Jack D. Popjes, Contributor

Popjes

I love it when recently discovered scientific knowledge upholds basic principles taught by the Bible for thousands of years. It happened again just recently.

In April I had the privilege of participating in a camp retreat, speaking four times to 40 university students, all from a local Chinese church. I taught the biblical basis of discipleship from the way our rabbi Jesus treated His followers. That I was a blunt Dutchman, at least three times as old as any of them, seemed to make no difference. We had a ball! And some seriously serious times.

I had two main points in my talks. The first was that we as disciples of Jesus need to become like Him. A disciple is not just a student, wanting to know what his teacher knows. Nor is he just an apprentice wanting to do what his master does. A good disciple passionately wants to BE what his rabbi IS.

When Jesus chose His disciples, He said to them, in effect, "I believe you can become just like me. Come, hang out with me." As they hung out with Jesus they imitated Him, becoming more and more like Him until they eventually became a living revelation of God to others, just as Jesus was.

We, too, need to imitate Christ-like mentors, even Jesus Himself, as St Paul said, "Be imitators of Christ".

My second main point was that we cannot be disciples in isolation. We need to be with other people who are just as passionately committed to becoming like Jesus as we are. We need to relate to other disciples to encourage one another and to imitate those who are more like Jesus than we are.

We see this same togetherness principle when God created earth. He did it in six stages. At the end of each stage He looked at what He had made and said, "It is good." Except for one time. When He created Adam, He looked at him, shook His head and said, "It is NOT good for man to live alone," and made a woman as his companion. We all need other people to relate with.

Studies in neuroscience have just upheld both of these two ancient biblical principles: imitation and relationship.

mirror neurons

In a recent book, Social Intelligence, author Daniel Goleman explains that neuroscience has discovered that there is a variety of brain cells called mirror neurons which "... sense both the move another person is about to make and their feelings, and instantaneously prepare us to imitate that movement and feel with them."

He also explains that human beings are hard-wired to connect with others. "... our brain's very design makes it sociable, inexorably drawn into an intimate brain-to-brain linkup whenever we engage with another person."

The Bible teaches that God made human beings in His image, a community of three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, constantly interacting with each other. No wonder He designed us to live in relationship with others too.

We see this need for human relationship all around us. One Friday, a few weeks ago, 20-year-old Ryan Fitzgerald posted a little video on YouTube with his cellphone number. "I never met you, but I do care," he said, and offered to talk with anyone who called him. Five thousand strangers called him that weekend!

People need each other. That is why God invented families, and why He wants His people to worship and serve Him in groups.

More important, this is also why Jesus paid the ultimate price, buying with His own lifeblood the way for all mankind to enter the great Family of God and live in relationship with Him forever.

God made us relational, not just so we can relate to each other, but to Him!

He made us imitators, not just so we can act like people we admire, but so we can become like Him!

God imprinted these abilities and desires right into our brains.

These ancient truths, recently verified by neuroscience, along with all the rest of God's written Word, need to be known by all 6.3 billion people on the planet. Several thousand languages still do not have even one word of the Bible translated into them. Hundreds of millions of speakers of these languages still wait in spiritual darkness, not knowing that God loves them and wants them to love Him back.

Translating and transmitting His message of love to every person on earth is the most foundational work any follower of Jesus can be involved in.

The Rev. Jack D. Popjes is the former director for both Wycliffe Bible Translators Canada and Wycliffe Bible Translators Caribbean. He may be reached at Jack_Popjes@wycliffe.ca. For more on Jack Popjes see http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20021201/focus/focus4.html