Spiritual “Unlearning”

One of my favorite movie tropes is when the young hero is trained by a wise mentor. In The Empire Strikes Back, an eager Luke Skywalker is trained by the wise and very-old Yoda. When faced with a difficult task, Luke insists multiple times that he cannot complete the task because it is too difficult for him.  

Yoda challenges Luke by telling him that his thoughts are getting in the way. He then says, “You must unlearn what you have learned.” 

As a Christian that wants to grow in discipleship to Jesus, we must accept the fact that there are some things we must unlearn. We have all learned things from (and been shaped by) teachers, friends, crazy uncles, study groups, adversity, failures, successes, and the ups and downs of life. Some of these taught us the only way they knew to teach, and some might have been well-intentioned... 

But are all those things true? Are all those things godly? Are we more in love with Jesus, or more in love with nostalgia while recalling fond memories of what we’ve learned in our past? 

In Philippians 3:10-16, Paul says that his goal is to know Christ, participate in his sufferings, and become like him. But with great humility, he continues, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” 

So, friend, what do you need to unlearn in order to follow Jesus more closely? 

Blessings, 

Franklin