Discipleship 101

So we have been called into ministry, great, so what now? If I am to minister to God's people what precisely am I meant to do? What drove those that Christ called to become followers and disciples of this unknown man? We know that ministry can be small and simple but sometimes it becomes so big that we are challenged by the enormity of the task. At other times the very fact that we have a ministry goes to our heads and we believe that ours is the most important or that ours should have precedence or ours is the thing that will save the church. (Reminder: Our call is not only one of ministry it is one of following and being discipled by Christ). No matter what position we find ourselves in or at what stage in our call into ministry we are at we need to remind ourselves some core facts when it comes to being a disciple particularly a disciple of Christ.

Perhaps the first thing, which is of most importance, is honesty. We no longer appreciate honesty within our lives. We create stories for ourselves of our lives and live them out within the bands of social media or our own little cliques. We need firstly to be honest with ourselves in terms of our call. If we are not struggling with being called into ministry and being a disciple then we have inevitably got something wrong. If we are unable to express our own doubts in an honest manner either to ourselves or to others then we are deceiving ourselves and are not true disciples. Just look at the stories of the disciples as they move and follow the Christ. From the first call we read in Matthew (4.15-ff) to the final scenes after the resurrection with Thomas.

Secondly, we have to be open to change. It is apparent from the first call of the disciples that eventually become Christ's apostolic messengers that they are expected to change their whole lives. They are asked to give up the occupations that they have and take on a significantly more challenging and different way of life. This automatically means a total upheaval in their domestic situation. Can you see Peter or John coming back from a day's fishing and saying to their wives and extended families "We can no longer support you. We have decided to follow this itinerant preacher through the lands of the Israelites." What sort of response do you think that got? Even if our call into ministry appears to be small...taking over as secretary...filling the role of treasurer...becoming a warden... it still means some form of change within your lives however small and however disruptive. Yet if we are true disciples of Christ, we must be prepared for change as the whole of Christ's message to us is a call to change from tradition into newness of life.

True discipleship changes our lives through honesty and commitment

Thirdly, there is a commitment that is made before God as we become disciples. I am not talking solely about our baptismal commitment but our commitment to God and to our community. If we cannot commit to being a disciple and to the ministry that we are called to then their is no point in answering the call. We may as well bury our heads in the sand and become rooted in place. Commitment means that we are prepared to sacrifice, we are prepared to ensure that there is no division within our community as a result of receiving a different call or a different understanding (1 Cor. 1.10- ff.). We are all called by God into discipleship and ministry on answering that call we should commit ourselves to Christ's presence in our hearts and lives. We cannot create division within our extended communities and say we are Christian and followers of Christ. Christ's call and our ministry is towards reconciliation between ourselves and between ourselves and God. It is a call towards a community that is built on diversity of skills and people who each are committed as disciples of Christ. This is the call that makes a community and a nation functional in looking after its people from the first to the last.

Only when we are prepared to change and be honest in our commitments towards God's people can we truly call ourselves disciples of Christ. Our issue is often a failure in one of these three areas.

Called or volunteered

It is a strange feeling sometimes when you find yourself in an unusual place or a different country or away from your usual situation or even in a new work situation. You may feel somewhat overawed to find yourself doing a new thing or perhaps you cannot really relate to what has occurred. In times like this it is possible that we come to reflect on the path that has led us into the situation or the place where we find ourselves. Simon must have felt odd when Christ told him his name was Cephas, a new name for new circmstances he was not expecting (John 1.42). What were his thoughts when this person re-named him? We forget reading scripture as we do, that our knowledge is not the same as the participants. We say of course he should be well pleased or what  privelage he must have felt.
But was it for Peter?

In being asked into new ministry we are also often stunned or perhaps like Peter left wondering what it all means. Surely I just volunteered and was not actually called into a position of authority, mission, ministry, etc. Whilst the distinction in the Gospel story appears to be clear it is not always true. We find ourselves putting our hands up to volunteer for something and all of a sudden we are no longer a volunteer but are actually amongst the called. It does not matter whether this is over something that appears to be trivial or whether it is some grand plan working out within the community the strangeness of the situation hits us. I am certain that we need to reflect more often on what it means to be called by God and not just think of ourselves as volunteers within the community.

