Where's Jesus?

Last weekend, I attended a youth workers retreat with two of our adult leaders at Imago Dei Village in northern Wisconsin. The keynote speaker was the Rev. Dr. Dick Hardel, the Executive Director of the Youth and Family Institute. Dick was engaging, entertaining, and encouraging. But most of all, I heard great affirmation from his expertise for what we are doing at SSM to implement discipleship coaching.

Dick began the conference by telling a story about his brother-in-law, Walt Wangerin, who is the Writer in Residence at Valperaiso University. When Walt was a young boy, he got into trouble one Sunday morning for getting out of his pew while his father was preaching to look for Jesus behind the altar. He wanted to know "Where's Jesus?"

Coaching discipleship is about expecting to see Jesus. We are Christians because Jesus is alive. But so often we tend to think and act like he's not really here. Instead, we ask ourselves "what would Jesus do (. . . if he were here)"? Yet the question for disciples is, "what is Jesus doing"?

God gives us the gift of Holy Spirit so that in our faith we are able to see Jesus among us. Because he leads us on our journey, all of life is sacred. The most mundane, every day things we do all of a sudden become great adventures when we recognize Jesus there reconciling the world to our Father.

During a coaching session, after the initial check-in time the first question to ask is, "Where have you seen Jesus this month, and what was he doing?" Disciples then give an account of seeing our risen messiah and participating in his mission. They are first hand eye-witnesses! It is by sharing our accounts with one another, that we hold eachother accountable.

There are no penalties when someone doesn't live up to the monthly action plan. There are no scoldings or even any stern looks given by the coach. The accountablily that is otherwise sorely lacking in the church occurs simply by sharing our accounts of seeing Jesus and experiencing his grace through our coaches who encourage us to continue seeking him when we stumble.

Take a moment and ask yourself:

+ Where have I seen Jesus today?

+ What was he doing?

+ How can I do that with him?