I've been taking some time to read, study and think about this whole discipleship thing. I feel like the more time I spend with this idea of discipleship the closer I come to the conclusion that it has become something that is seen as optional in the life of a Christian, and to be honest, I'm not really sure Jesus gives us the option or not. I mean, it kind of seems like we're either going to follow Him or we're not. None of this lukewarm stuff, hot or cold.
I don't think Jesus intended discipleship to be something on the menu of Christian faith as a side item. "Yeah, I'll take the forgiveness & salvation combo meal with grace as my dessert. Can you leave off the discipleship cause I'm not really feeling that right now." I'm just not convinced it works this way and as a matter of fact, I think being a disciple comes with the whole I'm-a-Christian package. Is it possible that to be a Christian is to be a disciple? Can one be a Christian without being a disciple of Christ? Maybe it's our level of discipleship that is the question not necessarily our level of Christianity (ha, whatever that means)?
It would seem that in order for one to know where one is in his or her discipleship journey it would be important to understand what a disciple of Jesus looks like. We'll spend some time going over that in 2 Questions: Part V. Look how much fun we're having with just two "simple" questions.
February 19, 2009
2 Questions: Part IV
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5 comments:
dude i forgot about this blog until tonight!
I totally agree with you, James says it clear that if you have faith then you will have deeds too. It's definitely a convicting subject
i dont know if i'd call it fun...
Kyle Dinwiddie: thanks for the read and comment. ha, welcome back!
James...i love that book.
laceface: thanks for the read and comment. "fun for the whole family", i'm pretty sure is what you mean.
I think an interesting thought is whether the Church should just make disciples of those who show up in the pews, or if we are actually focused on the "all nations" part of the Great Commission.
Secondly, I believe the Church is a lot less about us and so much more about Jesus and what He asks of us. If we are learning from Jesus, I think our discipleship is an active one. There is time for sitting and learning, and then there is a time to serve, love and fight for the faith. These things should come as a response to the love we have been shown by our God. We are the body of Christ everyday of the week, not just Sundays.
Anonymous: thanks for the read and comment. well said! you kind of just "brought it", nice work.
i think it's an interesting point you bring up about making disciples of "all nations" vs. people in the pews. ideally our pews would be filled with people from "all nations" AND ideally, like you mentioned, our discipleship is active everyday of the week which, if it is, should be filling our pews with people from "all nations", or maybe that's just me?
as i mentioned in my post yesterday, it is scary how easily we forget about Jesus...even in the church.
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