Jesus' Definition of Discipleship

Jesus had a lot to say about discipleship, and much of what he said spoke of challenge, sacrifice, hardship, rejection, and even the possibility of death. Sometimes we view these outcomes as the most significant aspect of what discipleship means. I think Jesus left a more significant insight into what he intended discipleship to mean when he said, “I am come that they may have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, KJV). Obviously Jesus was talking of something more than physical life, for everyone has that. He was speaking of his “sheep,” those disciples whom “he calls … by name and leads” (v.3). These followers “know” him (v. 14), “hear his voice” (v. 2), and “follow him” (v. 4). If we truly want to know what discipleship means, we must probe the meaning of that full and abundant life that Jesus promised to those who know him, listen to his guidance, and follow him in discipleship.

The Nature of Discipleship

Many view the task of making disciples in the spirit of Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you?” Too often that discipleship is based on assumptions about things you should not think, feel, say, or do. The end result is that discipleship ends up taking on as ascetic quality that withdraws and separates from “the world.” I confess that I struggle with those tendencies, but I struggle with them more because they seem so antithetical to the spirit of Jesus. Most efforts toward developing disciples would probably fit better in the John the Baptist camp than in the daily discipleship walk with a Jesus who “saw the crowds [and] had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).

The Imperative in the Great Commission

Many think the focus in the Great Commission is on “go.” It is not. “Go” is not an imperative in the Greek text; it is a participle (“as you go on your way”). Its force is in the assumption that Jesus’ disciples already were commissioned to go (the force of the aorist participle in Greek). “Make disciples” is the only imperative in Matthew 28:19-20. “Baptizing” and “teaching” are two present participles that extend the meaning of “make disciples.” One of these is administering a symbolic ritual that signifies commitment and identification with a cause; the other is the ongoing task of the church: “teaching them [these new disciples] to obey everything that I have commanded you” (NRSV). “Obey” translates a word that connotes “keep watch over, guard, hold on to, preserve, observe, fulfill, or pay attention to.” Our goal in making disciples is to invite commitment and instill devotion to Christ and his commands.

What are we striving to achieve?

Some have focused on “faith development,” “spiritual growth,” or some other terminology, but I like the central idea of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20), which is “make disciples.” Actually even that is somewhat distorted by our English translations, where a single Greek verb is turned into a verb “make” and a direct object “disciples.” If we will understand “disciple” as a verb, then we can grasp a more complete view of our central task in the church. The idea certainly involves teaching; but it also carries an underlying theme of transforming a person into a learner, a pupil, an apprentice, an adherent, and ultimately into a witness (the Greek word for the latter is the word from which we derive “martyr”). To me, that gives a better focus to what we are striving to achieve in our churches.

Thinking Ahead About Thinking Aloud

For the last 16 months, I have focused my "Thinking Aloud" comments on Facebook. Most recently I have drawn the comments for my daily posts from writing that I have been doing for The New International Lesson Annual. Now that assignment is behind me (to be published in the 2012-13 Annual, although a previous set of lessons I wrote is in the current 2010-11 Annual and will be studied in the June-August quarter, 2011), and I want to move in a different direction with my "Thinking Aloud" daily posts.

First, Facebook limits posts to about 420 characters unless you post them as Notes. I find that rather restrictive, although I know many folks appreciate a short devotional idea more than an extended one, especially when so much is posted on Facebook that you want to keep up with. I would like a little more freedom to lengthen my daily musings, however, so I've decided to post them on my Mike's Thinking Aloud blog and link to the blog on Facebook.

Second, one of the ongoing passions of my life has been conceptualizing the task of making disciples. I began thinking more deeply in that area in the early 1990's when I was working at LifeWay and was assigned to a special workgroup that was redesigning LifeWay's entire Sunday School program and resources. Most of my thinking had been fleshed out by 1997, but I have continued to add to it and tweak it from time to time. In recent years I have used my Making Disciple design in China and India. I'm ready to lay it out more widely now to invite interaction and to generate a broader discussion on how we develop disciples in the church.

Finally, I have been serving on the Mission Visioning Committee in my church (First Baptist, Jefferson City, TN). That committee is winding down now, and the one major area still left to address in the area of Christian spiritual development. I am working with a group of very talented professors and educators on a team looking at how we can improved the discipleship ministry of our church. With the focus currently before me, I'd like to begin addressing little pieces of my Making Disciples design on a daily (or almost daily basis) in place of my regular posts on Facebook.

You can choose to use the link from Facebook to my blog, or you can go to my blog and sign up to follow it--that will give you notice whenever something is added to the discussion. I think the blog also will afford a better place for you to interact with me about discipleship development.

I'll try this out for a while and see where the discussion and interaction lead me. Thanks to those of you have interacted with me on Facebook. I hope you will feel even freer to interact with me on Mike's Thinking Aloud.

TODAY I AM THANKFUL . . .

I have a lot of things for which I am thankful, but today’s gratitude is worth a short list.

1. After long hours of work over the last five days, Evelyn and I have finished patching and sealing our asphalt driveway. In 90 degree weather, this was a laborious job; but we gained skill as we worked and finished with flying colors shortly after noon today. I won’t say it looks professional, but we certainly have stopped the deterioration with the repaired cracks; and the sealer should protect it for several years (we used 7-year sealer, but I won’t count on our application lasting quite that long).

