their belongings. They followed Him. They became Jesus' disciples. They strived to be like Him. They covered themselves in the dust that Jesus kicked up as He walked. They got their tassels dirty.

Awesome, right? Yea, it really is. But what does that mean for us? Flip forward to Matthew 28:16-20. Jesus tells His disciples (those who are trying to be like Him) to go and make disciples of all nations.

In otherwords, go and tell all the other failures, the other sinners, the other no-names that I am here to give everyone a second chance-just like I gave you. Go and tell the world that if they so choose, they can follow me. They can learn from me. They can be like me. They can cover themselves in the dust from my feet as they follow me everywhere I go. They can get their tassles dirty.

Did you catch the other awesome thing? Scroll back up and check it out. A Rabbi would only say "Come, follow me" to those who he knew could be like him. He wouldn't say that to anyone who he knew didn't have that potential. Jesus has told us to come and follow Him. He believes that you and I do have that potential to be like Him. He believes that you and I can be His disciples.

You see, disciples would do anything to follow their Rabbi. They'd go wherever He went. They never wanted to leave his side. They wanted to show their Rabbi that they could be like him. Christ has called you to do the same. Are you following Him everywhere He goes? Are you doing everything you can to be like Him? At the end of each day are you covered in the dust from His feet? Are your tassles dirty?

(Enjoy the historical stuff in here? Check out Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell).