"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life'?"
Matthew 16:24-26
Many of us have probably used Google, MapQuest, or some other search tool on the internet or our smartphones for directions. We study over them, seeing exactly which turns we need to make, how many cross-streets we'll have to pass, and get an idea of how long it will take to get there. We start walking or driving thinking we have have a solid understanding of the path set before us only to discover, somewhere along the journey, that we're not entirely sure what we've gotten ourselves into and that we're a bit lost.
This scene in the Gospel of Matthew is not all that dissimilar. Jesus is not giving this group an invitation to become disciples. At this point, the disciples have been with Jesus for quite some time; they've long since begun their journey of discipleship. Instead, Jesus is explaining to the disciples what exactly it is that they've gotten themselves into. They, and we, cannot understand the fullness of the cost of discipleship, or the transformation which will begin to occur as a result of our discipleship, before we decide we want to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is join a counter-cultural movement which began long before we did, and will carry on long after we have departed. Our cultural ethos is not one of self-denial or self-sacrifice. Everything in our culture informs and directs our attention inward - to "look out for me and mine" or "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps."
The word which Jesus gave His disciples and in which we now share is that to be a disciple is not just about a singular decision based solely on reason and fullness of knowledge. The mere decision to become Christian - to being your discipleship - in and of itself goes against the grain of our society. With each thought, word, and deed, a disciple must submit to God's leading call rather than to their own or our culture's beckoning. This is by no means an easy path we have been called to take, but we are strengthened by the movement of God's grace, and affirmed in taking it together as one covenantal community of faith.
Practices of Preparation:
- PRAYERS - when you wake up, at midday, and before you go to bed, ask that God guide your thoughts
- PRESENCE - come to College Lunch after worship and spend time getting to know some of our students
- GIFTS - reflect on what informs your decision to give/withhold your time, talent, and resources - is your generosity guided by our culture or by God?
- SERVICE - pray for the leadership of our church in transition
- WITNESS - share with someone how you experienced God by practicing one of these four things listed above
Yours,
Michael C. Andres
Director of Discipleship
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