Discipleship, Not Just Salvation (Pt. 1)

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if you listen in assemblies of god circles you have hear and are hearing about the crisis in discipleship in our church. basically, the idea of discipleship is this: becoming a christian is more than just asking jesus in your heart (a phrase not at all found in the bible), it’s more than saying a prayer, or raising your hand. we often reduce it to these terms for simplicity and for self-congratulations. it’s easy to see five people raise theirs hands and come to the front for prayer. we can reveal in those stats, and gratify ourselves. but the issue of discipleship leads us in a different direction.

Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14.26-27 TNIV)

two things stand out in this verse: hate your family and carry your cross. first, i don’t think luke has misogyny or patricide in mind. what he’s talking about is reorienting our allegiances and reordering our priorities. the family has been called the fundamental unit of society. following Jesus means shifting our allegiances, our loyalties, and most basic instinct of self preservation from family to Jesus and his followers. while others may say blood is thicker than water, christians say, the cup (those with whom we serve communion) is mightier than the DNA.

of course, you can say a prayer and not change a bit. in my experience, it’s not that people aren’t willing to change, the problem is that we expect too little change from them.

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