Discipleship: today, yesterday, forever

It feels like this.

Emma Frances Logan

Let’s see. It’s 2020. This means that I have known about, know and still continue to know Jesus … for more than forty years. Nearly all those years I have been a leader of sorts. I started standing in front of the rest of the children to lead songs, tell stories…then I was in committees, task force teams, ministry teams.

All this time, one word never ever went away, out of fashion, or became redundant.

Discipleship.

Justin Kauffman

Gary Butterfield

Massimo Satirana

We took it apart, looked at its nuts and bolts, studied, argued, wrote papers, tried programs, saw some ‘success’ and almost an equal amounts (it feels*) of ‘failure’.

We got frustrated, distracted, impatient, and reached impasse at times. We then set it aside…but soon, the word invariably found it way to lips, conversations, pulpit and meeting minutes.

In all of this, our human tendency to seek a silver bullet did not serve us well. 

Such marvelous fare we tried (and so important we did) -

TNet | NewLife | SonLife | 2:7 | Roots and Wings | Willow | Saddleback

We Navigated, Crusaded, Rallied, 'Seminared'  ad nauseam.

We used:

Small groups 
Cell groups
Affinity groups
Mission groups
Age Groups (kidschurch, youthchurch etc.)
Online
Offline


And still, the haze persists.


So I hid myself indoors more, and hope to offer something to clear the air.

Here are 2 thoughts to help us forward.


1. Forget Trying To Be Successful At Discipleship, Instead Urge The Next Right Step

(a) the uniqueness of each life

Each person is a story, journey and unfolding. Each life is layered, complexed, nuanced.

This means that discipleship will be hard and hardly successful, if we take a cookie-cutter approach.

When I look back at my own development, and as I hear stories of others, there is never a simple, straight trajectory. I started out Presbyterian. We had an Pentecostal preacher who filled the pulpit frequently. Then I encountered the Charismatics, as well as the Bible-Presbyterian. In Bible college, I met Catholic theologians, went to retreats led by Catholic sisters…and the story continues to unfold..

The Gospel is deep. The church is wide. God is finally, incomprehensible.

Our hearts have alleyways and backroads that cannot be educated, inspired, equipped into Christlike fullness. All our best efforts to fill up with Bible, sharing, service are like set-ups for the real deal.

Discipleship is each unique human life being yielded, one day and one moment at a time, so that the life becomes Cruciform. It is shepherding heartaches, distilling values, training willpower, championing obedience.

And -we have to learn to do this in our own lives first.

Then, as Jesus said to Peter, “turn around and strengthen your brothers”.

It is a lifelong journey of ongoing ‘yes’ to God being God, who knows better and cares more intimately then we dare dream.

This also means that –

Children can be discipled

Youths can be discipled

Adults, married, single, old, aging, ill, dying - we can all be discipled, for what we are is not yet clear to us, but it exists, and is real, and God wants to lead us homeward (1 Cor 1312)

I think God is really serious about diversity.

So, leaders, by all means use all means. Dream. Design. Deliberate. Definitely model it. But don’t fret overly over the outcomes. Chill and Christ both start with the letter ‘C’, see?



(b) the reality of social context

I let out a small moan even as my mind veered in my exasperation and let slip the words “when I was your age…”. Sharing our life story is one thing, but this stupid diatribe is totally futile.

The generation after us did not ask to be raised in their context. My daughter insightfully pointed out that my generation may well be the most privileged. We did not experience the war and we are not inheriting a time bomb. We have to stop wishful thinking and put our brains to better use.

At the heart of human existence and flourishing is our similar need to feel secure, have an identity and derive satisfaction from our contribution.

Think: what is trying to give our kids a sense of security, identity and satisfaction?

If we believe that God is the true and only lasting answer to the three primal needs of our lives, then how do we model and communicate that? What is garbling the signals, causing static, confusing them?

For as long as I can remember, we work really hard at ‘adapting to our culture’ - and we over-adapted, losing our bearings over time…. such as when we did age-group services and were left with a huge issue of transiting people from youth service to adult service.

We should wake up and realise that by focusing on the ‘spiritual’ and becoming ‘experts’ isn’t the best way. God designed life around truth and we have to learn to find God in all of life. 

We have to ask tough questions such as: how do people learn, encounter truth, experience change? We ought to hear from educators, sociologists and counsellors.

