Does anyone out there want to be a disciple?
One of the advantages of having followed Jesus for 44 years now is that it gives me some perspective. I have lived through several end of the world predictions, seen fads in the Body of Christ come and go, and watched what God has been doing in the world and locally. At the risk of being nostalgic and out of touch with what the Spirit is up to right now, I fondly remember what it was like when Martha and I first became believers in Christ back in 1971 at the height of what some call the Jesus Movement. Thousands of young people were coming to faith in Christ during those years, many of whom were part of the “hippie” movement. Out of that group, many are pastors and leaders in the church today. It was an extremely significant harvest time. Not only were people “getting saved,” nearly everyone I knew had a deep hunger to learn more about what the Bible teaches and to be part of the local church. Many of us met several times a week for Bible teaching and other church meetings. We were hungry to receive the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit and to learn how to use them in ministry. In addition, we wanted to be part of an authentic expression of the church as it was in the early days of the New Testament. Sure, we had our deficiencies. There was too much focus on church and not enough on reaching out, but we were doing what we thought was the right thing to do. The main point I want to make is that people had an inner drive to be disciples. We flocked to hear our pastor teach us more because we believed that we would be one day teaching others. Isn’t that what disciples do? Of course we were somewhat naive, not fully grasping the cost of being a disciple. But that is always the case. Faith plunges in anyway. When we become too old and wise, too afraid, or too apathetic to give it a try, we stop being a disciple. Sadly, some have never even started being one. Following Christ is not for the spiritual couch potato.
When I look out on the Body of Christ in our area today, I don’t see that same inner drive in very many, which is deeply disturbing to me. We have lots of fine people who love the Lord, but we have been captured by the culture in which we live. Consumerism has “converted” many of us into spectators who imagine that following Christ is passive, like watching TV, and our responsibility is to observe others do the teaching and ministry, clap for them, and say “AMEN.” Christianity is actually a participatory thing and is radically subversive to the culture in which it lives, not acquiescent to it. Discipleship leads us to make a firm commitment to follow Christ and his teachings regardless of the cost. Discipleship invites us to make sacrifices of time, energy, money, and ourselves. Discipleship is never imposed from the top down: it is a choice we make because we believe Jesus is worth it.
I am waiting for the glorious day when more and more people will start pulling on those of us who have been at this for a while, asking us to teach them what we know and show them how to minister. I look forward to our gatherings being overrun with young and older believers who want to become leaders and disciple makers in their own right. When that happens, I will know we are in a real revival. Until then, my question is this: does anyone out there want to be a disciple?
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