At a recent meeting of the Churches Group for Evangelization the subject of discipleship was frequently mentioned. It became clear that how discipleship is understood varies from denomination to denomination. I think that many of us have been using the word with little thought as to how it might be defined and described in different contexts.
A few years ago I was invited to speak on Discipleship in a Rural Context and carefully prepared my talk and the slides that illustrated it. Since then I have given it more thought and I am sure that were i to give the same talk today it would be slightly different.
Discipleship has been a common topic across the Churches for several years and, it seems, it still is an issue of concern. Does this reflect, I wonder that we focused on making believers rather than making disciples? It also seems to me that we have often understood that discipleship is something that develops after people have believed. The Great Commission is expressed by the gospel writers variously as proclamation of the gospel, bearing witness to Jesus Christ, and making disciples. But nowhere is it described as making believers.
The term believer had significance for the early church, operating in an almost entirely Jewish context. The issue was whether people believed that Jesus was the Messiah Therefore the use of the term believer was a useful shorthand. In a Gentile context we tend to use the term believing as a substitute for the more accurate word, trusting. We encourage people to put their trust in Jesus Christ and his atoning work for salvation.
It is in Matthew’s Gospel that we find the first disciples of Jesus commissioned to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that Jesus had taught his disciples. So, if that provides a context, perhaps we need to explore what discipleship meant to Jesus and those first disciples.
At which point did they become disciples, and what did that mean at that point? Clearly, for some, becoming disciples was something that preceded believing that Jesus was the Messiah. It began with an invitation to commence a journey with Jesus that was much more than a physical journey. They became pupils in a mobile classroom, watching and listening to this extraordinary person who could heal the sick, deliver the oppressed, raise the dead, still the storm, and feed a multitude with a few loaves and fishes. For some of them, lesson one was seeing water turned to wine. Impressed by what they saw, they gave attention to what they heard. Along the way, they reached a point in which they had accepted that Jesus had the words of life. Later still, came Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God” and Thomas’ confession, “My Lord and my God”.
This leads me to wonder whether, in the cultural context in which I am operating, the call I give to others to become Christians should be more about a call to enter a journey of discovery, rather than taking a leap of faith. Of course, such a journey needs repentance at its start or near to it. It could also be argued that taking the journey is, in itself, a step of faith.
As an example of what that might look like in the context of evangelism, Elim has adopted a new framework for evangelism which provides the possibility of three different responses. The gospel is clearly explained, following which the three options are presented. A ‘Big Yes’ is an immediate decision to make a commitment to Christ. A ‘Little Yes’ might be a decision to go on a Christianity Explored Course (or similar). But a ‘Healthy Maybe’ is a third possibility and asks no more than an expression of a willingness to be open to change views or attitude.
I include this example to illustrate different ways in which a journey start might begin. When I started out in evangelism, the cultural context in the main was at least nominally Christian with a degree of knowledge of the Christian faith. We therefore called for a response to make a full commitment there and then. In some ways it was an appeal to an emotional response to follow Jesus. These days, we find it necessary to set out the gospel in more of a teaching mode. This accords with the way the the gospel was presented in Acts to both Jews looking for the Messiah, and to Gentiles needing to be saved. The New Testament Greek word used implies reasoning. It engages the mind.
One positive aspect of encouraging a response as a start of a journey is that it makes it easier to travel with uncertainty or doubt. This is not the same as disbelief. Faith gets tested and it is not unusual for even those who have been Christians for many years to have off moments of doubt. Wrestling with uncertainty on a progressive journey is a more healthy approach than seeing it as a failure of faith.
In my early Christian life discipleship was measured by attendance at four church meetings each week (believers’ meeting, gospel meeting, prayer meeting, and Bible study). I think that becoming a disciple might also have been described as moving from trusting for salvation to a commitment to go 100% in following Jesus. While I still feel the need to teach and preach for real commitment, I see the wisdom of a less binary approach. If, as I have suggested here, that discipleship in the gospels began before belief, perhaps it is true in our own time and the UK context. In which case, we need programmes that affirm journeys regardless of how far they have travelled.
When I travel by train or by bus, the vehicle usually stops several times before I reach my destination. Usually I check where we are and decide whether I intend to travel further.
I would be interested in hearing from you please describing how discipleship is understood and measured in the context of your church. How does a disciple differ from a mere believer? How do you feel about the idea that discipleship has a beginning before a faith commitment? Please drop me a shortish line to barry@ruralmissions.org.uk and put ‘Discipleship’ in the subject line.
Barry Osborne - 25th October 2018
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