Wednesday, October 03, 2012
The School of Discipleship
Some time ago, as I was preparing ministry descriptions at the church, I was asked to define discipleship. At the time I had been in ministry for over 20 years, but like so many familiar Christian words and phrases, I had never really condensed the term into something simple to understand.
As a youth pastor, I had created and led a number of teens through some intense discipleship "programs." Certainly, discipleship describes a process, and sometimes a system or program can stimulate that, but at it's core and in the simplest of terms...? My answer to the question came almost flippantly - "Discipleship is the process of God taking us from where we are to where He wants us to be."
Now, almost ten years later, I realized that this is the distillation of what I believe discipleship to be. I also realize, that while it simplifies the definition, it is an inadequate description of the process. I am convinced that God's goal is that we "be conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). HOW that takes place is the process of discipleship.
God's process of "taking us from where we are to where He wants us to be," is anything but simple. Or easy. When I consider His goal and how far I am from being "conformed to His image" or "like Jesus," I know that the journey will probably involve some extensive renovating and lots of sandpaper. C.S. Lewis described discipleship this way:
Do you remember the beatitudes that Jesus shared in what we call the
Sermon on the Mount? Check them out again in Matthew 5:2-12. All of
those blessings come as the result of some pretty desperate circumstances. What is the purpose of all this adversity? I have often
said that God uses it to get our attention, but the fire is also used to
burn away the selfish and the self-serving part of who we are. A. W. Tozer once said that, "It's doubtful God can use anyone greatly till he's hurt him deeply." Are you still interested if this is God's discipleship plan for you?
Think about it: how often have you been surprised by God's will. In our early science classes, we were taught that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but as we age and have the luxury of looking back, we realize the path was anything but straight! God's plan rarely plots a straight (or short) line to get us from where we are to where He wants us to be. From hindsight's perspective, the route looks much like the Israelites' wilderness wanderings - circuitous around great truths, meandering through wild and rocky insights and bogging down in inhospitable valleys that smell strongly of death.
There are times that we despair, believing that God has given up on us. We start to look at the trials, tests, disappointments, failures, delays, re-directions, and brokeness and we begin to think, "God is through with me. He's washed His hands and walked away." No! He is still at work and as Paul told the Philippians,
This is the syllabus for Discipleship 101. This is the process that God uses to make us more like Jesus - to take us from where we are to where He wants us to be. If you've been thinking about dropping out because it's too hard or it requires too much, I want to remind you that His grace is sufficient for you. Read again how God encourages Paul in the School of Discipleship:
As a youth pastor, I had created and led a number of teens through some intense discipleship "programs." Certainly, discipleship describes a process, and sometimes a system or program can stimulate that, but at it's core and in the simplest of terms...? My answer to the question came almost flippantly - "Discipleship is the process of God taking us from where we are to where He wants us to be."
Now, almost ten years later, I realized that this is the distillation of what I believe discipleship to be. I also realize, that while it simplifies the definition, it is an inadequate description of the process. I am convinced that God's goal is that we "be conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). HOW that takes place is the process of discipleship.
God's process of "taking us from where we are to where He wants us to be," is anything but simple. Or easy. When I consider His goal and how far I am from being "conformed to His image" or "like Jesus," I know that the journey will probably involve some extensive renovating and lots of sandpaper. C.S. Lewis described discipleship this way:
“When I invited Jesus into my life, I thought he was going to put up some wallpaper and hang a few pictures. But he started knocking out walls and adding rooms. I said, ‘I was expecting a nice cottage.’ But He said, ‘I’m making a palace in which to live.'”Most Christians think of discipleship in terms of those intimate talks on the tranquil seashore or fireside chats with Jesus. But let's face it: in God's terms, discipleship involves the wrecking ball, the storm, the anvil and the fire. Why? Because that is what it takes to mold and shape me into a person who more closely resembles Jesus.
Think about it: how often have you been surprised by God's will. In our early science classes, we were taught that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but as we age and have the luxury of looking back, we realize the path was anything but straight! God's plan rarely plots a straight (or short) line to get us from where we are to where He wants us to be. From hindsight's perspective, the route looks much like the Israelites' wilderness wanderings - circuitous around great truths, meandering through wild and rocky insights and bogging down in inhospitable valleys that smell strongly of death.
There are times that we despair, believing that God has given up on us. We start to look at the trials, tests, disappointments, failures, delays, re-directions, and brokeness and we begin to think, "God is through with me. He's washed His hands and walked away." No! He is still at work and as Paul told the Philippians,
"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (1:6).If you've enrolled in Jesus' School of Discipleship, are you ready for the demands of this curriculum? If we're honest, we aren't ready. Who could be? The most "spiritual" person that we know is not ready! We thought there would be some wonderful lectures and yes, a test or two, a paper to write, with a final at the end. But instead, God tells us to put down our No. 2 pencils and He takes us out of the sterile classroom on a field trip that demand hands-on experience that become lessons that lead to radical change and adjustment in our hearts and minds.
This is the syllabus for Discipleship 101. This is the process that God uses to make us more like Jesus - to take us from where we are to where He wants us to be. If you've been thinking about dropping out because it's too hard or it requires too much, I want to remind you that His grace is sufficient for you. Read again how God encourages Paul in the School of Discipleship:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)Don't quit now. You haven't "graduated" and God isn't finished with you, yet! Trust God's process and stay enrolled in His discipleship plan for your life.
Labels: discipleship
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