Most believers think they know what "Disciple" means. I used to know. It was pretty simple really. It went like this; Follow Jesus by reading the Bible, memorizing scripture, praying, fasting (if you're really serious,) avoiding alcohol and bars, not smoking, and staying sexually pure. I heard this over and over.
I continue to hear this being taught. I have heard people talk about discipling their friends by making sure that they do these things, and they are very careful not to leave out any of them. So, if we are really discipling people, why are there so few people that we can quickly recognize as believers? None of what was listed in my description is bad... not one single thing, but I have met people who did everyone of those things and still gave Jesus a bad name.
There was this one guy I knew in high school that had more scripture memorized than there was in the bible. (That was an example of hyperbole, so chill) He read his bible every day at lunch. He prayed in every class. He did not drink, and he did not date, so why is it that no one liked him? Was it just that he was suffering for Jesus? No, it wasn't any of that. You see, this young man was a total jerk. He was judgemental and uncaring. He wanted to argue and tear down. He was mean. Sure this guy took the command to "go and tell" seriously, but he forgot about some others.
In the end this young man became a male stripper. Apparently the work of disciple is a bit more difficult than he thought. In fact, it is impossible.
Here is what I mean. Most discipleship that I have seen focuses more on the work of memorization and reading and prayer and... But, what has happened to being transformed into the image Christ? What happened to feeding people? What has happened to loving your enemy? What has happened to being a friend of sinners?
I really need to make something clear. I am not in any way saying that we need not study scripture, or memorize it, or pray, or be pure, or... What I am saying though is that none of that is enough. When we disciple people we need to call people out when they are arrogant. We need to call people out when they are judgemental, when they are uncaring, when they are mean. We need to learn to encourage each other in love.
When I look back at the scripture I see that Jesus did this with his guys constantly. In fact, this is the kind of stuff scripture records about His discipleship program. It records him saying "feed my sheep," and "they will know you by your love," and "who is your neighbor," and "love your enemy." Jesus told us to forgive more times than was really practical. He said to give if asked. He was nuts and what he asks us to do is totally impossible.
Maybe it is because it is so impossible that we have neglected these things. Maybe it is because we can memorize, and we can read, and we can do all of that other stuff that we concentrate on it instead of love. Well, here is what I know; it really is impossible for me, but by Him and because of Him; you know what I mean? This stuff really is important to me. Besides, I would be a terrible stripper.
I continue to hear this being taught. I have heard people talk about discipling their friends by making sure that they do these things, and they are very careful not to leave out any of them. So, if we are really discipling people, why are there so few people that we can quickly recognize as believers? None of what was listed in my description is bad... not one single thing, but I have met people who did everyone of those things and still gave Jesus a bad name.
There was this one guy I knew in high school that had more scripture memorized than there was in the bible. (That was an example of hyperbole, so chill) He read his bible every day at lunch. He prayed in every class. He did not drink, and he did not date, so why is it that no one liked him? Was it just that he was suffering for Jesus? No, it wasn't any of that. You see, this young man was a total jerk. He was judgemental and uncaring. He wanted to argue and tear down. He was mean. Sure this guy took the command to "go and tell" seriously, but he forgot about some others.
In the end this young man became a male stripper. Apparently the work of disciple is a bit more difficult than he thought. In fact, it is impossible.
Here is what I mean. Most discipleship that I have seen focuses more on the work of memorization and reading and prayer and... But, what has happened to being transformed into the image Christ? What happened to feeding people? What has happened to loving your enemy? What has happened to being a friend of sinners?
I really need to make something clear. I am not in any way saying that we need not study scripture, or memorize it, or pray, or be pure, or... What I am saying though is that none of that is enough. When we disciple people we need to call people out when they are arrogant. We need to call people out when they are judgemental, when they are uncaring, when they are mean. We need to learn to encourage each other in love.
When I look back at the scripture I see that Jesus did this with his guys constantly. In fact, this is the kind of stuff scripture records about His discipleship program. It records him saying "feed my sheep," and "they will know you by your love," and "who is your neighbor," and "love your enemy." Jesus told us to forgive more times than was really practical. He said to give if asked. He was nuts and what he asks us to do is totally impossible.
Maybe it is because it is so impossible that we have neglected these things. Maybe it is because we can memorize, and we can read, and we can do all of that other stuff that we concentrate on it instead of love. Well, here is what I know; it really is impossible for me, but by Him and because of Him; you know what I mean? This stuff really is important to me. Besides, I would be a terrible stripper.
2 comments:
I like this. I remember the times I felt most judged and excluded from a group were when I would attend some BSU meetings my freshmen year. I will admit I sure wasn't following the rules they set out for my life, but those people were sure not fun to be around. They probably have more Bible verses memorized, but I felt like at least people enjoyed being around me. Maybe there is some trade off or acceptable ratio on this that I just haven't found.
First of all, did you know me in high school? I don’t remember you.
Second – and I’m going to pull out a term that’s become very cliché among we so-called “radicals” – the kind of disciple you first describe is pretty much the literal definition of a Pharisee. I know we use that term to bash people over the head with, but Pharisees were literally a bunch of Jewish scholars who thought that if they were pure enough, and could prove themselves spiritually through strong discipline in the areas of giving, prayer, and scripture memorization, that the Messiah would finally show up and deliver Israel. However, they were so focused on those things that, when the Messiah actually came, they weren’t able to recognize him.
As you know, I’ve become more and more convinced that we, as the church, have missed the boat when it comes to the “great commission” and “The Good News”. I was reading in Genesis today and got to the story about the flood. It’s been a while since I read it, and my memory was that God destroyed the earth “because of all the rampant sin”. But as I read the story the passage in Genesis specifically says that God destroyed the earth because of man’s “corruption and violence”. How come nobody ever preaches that? God destroyed the earth because of man’s violence? And I’m a liberal tree hugger if I oppose the war? What? Something’s wrong. Even the word “corruption” rings more of injustice (like that spoken of throughout so many of the prophets, especially Amos) than it does sexual impurity (for instance).
It seems to me that the only difference between the Pharisees 2000 years ago, and the Pharisees of 2008, is that there are a lot more of us these days.
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