More On Christian Discipleship
More on Christian Discipleship from Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk.
Discipleship will always be imperfect. We would be greatly mistaken to think that anything we do as Christians will shed anything other than an imperfect light on the gospel, but Jesus said we are light and salt nonetheless. We are a community on a hill. We are exemplars of a kind of kingdom that this world will only know in Jesus. As disciples, we are the first outposts of that kingdom. As our pioneer has staked out the ground and given it to us by his blood, we come to build a city that glorifies our King and live out the fullness of the Savior’s gospel. Imperfect as we are, Jesus says, “Follow me.”
It will be flawed, but so will our theology, our debates, our worship, our preaching, and our teaching. In all these things, we depend upon Jesus to be what we can never be. We are properly warned not to obscure the gospel by a wrong emphasis on discipleship. I suggest we not hollow out the gospel by disconnecting it from discipleship. What, then, can evangelicals do?
1. We can include the economic and lifestyle questions in our discipleship, and we can actively look for examples and mentors to show us how to answer those questions with integrity.
2. We can actively critique our consumer culture and particularly seek to find ways to see how our involvement in that culture dilutes and pollutes discipleship.
3. We can listen to the church of the poor and the voices of the church in developing countries, churches that have much to teach us about living with suffering and simplicity.
4. We can listen to church history and see where Christians have integrated discipleship and lifestyle constructively and where we went astray.
5. We can learn from communities in various traditions that have found ways to forge a church community that embodies lifestyle values that reflect a serious engagement with Jesus’ view of money and possessions.
It is this discipleship, a discipleship that illuminates the fullness of the gospel, that we desperately need in our churches.
Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk is a writer and communicator living in southeastern Kentucky.
You can read the full article in the magazine Modern Reformation.