2. Yesterday I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor for my atrial fibrillation episode back in May. I have been taking a beta-blocker since release from the hospital, and the side effects of the medication have either made me sluggish or hyper. I am now off all blood pressure medication on my pledge that I will exercise regularly and keep a check on my blood pressure. Anybody who can do #1 above should be healthy enough to get back to his status before the hospitalization—and I am!

3. My wife is a modern-day marvel. She can out-work me in almost every way (OK, occasionally she needs a strong arm to lift or open something or a tall person to reach something, but there’s not much else she can’t do). She loves the outdoors; and sun, heat, and hard work never slow her down. Working with her on the driveway project was a reminder what a wonderful woman, wife, and companion she is. I am so proud of her and appreciate her so much. She is indeed the love of my life!

Thank you, Lord!

MY FIRST STRATEGIES FOR COPING WITH STRESS

Since having an atrial fibrillation episode and finding few clues on what may have caused it (even after a very thorough battery of medical tests), I am going to do the following things (and may add to my list as time goes by):

1. I will follow my doctor’s orders. The only thing my doctor suggested was that I have a study made to see if I have sleep apnea. A lack of sufficient oxygen to the heart caused by sleep apnea could have been a contributing factor in my episode. I have already scheduled a sleep apnea test.

2. One of the suggestions from the instructions for my sleep apnea was to avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, soda pop with caffeine, cocoa, or chocolate) within six hours of bedtime. If that is an influence on studying sleep apnea, it must also apply to everyday sleep. I will address this issue, though it is not a big one for me. I suspect the bigger problem for me is eating snacks while I watch TV after dinner. I am going to stop that.
 
3. The doctor gave me a prescription for some medication (a beta-blocker), but he said I could just use it if I sense another episode coming on. I have decided on a more cautious approach and will take the medication for a couple of months as I try to deal with my other strategies. I will keep a small supply on hand to use if symptoms recur.

4. I am going to make a concerted effort to deal with issues that may contribute to stress. These strategies already are being tested. Before I went to the hospital, we were dealing with problems with our home air conditioner at the same time we were trying to get away for a week of vacation. While I was in the hospital, the air conditioning system was checked; and no problems were found. My first morning home, however, the same problem recurred with the system. The subsequent service call revealed that we need a new control panel for our air conditioner/furnace. At least the cause appears to have been found, but here was an immediate test of my capacity to handle the kinds of little things that contribute to stress. The air conditioning service agent had hardly walked out the door before one of our commodes became stopped up. After almost all attempts to get it unstopped failed and I was on the verge of calling a plumber, we finally got the stoppage resolved, but not without making a tremendous mess on our bathroom floor. I could almost feel my heart saying, “Here I go again.” When I feel stress building up in such situations, I am going to make a concerted effort to relax. A few deep breaths and a conscious attempt to pull back from the anxiety, anger (is that what I am feeling?), and inclination to want to resolve every problem immediately will be my first line of coping mechanisms.

5. I am going to stop doing things that I know create unnecessary stress. One of these is playing timed games on Facebook and my computer. The deadline nature of these timed games adds to the excitement of them, but the excitement is just another form of unnecessary stress. I am resolved to give these up completely. Games that require problem-solving that is not driven by an artificial deadline will still be part of my computer experience (unless I begin to take them too seriously), but the rest are gone. If my friendly competitors on Bejeweled Blitz see me playing, please remind me of my resolution. This is going to require a kind of twelve-step program for me, for I have loved these games since I bought my first Atari. If I am going to reduce stress, however, I’m going to have to let this kind of stress go.

6. I am one of those people who, when I wake up in the middle of the night, find my mind going into problem-solving mode. We have spent a lot of time with the last of our home-remodeling projects during the last year. It seems that every one of these projects had something significant go wrong. Whether it has been fretting over the poor installation job done by the plumber who installed our new master bath shower stall, or our boat dock coming untethered, or our boat battery giving up the ghost, or a hundred other things, I have found myself awake for hours in the middle of the night planning strategies, considering options, or searching for solutions. The lack of sleep has for years influenced by alertness during the day. At time highway driving in the afternoon has become hazardous, trying to listen to a sermon while sitting in the choir loft has become embarrassing, and giving attention to my writing assignments has been interrupted by brief afternoon naps. Here is how I am going to attempt to address this issue:
    a. I am creating a “WAT List” and will put it on my bedside table. “WAT List” stands for “Worry About Tomorrow List.” When I awake at night and begin to stew over something, I’m going to add that item to my list and then make every attempt to banish it from my mind until the next morning.
    b. In conjunction with that, I am adding to the old adage: “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” My addition will be: Today ends when I go to bed at night, and tomorrow doesn’t begin until I get up in the morning.” So my adaptation is, “Do not attempt to deal with any matter after you go to bed at night and before you get up the next morning. Sleep is a time of rest and relaxation, not a time to continue solving today’s problems or a chance to get ahead on tomorrow’s problems.”

If you have other ideas to add to my strategies, please feel free to contribute them.