Discipleship // covenant relationships // part the last // for today

It will be part the last for today because this thought isn’t going away (this is one of those indirect blog posts from ‘Divine Conspiracy’) due to the fact that discipleship is so hugely important, but I didn’t want to cram a whole bunch of stuff into one post.

What I was really wondering this morning as I grabbed a tasty brew of coffee and sat down to study for a little while was, “where is the line that you are allowed to cross in someone’s life where you can move past the, ‘wow, I’ll really pray for you in that,’ or ‘huh, how can I help you with that,’ to ‘you need to step it up in your life and become a follower of Jesus in truth, i.e. commit to being a disciple.’” I’m not real sure why I was having this thought actually, I didn’t have anyone in mind, just thinking about the western churches that I’ve been a part of that make it so easy for us to make Jesus just a silo in our life and not the bedrock foundation, and how do we lead people, not force or drag people into this lifestyle?

Then I jumped into Galatians 4 as I’ve been working through that letter. Paul says in that chapter that none of us are differentiated in kingdom living. We are all equal, nothing makes one of us better or worse than another. Then he just kind of bombs them again with, “what are you doing?” language. They had reverted to the law.

Then Paul says something that caught me, I had to hang on to it for a little while, meaning I quit reading and just meditated on this idea. He says, “become like me, for I became like you.”

Paul stepped over the line here in a genuine and authentic way, and in a way that looked just like Jesus did. And perhaps that is what caught my eye. Paul is saying, “Watch me, and do as I do. Become like me.” Jesus said, “Watch me, and do as I do. Become like me, for I became like one of you. I entered your world, tasted, saw, felt, experienced, and then gave Myself completely. Enter my world, taste, see, feel, experience, give yourself completely to me. Watch me. Do as I do. Become like me.” It sounds so easy but it takes a lifetime of devotion. It takes integrating every part of who we are into kindgom living. But we have been given an invitation, and one we can trust at that.

So, I’m asking for participation again. “What helps you grow? What is it that you are latching on to in order to help you up the mountain? Maybe its nothing. Tell me. But then tell me what it would take to engage you. I want to know what our ideas of discipleship are.”