In John Reynolds' Anecdotes of the Rev. John Wesley, he tells the story of Wesley's student days at
Wesley was deeply moved by the man's sincerity and he said to him, "You thank God when you have nothing to wear; ... nothing to eat ... [and] no bed to lie on. I cannot see what you have to thank God for." The man replied: "I thank God... that he has given me life and being, and a heart to love Him, and a desire to serve Him."
After the man had left with a coat from Wesley's closet, some money for food and words of appreciation for the witness he had made, Wesley wrote in his Journal: "I shall never forget that porter. He convinced me there is something in religion to which I am a stranger." [1] Are you a stranger to the strangeness of true Discipleship? Last week I was convicted of my lack of thankfulness for everything I received from God. For the past few Sundays we have been studying the Acts 2 process found in Acts 2:42-47, which made the first century Church in
The Acts 2 process involved five elements. Firstly, Worship: adoration, the worship of God in Spirit and Truth holds everything else together in place. Secondly, as we connect with God through worship we are to connect with one another in fellowship. Thirdly, our worship of God and fellowship with each other is not an end in itself; they should motivate us to reach out to others with the Gospel. Fourthly, we realized that there are many opportunities to serve God both in the Church and outside the Church. In Christian service Character outweighs competence.
Today we will look at the fifth crucial element in the process which is “Grow or Discipleship” We will look at what the word disciple means and some misconceptions of discipleship and what radical discipleship looks like.
- WHAT DOES THE WORD ‘DISCIPLE’ REALLY MEAN?
The word disciple comes from a Greek word which means, someone who not only learns but becomes attached to one’s teacher and becomes his follower in doctrine and conduct of life. In other words a disciple is someone who walks in the footsteps of his master or emulates his lifestyle
In the New Testament the word "disciple" is used 269 times. When we hear the word disciple we are quick to think of the twelve disciples who were also called the apostles, but in most cases it referred to the great numbers of people that followed Christ. In Acts 11:26, “The disciples were called Christians first at
During Jesus’ time crowds have followed Him for all kinds of reasons but how many of them were truly his disciples? Even many today come to Jesus for various reasons but how many of them are willing to make a commitment to follow Christ all the way through?
What makes someone a true disciple of Jesus Christ? What does radical discipleship look like? To begin, let’s look at some misconceptions of discipleship.
II. MISCONCEPTIONS OF DISCIPLESHIIP
Over the years in response to Jesus’ command “to make disciples of all nations” many in their eagerness have used different models of discipleship. Some proved to be fruitful but others were rigid and stifling. One of such models was “the shepherding movement or the discipleship movement in 1970’s and 1980s. Though it was found to be effective initially in the end it proved to be counter productive. The doctrine of the movement emphasized the "one another" passages of the New Testament, and the mentoring relationship described in 2 Timothy.[2]
This over emphasis on leadership resulted in “perverse and unbiblical obedience” to leaders. In 1990 one of the movement’s founders Bob Mumford issued a “Formal Repentance Statement to the Body of Christ,” saying, “Accountability, personal training under the guidance of another, and effective pastoral care are needed biblical concepts. True spiritual maturity will require that they be preserved. These biblical realities must also carry the limits indicated by the New Testament. However, to my personal pain and chagrin, these particular emphases very easily lent themselves to an unhealthy submission resulting in perverse and unbiblical obedience to human leaders. Many of these abuses occurred within the sphere of my own responsibility.”[3]
Having been around in Christian circles for a while I have seen at times an unhealthy emphasis on accountability or confessing sins to one another. I have also seen heavy handed leaders who abused their authority. There is room for mutual accountability as and when the Holy Spirit leads an individual to do so but it should never be forced or manipulated. As the scripture suggests we should not lord over those we lead instead we are to serve them.
In an attempt to move away from such strong authoritarian, dictatorial form of leadership certain churches do away with any form of established leadership. They take matters into their own hands by empowering the congregation to make all the decisions. In other words there is no one particular leader, but every one tries to lead. Such congregations resemble the old state of
Another unhealthy form of discipleship is prevalent these days which is heavy emphasis on fund raising by certain TV evangelists, ministries and churches. They major on success, prosperity, health and wealth, but seldom talk about sufferings, hardships, trials and tribulations which are the core credentials of discipleship. When it comes to talk about discipleship I like to us the word “Radical”, because it expects change and calls us for action. Radical discipleship calls Christians to follow the will of God through personal action and example. What does radical discipleship look like in the Scriptures?
III. RADICAL DISCIPLESHIP
Biblical discipleship if anything is radical, because it was taught and practiced by a leader who was more radical than his contemporaries. What he said and did practically blew the myths of leadership, and traditional views of serving God. Christ’s discipleship model is so radical because of its call, the cost and the rewards.
Firstly, the call of discipleship. After his resurrection Jesus had an executive board meeting on a mountain top with eleven of his disciples. He gave them a command to “Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and teaching them to obey everything he has commanded them (Matt 28:19-20) In this scripture Jesus explained the process of making disciples.
His final directions for His apostles and in turn to all of his followers in going to all nations were to do three things: (1) making disciples, (2) baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit (3) teaching them all what Jesus had commended them (his teachings). The book of Acts tells how the apostles followed the Lord's instructions. In our text we read that, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. What we see here is a radical discipleship.
You may ask what is so radical about reading the bible, worshipping God and prayer. Well don’t write off these age old well practiced and proven Christian disciplines so quickly. In Acts 2:42-47, as a result of their devotion to the teachings of Christ the early Church saw wonders and miraculous signs, they saw extreme generosity in practice and they saw souls getting saved on a daily basis. If that is not radical enough, then what else is?
Not only the early disciples, but all of his followers are called by Christ for a radical discipleship, but that call also comes with a cost, a price to pay. The great reformer of the Church Martin Luther once said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.” More recently a highly regarded theologian, Dietrich Bonheoffer in his book, “the cost of discipleship” said, “Grace is free but not cheap.”
My friend, salvation is a free gift from God; you don’t have to do anything to earn it but everything else after getting saved is costly. If you ask the early disciples, the church reformers or any great men and women of God what price you must pay in following Christ, they would unashamedly without any hesitation would echo the very words of Christ who said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for me will find it.” Let these words deeply sink into our hearts.
Following Christ comes with a huge price tag attached to it. It calls for a life style of self denial, giving up of our rights, and willingness to go through suffering, pain, heartache and possibly death. What comforts or pleasures are you willing to deny yourself in order to know Christ? It is about time that we stop fighting; grumbling and quarreling among ourselves over who will make the next meat balls and spaghetti meal and as a Church take a deeper look at radical discipleship.
As we are deliberating on the merits and challenges of radical discipleship there are literally thousands of our brothers and sisters who are paying the price with their lives because of their obedience to the call of their master. I was moved and deeply challenged by the stand that young Iranian Pastor Yousuf took, though he was offered freedom from execution simply if he confessed that, Mohammed is the great prophet of God but he simply refused to deny his master and prepared to die. What an example of a radical disciple of Christ.
Christ is calling you for a radical discipleship. Are you willing to pick up your cross and follow Jesus? May the Lord help all of us with courage to radically follow Him, even if it means loosing our lives? My prayer is that all of us will hear the words of Jesus at the end of our life’s journey that are recorded in Rev 2:7, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Amen
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