Connected to the Mantle

Connected to the Mantle, Sandra Lugo

There is a spanish proverb, "Dime con quien andas, y te digo quien eres."  This proverb translated means "Tell me with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are."  Coming from a typical latin family, many latinos will tell you, they heard this over and over again growing up.  As a kid, I always shrugged off that saying.  I thought although my friends didn't always do the right things, that didn't affect who I was or what I do. 

Well nothing was farther from the truth, and my mom and dad knew the real deal, they knew, who you keep company with, is a direct reflection of who you are.  And so it is in the spiritual.

Identity can be found in association or we could say, association defines identity.

Who you are is revealed in the company you keep.

We find this principle operating in the relationship between Elijah and Elisha.

"So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." 1 Kings 19:19-20 NKJV

True spiritual instruction is performed through discipleship.  Discipleship is the spiritual relationship between the teacher and the student.  Discipleship is not the teacher at a blackboard and a student in a seat.  Discipleship first comes through relationship.  The teacher commits to a relationship that is not limited to the classroom and offers a lifestyle of transparency through which the student is able to learn experientially. (I said a mouthful.)

In discipleship the student learns best from not just hearing a lesson and a lecture, but from watching the teacher do what it is the teaching is teaching.

Wouldn't that be wonderful, that takes "practice what you preach" to another level." Imagine the student following the teacher home.  Can we be real for a minute?  They are a whole lot of spiritual teachers that don't want their students to come home with them because they know that there lifestyle doesn't match what they're teaching.  They don't practice what they preach and even sadder than that is, there many teachers that teach information from a book that they don't have any experience in.

With all that being said, we learn from the above scripture that Elijah the teacher was transparent with Elisha the student. Now the mantle, in verse 19, we see that Elijah throws the mantle on Elisha.  A mantle is a loose fitting cloak, much like a cape.  At this particular time in history, it was very common for the prophet to wear this type of cloak made from cow hide. Elisha understood that the throwing of the mantle meant follow me. In essence, Elijah was offering him the opportunity to not only walk with him, but to become him. "Dime con quien andas, y te tiego quien eres."   "Tell me with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are."

Elisha found his identity in Elijah.  When Elisha connected with Elijah, Elisha connected with his own destiny.  In the mantle, Elisha found his identity, his ministry and his calling -- prophet.  The mantle of the teacher would soon be worn by the student.

There is no denying that there is a great advantage of sitting at the feet of powerful and influential people.  They not only inspire us but they instill in us the principles of success that have worked for them.  The principle of transferring the mantle can even be seen in Corporate America, the top executive grooms another for his position; it is the simple teaching method of discipleship.