Discipleship
I feel like the journey is only just beginning. I am slowly, but surely, getting a glimpse of the reality that Jesus taught – a reality of undeserved love, radical forgiveness, and sacrifice for enemies. After all these year, I am beginning – just beginning – to get a grasp on discipleship.
It seems to me that in most churches “a relationship with Christ” or “following Jesus” means not drinking, not smoking, not swearing, not looking at pornography, reading your bible, prayer, and church attendance. After intellectual conversion, Christianity has little more to offer. We believe in sanctification, but we understand precious little about what sanctification entails.
I used to be a very active member in the Australian arm of Campus Crusade for Christ. They were very keen on discipleship, often pairing a mentor and a protégé for weekly meetings where the mentor can pass on what they know. It was apprentiship. I appreciate their keenness to train new believers, but ultimately they only served to teach the same list of attribute listed above (reading your bible, prayer…); with one exception – a “disciple” in Campus Crusade terminology was self-reproducing (an evangelist).
