discipleship

last sunday, josh spoke about community groups and why they are structured the way that they are: all age groups and walks of life combined into one community, with the older members mentoring and discipling the younger. that's a biblical example, to be sure. the question that keeps running through my mind is this: who is discipling the older ones?

listen to what john eldredge has to say about discipleship:

If you're not pursuing a dangerous quest with your life, well, then, you don't need a Guide. If you haven't found yourself in the midst of a ferocious war, then you won't need a seasoned Captain. If you've settled in your mind to live as though this is a fairly neutral world and you are simply trying to live your life the best you can, then you can probably get by with the Christianity of tips and techniques. Maybe. I'll give you a fifty-fifty chance. But if you intend to live in the Story that God is telling, and if you want the life he offers, then you are going to need more than a handful of principles, however noble they may be. There are too many twists and turns in the road ahead, too many ambushes waiting only God knows where, too much at stake. You cannot possibly prepare yourself for every situation. Narrow is the way, said Jesus. How shall we be sure to find it? We need God intimately, and we need him desperately.

"You have made known to me the path of life," David said (Ps. 16:11). Yes - that's it. In all the ins and outs of this thing we call living, there is one narrow path to life, and we need help finding it.

What is Discipleship?

On the other hand, there is what we have come to accept as discipleship. A friend of mine recently handed me a program from a large and successful church somewhere in the Midwest. It's a rather exemplary model of what the idea has fallen to. Their plan for discipleship involves, first, becoming a member of this particular church. Then they encourage you to take a course on doctrine. Be "faithful" in attending the Sunday morning service and a small group fellowship. Complete a special course on Christian growth. Live a life that demonstrates clear evidence of spiritual growth. Complete a class on evangelism. Consistently look for opportunities to evangelize. Complete a course on finances, one on marriage, and another on parenting (provided that you are married or a parent). Complete a leadership training course, a hermeneutics course, a course on spiritual gifts, and another on biblical counseling. Participate in missions. Carry a significant local church ministry "load."

You're probably surprised that I would question this sort of program; most churches are trying to get their folks to complete something like this, one way or another. No doubt a great deal of helpful information is passed on. My goodness, you could earn an MBA with less effort. But let me ask you: A program like this - does it teach a person how to apply principles, or how to walk with God? They are not the same thing. Change the content and any cult could do this. I mean, Gandhi was a remarkable man; so was Lao-tzu, Confucius, or Thomas Jefferson. They all had principles for a better life. But only Christianity can teach you to walk with God.

We forfeit that birthright when we take folks through a discipleship program whereby they master any number of Christian precepts and miss this most important thing of all, the very thing for which we were created: intimacy with God. There are, after all, those troubling words Jesus spoke to those who where doing all the "right" things: "Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you'" (Matt 7:23). Knowing God. That's the point.

You might recall the old proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The same holds true here. Teach a man a rule and you help him solve a problem; teach a man to walk with God and you help hom solve the rest of his life. Truth be told, you couldn't master enough principles to see you safely through this Story. There are too many surprises, ambiguities, exceptions to the rule. Things are hard at work - is it time to make a move? Things are hard at home - is this just a phase your son is going through, or should you be more concerned? You can't seem to shake this depression - is it medical or something darker? What does the future hold for you - and how should you respond?

Only by walking with God can we hope to find the path that leads to life. That is what it means to be a disciple. After all - aren't we "followers of Christ"? Then by all means, let's actually follow him. Not ideas about him. Not just his principles. Him.

---- john eldredge, Waking the Dead, pp 95-96

please do not read this as an indictment against the ring. far from it. it's more a heart quest to understand how this all fits together. what are correct and biblical expectations for me to carry into a community group? who is discipling the older ones? how are the older ones supposed to disciple the younger if they aren't being discipled? it's a struggle in my mind, and one that the passage quoted above begins to address. i need to look to Him. got it. who is going to show me how to do that? who is going to show me the deeper things that await me in this walk with Jesus? am i to take from this passage that i am to walk alone with Him? no, i don't think so. i need to learn how to walk with Him as much as the next (read "younger") person.

as Jesus said, narrow is the path, and i really need help finding it. i need help staying on it. i need someone to pull me forward as i reach back to pull someone else along. our core beliefs sound great on paper. how do they play out in real life? what does that really look like? that's the great and frustrating part of being such a baby church. we get to participate in the hard part - where the vision He gave the elders 8 years ago comes to fruition and we get to figure it out as we go. Jesus, lead on. we will follow.