We have to ask ourselves when was the last time we noticed any significant spiritual growth in our lives.
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
This is going to be an exciting year for me. As we delve into the theme of discipleship, I can already see areas where it will personally intersect with my life. In less than five months I will forever be joined to another human being as I welcome her into my home through the covenant of marriage. I am excited, but I am also a little bit nervous about the weight of spiritual responsibility of being the head of a family.
In many ways, the topic of discipleship is going to be easy. The majority of Christian literature is written on personal growth and the epistles are filled with instruction on Christian living. On the other hand, the heaviness of imperatives could cause us to become weary in doing good. We have built up a tolerance over the years against convicting messages. Guilt over missed opportunities and past failures can cause us to lose sight of the grace we have in Christ.
However, discipleship is not about conformity to a structure of dos and don’ts. It is about being transformed into the image of Christ. It is a beautiful pursuit that is grounded in grace and fueled by love.
In an effort to narrow our focus, we will seek to discuss discipleship as it affects the believer in three different areas: Personal Discipleship, Family Discipleship, and Church Discipleship.
Personal Discipleship
Whenever we hear the term discipleship, our minds naturally go to the construct of group dynamics. Although there is nothing wrong with this--the Christian life is not meant to be lived alone--it often fails to capture the personal components of devotion to Christ.
Discipleship starts as an individual pursuit. Unless we focus on our own responsibility to be holy as God is holy, we will not be able to find unity with other believers and the standard of righteousness that we are calling others to emulate will look more like our fallen, old nature than conformity to the image of Christ.
In writing to the Church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul tells them to follow his example as he follows Christ. Initially, I responded to this by thinking Paul is a bit pretentious. Who is he to set the standard of righteousness? How could I ever say something like that? I know just how flawed I am and I don’t really want to give people permission to examine my life. Yet, maybe that’s the problem. We don’t want others to observe what we have long overlooked. We don’t want them to call us out on our idolatry for the shrines we have so cleverly hidden in the crevices of our heart. This level of dedication requires that we apply the gospel to areas of our life that we have often neglected.
The Corinthian converts didn’t have a background of wholesome biblical teaching on consecrated living. In fact, the city was known for its sexual promiscuity. However, Paul tells them that because they were unwilling to stand with conviction on right and wrong, they had actually accepted sin that the pagans would even acknowledge as reprehensible (I Corinthians 5:1).
Although many Christians today may have a history of growing up in the Church and our western civilization has many overarching principles from Judeo-Christian values, much of today’s Christian teaching has been subdued and avoids any serious call to personal sacrifice. This lack of conviction has put us in a precarious position. We have to ask ourselves when was the last time we noticed any significant spiritual growth in our lives.
Family Discipleship
Our society has simultaneously attempted to unravel the conventional family structure while also promoting a rather idolatrous notion of the home. Early childhood development is a prominent topic for millenials, but the subject actually discourages any principled guidance. Instead they opt for an openness that allows the child to determine their own direction in life.
By contrast, Christian parents have been all too willing to rely on the Church to do the spiritual training of their children rather than daily leading their families in devotions throughout the week. We have to come to grips with the reality that the Christian community has suffered less from external cultural changes and more from a lack of prioritizing family discipleship. The Christian life has largely been modeled as a weekend chore rather than a way of life.
But who is Paul to address that concern? Paul was never a father and he actually takes a concerted effort to encourage the Corinthians to follow his example and remain single. This doesn’t, however, negate the importance of families as he writes extensively to the Churches in Ephesus and Colossae on how the gospel affects the structure of the home. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, wives are to honor their husbands as they would honor Christ, fathers are to instruct their children, and children are to honor their parents.
The Corinthian believers lacked a strong family structure so Paul presents himself as a spiritual father. They had a lot of comforting influences, but they needed the strong, blunt, and convicting boldness that only a father could provide. “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me” (I Corinthians 4:15-16). Men today need to be challenged to understand the power of their influence, for better or for worse.
The family is a crucial platform and an often overlooked opportunity for discipleship. Yet, it is the people who live with us every day who see us for who we truly are. Someone can put on a good show at church on Sunday, but their children will see what they really care about when no one is looking. In order to do family discipleship well, there must be an emphasis on personal devotion to Christ.
Church Discipleship
There has been a healthy rise in the church’s renewed effort to make disciples in fulfilling the Great Commission. This is ultimately our calling: not simply to make converts, but to make disciples.
The problem in the Corinthian Church was division. They did not want to rally under any particular figurehead. They were making excuses for their preferences, indulging in their individual freedoms, and neglecting any teaching that would call for a level of accountability. Each one was doing whatever was right in their own eyes while simultaneously judging anyone who didn’t live up to their own standards.
Paul instructs them to consider their gifts, their place in the Body of Christ, and the unity that is gained as we are conformed into the image of our savior. Love, then, becomes the expression that best embodies the heart of the gospel: the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ to die in our place. Jesus told us, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
We could have agreement in every aspect of our faith and have unity in our hearts through our joined hope of salvation. Yet, love is the expression that brings faith and hope to the surface. Love is how we demonstrate the gospel. “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13).
If we are going to make an impact on our culture, it will involve focusing on our smallest circles of influence first. Our inreach ministries, personal, family, and church discipleship (in that order) have to precede our outreach and evangelistic efforts.
This year, we are going to explore what it really means to follow Christ. We are going to challenge one another to be vulnerable by inviting others to look to our example and join with us in giving glory to our Father in heaven.
So, follow me, as I seek to follow Christ.