Hoosiers, along with being one of the greatest sports movies of all time, also presents a nice picture of discipleship. When I say discipleship I am referring to the process in which we learn to better follow Christ and grow in maturity under the guidance of a mentor with more life experience. The “discipler”/”disciple” relationship could be for a specific life stage. For example, you are about to get married and seek guidance from a couple who has been married for a while. If you are interested in serving in a specific ministry, you would want to learn from somebody who has done it. Or the relationship can be more general. You see somebody you respect and think, “I want to learn everything I can about following Jesus from this person.”   Four stages of discipleship that  I address are: (1) Mission, (2) Calling/Invitation, (3) Cultivation/Training, (4) Commission/Empower.

Mission- Before you do anything, it is important to know what it is you want to accomplish. For example, Jesus’ mission was to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth and make his Father known. He did this through his teachings, miracles, and ultimately his death on the cross. In Hoosiers, Coach Norman Dale had a vision of teaching a small-town basketball team that “There is more to the game then shooting. There are fundamentals and defense!” He saw the team had potential to do great things, but they were stuck in a routine of mediocrity. Notice, however, that neither Jesus nor Coach Dale attempt to accomplish their mission alone. Which brings us to the second stage.

Calling- Jesus gave no fancy speech when he chose his first disciples. All he said was, “Follow me,” and they did! Later in the Gospels Jesus gives conditions for following him: you have to love him more than your family. You have to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow him. He told one man to sell everything he owned before following him. In Hoosiers, Coach Dale asked the town drunk, Shooter, to be his assistant coach. This is similar to Jesus in a couple ways. First, Coach Dale saw something in Shooter that no one else did. Shooter’s own son told Coach, “He don’t deserve a chance.” Jesus was often criticized for being a “friend to tax collectors and sinners”. Also, the 12 disciples were regular guys, fisherman with no serious religious education. He chose people you might not expect. Coach Dale also had conditions for Shooter. Shooter had to clean up, shave, wear a suit to games, and be sober. If he didn’t do these the relationship couldn’t happen. Similar to the disciples (and everyone who comes after them) Coach didn’t force Shooter to do anything. He presented an opportunity to be better and do something greater with his life, and he was willing to stop drinking to do it. So, let’s say you have a vision of a people group you want to impact, you invite a younger person to come along side you, what would be some conditions? One might be to make the relationship a priority, even if it means meeting at 6:30 a.m. Another one is complete transparency. No secrets, and no area of your life is off-limits (Hence you really need to trust each other).

Cultivation- After you have initiated and defined the relationship, the next stage is to develop the younger person. In this stage the mentor teaches and guides the mentee. Although Jesus explained parables to the 12, they probably learned more from everyday interaction with Jesus, watching what he did, and helping him with various tasks. There are also moments when the 12 screw up and Jesus  corrects and encourages them. In Hoosiers, we don’t see as much of this process between Coach Dale and Shooter. There are a few shots of them talking on the bench, and one tenser scene in which Coach Dale is dunking Shooter’s head in water forcefully reminding him that he agreed to be sober. Shooter tells him, “I don’t think I can cut it.” And Coach responds,”You can cut it. I didn’t think I could cut it the other night either, but after what Jimmy did, it’s gonna take the Indiana National Guard to get me out.” He started with rebuke and ended with encouragement. So if you are in a discipleship relationship with someone it is important to meet and do formal lessons, but it is equally important to invite them over to see how you interact with your spouse and observe how you do life. Another teaching tool would be to invite them into your ministry field and let them watch and then ask questions. If you lead a bible study, let the disciple come, then answer questions when it finishes. 

Commission- There comes a time in a mentor/mentee relationship when the mentor has done all the training they needed, and then steps aside and gives responsibility to the mentee. This moment comes in Hoosiers when Coach Dale intentionally gets thrown out of the game, so that Shooter has to lead the team in the final minutes of a big game. Shooter was terrified and lacked confidence, but he eventually led them to a victory. Shooter didn’t believe in himself, but Coach Dale saw and believed in what him. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ILSuQOmEg)  Sometimes we need somebody to push us out of our comfort zone. Someone who pushes us to do/be more than we ever imagined. After rising from the dead and before ascending into heaven Jesus told his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). Keep in mind Jesus is telling this to the guys who deserted him and left him to die alone. One of these guys denied him three times. Do you think they were brimming with confidence? Probably not, but they could take comfort in that Jesus would always be with them. Although Jesus was no longer present in body, his ministry continued through those 11 ordinary men. The fact that I’m writing is evidence that this mission is still going on today, nearly 2000 years later! Investing in the lives of younger people intentionally and faithfully has changed the world, and still has the power to change the world today.