As I was reading some scripture this morning and thinking about discipleship, I turned to a passage in Luke 14 which is headed with the caption “The Cost of Being a Disciple” in the NIV. I don’t always appreciate these headings but I think the translation committee got this one right.
As I read the passage a third or fourth time, an interesting distinction jumped out at me from verse 25: “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus…”
Notice that Luke did NOT say that large crowds were following Jesus…just traveling with him. They were near Jesus, but not necessarily engaged.
Within the context of evangelical Christianity (perhaps I could just say Christianity in general, but I’ll limit my observations to what I’m experientially familiar with) discipleship is seen as optional. Obviously, not many pastors or Christians would actually say that this is the case, but the ways in which we understand the Gospel, ‘share’ the gospel, and “do” church betray our core beliefs. Whether it’s because we think praying the prayer is enough or because we fear losing the crowds, we rarely challenge believers to a self-sacrificial Gospel-shaped understanding and pursuit of discipleship.
Do we distinguish, as Jesus did, between “traveling with” and following?
Do we settle for the criteria of the crowd?
In so doing, we create an environment in which discipleship is optional. We expect discipleship to happen simply as the result of proximity to Jesus (and other believers aka attending church).
In my own ministry with students at the University of Cincinnati, I am determined to pursue models of biblical discipleship which will result in a steady stream (over the years) of transformed followers of Jesus. More than likely, this is not going to look like a mass gathering of students except on the rarest of occasions. My hope is that it will look like a full week of one-on-one or one-on-two conversations, meals, front-porch encounters, etc. It will look like a few students enjoying a weekend of backpacking in the Red River Gorge, or kayaking down the Little Miami River, or playing disc golf.
Of course, the first step for me or anyone else committed to discipling is to BE a disciple. Discipling and the transformation of students will happen in the wake of my own discipleship journey and transformation.
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