Encounter Christianity: In Words about Jesus lesson plan 5

5. Follow me (pages 10-11)

Text from the book

'Follow me'

Jesus asked his disciples to do this. What was it about Jesus that drew people to him? Why do you think people still want to follow Jesus today?

Aims of the book

Pupils will:

explore some of the key sayings of Jesus;
be aware of what friends and enemies said about him;
reflect on the layers of meanings in the words.

Learning objectives

Pupils will have:

explored the qualities required of a leader;
reflected on why Jesus was such a leader;
be made aware of the hardships of leadership.

Background

Great leaders have charisma and, still today, people leave homes and families to follow charismatic leaders. Jesus made great demands on his followers; they had to be prepared to leave everything now and follow him with trust and faith. Galilee was, and is, a small area and it is quite possible that Jesus’ disciples did not have to leave home and become itinerant. Some could have continued with a job. Certainly Peter and John went back to being fishermen but they always put Jesus’ needs first. It was not unusual to follow an itinerant preacher who made demands on one’ time and family, so Jesus was, in one sense, acting quite normally. What Christians believe is distinctive was that he challenged his followers to put God first above and beyond the needs of family and friends. He also challenged them to see something in himself; he was not just another prophet or preacher. He wanted his followers to come to conclusions about him in just the way that Peter did in the previous spread.

Ways of using the picture

Discuss the qualities of leadership. Some qualities may be quite mundane, others charismatic

Is it possible to 'follow’ someone before you really understand what he or she want you to do? Some people follow charismatic figures without question. Sometimes this is for good with people like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela; other times one could be following a dictator like Hitler, Mussolini or any number of evil characters who rule by fear.

Do the pupils think there are dangers in simply dropping everything and following someone like Jesus?

Bible reference: Mark 1.17

Key words

Charisma
Follow
Leadership
Trust
Faith
Disciple

Activity

You will need:

Paper
Pens

What qualities would pupils look for in a leader? Would there be different qualities than friendship? Why do some people follow leaders who make great demands on them, ask them to follow a difficult path?

They could create a word shower of these qualities. Are these qualities difficult to find? Are leaders elected or do they arrive by common consent? Who chooses your leaders - in class, in school, in our clubs?

Pupils could put together questions for an interview with a Christian who follows Jesus to explore why that person follows Jesus today. What made them decide to be a disciple? Did they have to change their life? Did they have to give up anything?

The picture shows people carrying a cross. Design a cross with some of the leadership words around it as a collage. What is THE most important quality that could be put at the centre of the cross? Is it one of the Key Words or one of the words the pupils have come up with?

Learning outcomes

Pupils will have:

reflected on what leadership means;
used a number of cross-curricular skills;
considered the variety of qualities a leader needs.

Extension work

Pupils could create a drama using one of the Bible texts where Jesus calls his disciples to follow him. They should explore the feelings of those they leave, those who follow and those who are half-hearted and uncertain and find reasons not to follow Jesus.

They could write an acrostic poem using the words explored and based on ‘Follow’ showing what being a leader means.

Web sites

http://www.biography.com

The activity listed above is for pupils to look at both good and bad leaders. This site, (mentioned already for another lesson plan), includes biographies for Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin and similar leaders.

http://www.gardenofpraise.com/leaders.htm

This site is very American. If you can find your way past lists of presidents, there are some interesting leaders featured on this site. There are stories of women such as Helen Keller and Florence Nightingale and even leaders as far back as Constantine and Hippocrates.

http://www.time.com

A profile of one of the most inspiring leaders of our time, Nelson Mandela.

Find out more about the impact of Martin Luther King on modern society at

http://www.king-raleigh.org/splash.htm

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