are people A) loving God, and B) loving people for God's sake?
Loving God Is there a desire to know more of the nature and character of God? Does scripture impact them? Is conviction present when they sin against God?
Loving People for God's Sake Disciples are to take seriously the idea that Christ loves people and desires for us to be extensions of His grace for the sake of the glory of God being made manifest.
A side note-I struggle to believe that any of us grasp the depth of discipleship because the fear of martyrdom for our faith is on very few of our radars. Are our lives worth our beliefs?
I think Chad's got it nailed. If you want to take it straight from the horse's mouth (is it bad to compare Jesus to a horse?) it seems that love would be a top priority according to the famous end of John 13. Also, there is the John 8:31 command "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." I think this one resonates better with me as a scholar because it brings in a whole different sense of the action for me. As an academic, I were to call myself a "disciple" of Marx or Derrida, I would be saying several interesting things about myself and my relationship to those particular figures.
1. I somehow see this figure as someone worthy of my time and effort, as I might well be building my reputation on the shoulders of their work.
2. I feel that I have a thorough enough understanding of the totality of of their work that I can somehow speak for them with authority.
3. I feel that this person has a unique or exceptional knowledge of the world that allows their ideas to have nearly limitless implications and/or applications.
4. I am constantly looking for new and unexpected applications of their theoretical or conceptual paradigms.
I also feel that the scholarly conception of discipleship might be relatively close to the understanding of discipleship under a rabbi. In this sense, a disciple becomes more than a follower, but rather someone who is actively engaging with their master in an effort to realize the master's plan in the most richly textured way imaginable.
are individuals often confused, frightened, have murky pasts, have continual struggles taking basic instructions, have a consistent inability to read between the lines (grasp metaphor, etc)...and are making other disciples?
i'm okay with the word duplication when it refers to openness & generosity towards "the other". I am less interested in this term when it is synonymous with the church growth/church planting movement. As far as I'm concerned (which could be greatly misguided) discipleship has never been about climbing a religious ladder in order to achieve some sort of higher state of effectiveness/faith/etc. it's growing in state of connection, generosity, and openness to those around us in light of god's generosity towards us. In short, we open our hands to the ideas, beliefs, thoughts, needs, and hopes of others because God's hand is open to us.
are people A) loving God, and B) loving people for God's sake?
ReplyDeleteLoving God
Is there a desire to know more of the nature and character of God? Does scripture impact them? Is conviction present when they sin against God?
Loving People for God's Sake
Disciples are to take seriously the idea that Christ loves people and desires for us to be extensions of His grace for the sake of the glory of God being made manifest.
A side note-I struggle to believe that any of us grasp the depth of discipleship because the fear of martyrdom for our faith is on very few of our radars. Are our lives worth our beliefs?
I must go and figure out if I am a disciple now.
I think Chad's got it nailed. If you want to take it straight from the horse's mouth (is it bad to compare Jesus to a horse?) it seems that love would be a top priority according to the famous end of John 13. Also, there is the John 8:31 command "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." I think this one resonates better with me as a scholar because it brings in a whole different sense of the action for me. As an academic, I were to call myself a "disciple" of Marx or Derrida, I would be saying several interesting things about myself and my relationship to those particular figures.
ReplyDelete1. I somehow see this figure as someone worthy of my time and effort, as I might well be building my reputation on the shoulders of their work.
2. I feel that I have a thorough enough understanding of the totality of of their work that I can somehow speak for them with authority.
3. I feel that this person has a unique or exceptional knowledge of the world that allows their ideas to have nearly limitless implications and/or applications.
4. I am constantly looking for new and unexpected applications of their theoretical or conceptual paradigms.
I also feel that the scholarly conception of discipleship might be relatively close to the understanding of discipleship under a rabbi. In this sense, a disciple becomes more than a follower, but rather someone who is actively engaging with their master in an effort to realize the master's plan in the most richly textured way imaginable.
are individuals often confused, frightened, have murky pasts, have continual struggles taking basic instructions, have a consistent inability to read between the lines (grasp metaphor, etc)...and are making other disciples?
ReplyDeletethen you're probably right on track
so eric, you're saying that a process of continual duplication is necessary?
ReplyDelete~//~
i'm okay with the word duplication when it refers to openness & generosity towards "the other". I am less interested in this term when it is synonymous with the church growth/church planting movement. As far as I'm concerned (which could be greatly misguided) discipleship has never been about climbing a religious ladder in order to achieve some sort of higher state of effectiveness/faith/etc. it's growing in state of connection, generosity, and openness to those around us in light of god's generosity towards us. In short, we open our hands to the ideas, beliefs, thoughts, needs, and hopes of others because God's hand is open to us.
ReplyDelete