Unlike Isaiah (49.1-7) our understanding of a call from God into ministry is not quite so clear cut. We may find ourselves just helping out a mate who requires assistance with a mob of sheep or a call has gone out to bring food for a special occasion, it does not really matter, if we find ourselves doing this on a consistent basis then perhaps this is a call by God into a ministry that builds community. It involves a sacrifice within our normal lives, we have to give up a game of golf or perhaps we miss out on an occasion with others but we see it as a voluntary contribution to the community. Could it instead be God calling us into a ministry?

Do we volunteer or are we truly called into ministry?

We may bitch and moan about a lack of 'volunteers' but we need actually to give thanks for the ministries that are being enabled around us within the community. There is of course a proviso attached to this. Once we begin to realise that what we are doing is indeed as a result of a call from God to embed ourselves more deeply in the community through our actions then we need to begin to bring God's presence with us as we undertake our 'voluntary' tasks. Only when we bring God's presence into the lives of those we serve do we begin to realise the true potential of our sacrifice and become a person who is given a new name. Yes, we need to recognise the Godness that is being undertaken but we also need to ensure that we bring God into our efforts. Not by preaching and trying to convert but by being Christ to those around us, accepting, loving and upholding. Peter made mistakes, but persevered. Paul writing to the Corinthians (1 Cor 1.5-7) praises God for their efforts even when they were unaware of their gifts. He does so because they are showing Christ to their neighbour in what they do building the community. We are all called by God, not just the 'pastor', we all need to fulfil that call and not sit back thinking that we are 'volunteering' our services.

When hope is not enough

At the beginning of a secular New Year following from a plethora of disasters both manufactured and natural one thinks of turning towards hope of a new start and a new beginning. What happens though when we believe that hope is not enough, when even the hope in Christ becomes a failing belief that brings with it despair and depression? If we are to believe some we need to turn to courage to make a difference and yet courage on its own will also turn to despair and depression when we fail and fail again and again to correct the course of our lives. Courage can only take us so far before it to turns to burn us with despotism and failure. Just as with all of the other marvellous things that we believe may buoy us in times of despair and trouble. Concepts that have been created to encourage and embolden so that we can overcome what ever is in front of us creating the obstacles to a satisfactory life.

In looking into the depths of the faith journey of those who are deemed great, in whatever religious or faith bound field we find ourselves aligned to, we can see one thing above all others that is congruent in their lives. The one thing that is present through out these famous peoples lives is not that they have hope or faith or courage or whatever. It is that they combine all of these traits into the lives that they live. Hope cannot be useful of itself unless t has courage to support that hope in the doing of things in the face of adversity to bring that hope to fruition. Faith cannot walk on its own without being involved in the practical details of a lived life that interacts and brings about community and love. We are fooling ourselves if we believe that only courage or only faith or only whatever will make a difference. The histories of our faiths throughout the world are littered with examples of these attributes combined together to produce that which is great and closer to God.

In the face of devastation hope, courage and faith show us the way forward

In the debates and controversies that have been had over climate change, politics, fire storms and the church we need to remind ourselves as Christians what it is that we want in the coming year. There is a need for courage. Courage to stand up for what God calls us to be and do. However, the question that is perennial is What does God want us to do? In the face of this or that emergency, calamity or situation which we are facing at this moment in time. Often it is a matter of our own interpretation of our own belief and faith set and we can blame everything else on the shoulders of others as they do not conform. This is a typical reaction. Each and every decision we make in the name of our faith bears with it the consequences of that decision on the lives of those we interact with not just ours. This is why we need courage. We also require hope. Hope along with courage lifts us up over the obstacles that are placed in our way. The decisions and the consequences of those decisions must be aligned with our hope for the betterment of our community and the drawing closer to God. Not for something that is idealistic but something that our courage can lift us to.

It is our faith that binds us into the covenant of God and God's presence in our lives as we walk that road which enables our community to live in peace and love which is God's. Only then can we truly bring all facets of our lives into the harmonious whole that is God. Not by placing one thing above another but rather in bringing our all into God, our courage, our faith, our hope, etc. In this coming secular year, the start of a new period in our lives, may we know how to bring about a wholeness of spirit and life that celebrates God's presence whilst we build God's love into our communities with compassion, faith, courage and hope.