Yet,

there will always be fundamentals that we never ought to neglect.

The spiritual life is life - thus there must be Input, Interaction and Output. 


(i) What Inputs do we have available today?

Netflix is so ahead in its game that its CEO recently said that it’s only real competitor is sleep (yes, people sacrifice sleep to catch the stuff they purvey).

We need to create and convey good content.

(ii) What sorts of interaction is happening?

In homes and in churches? Is there safety for real exchange? Is there support for stragglers? The threat of death (not just bodily) lurks close by in the forms of distraction and distress today. Relationships are becoming strained and many feel unsafe.

We need to teach life skills that are being quickly lost today: listening, manners, disagreeing or questioning with respect.

(iii) Output.
What ways are there for people to exercise and express their faith? We need to crucify our culture’s absorption with ‘success’ so that the fear of failure is disempowered and in doing so, unleash all that time and resource (a billion dollars in the tuition industry!).


At the centre of it is the Cross, and Jesus.

My own prayer is that Jesus would be so dazzling, attractive, powerful, engaging, complete in my estimate and experience - so that those around me can catch a glimpse of it and desire it too.

Leaders -

-if the gospel becomes too familiar, tired and lack lustre, revisit it until it becomes the pearl of great price for you. Or you will sell short. 

-make friends with a broad range of people who can provide insight into the human condition and the social contexts of our flock 

-watch that you are not capitulating to popular culture. 

-go deep and gather a few for life-on-life, the way Jesus did. Trust me, you cannot do better than Jesus.

2. Focus On The Irreducible Minimum

Some churches have a lot of moolah and can do fancy parties. Most are rather basic. If God said we can make disciples of all nations, the approach has to something that can be transplanted into all cultural contexts. This is called the Irreducible Minimum.

The following will not make the list:

Starbucks coffee
Music that is branded
Certain versions of the Bible
And whole barrels of programs we have tried in the first world, middle class church.

But here is what will work:

Genuine welcome

Spiritual hunger 

Prayer 

Practical love 

Scripture - taught, discussed, meditated, memorised, applied 

The Sacraments of Baptism and Communion 

Sacrificial Familial love

Just look at this amazing list that isn’t exclusive to the rich, educated or even seminary-trained!

So maybe, just maybe, we ought to start growing in these things and see where the marvelous Holy Spirit takes us!



Finally,  a confession is in order, one I prayed many times:

O God, you offer humanity goodwill and Good News of Great Joy. 
I am so sorry I lose sight of it, prefer to get sated on other lesser pleasures, and often busy myself with things that are far removed from Your Holy Will.

Forgive the way I preach, teach, counsel, lead and on and on… often more marked by an anxiety to live up to expectations or worse, ambition - than out of a fear of You and a love for the ones You entrusted to me.

If there is any way, undo the damage where your shepherds and leaders have cause more hurt, confusion and been an overall bad witness.

Do a work in my life that cannot be explained except for the mighty Grace and Mercy of God, and in turn, let me lead others to this same stream to drink fully of it.

Whether I lead a few or a few thousand, let me never get beyond the adventure, excitement and dream that is your Kingdom - of lives touched, transforming and true.
For Christ’s sake, Amen.

*the brain remembers this stuff more readily, possibly a preservation instinct - an instinct I posit is post-Fall.

You, beloved, are an answer (in this dark, bad world), but not the usual way you think.

"Bad news sells".
"You need an arc, with a rising tension.."
"The hero must meet a challenge so great, he must risk death..."

It turns out, these are true, in news reporting, in movie-making, in our experiences.

homeless Koala

Still, we dream, yearn and often naively imagine life can be smooth-sailing. Which explains why prosperity gospel succeeds, why disciples hike off, why so much continues to break around us - from friendships to partnerships, marriage to parenting. We refuse to be heroic. We reject our villainy.

Yes - we are both heroes and villains. Light and Dark. Life and Death.

And the typical advice given is to grow the light, starve the dark (yes that tale about the old man with two dogs, one good, the other bad)... focus on the good, do more good....


Jesus tells us plainly:

No one is good—except God alone. {Mark 10v18}

You know, Jesus gets pretty absolute about things. We, prefer to hedge and fuzz.

Goodness is a God quality. We aspire, pretend, and at times achieve some good. Sometimes, even astounding good. But, our good acts aren't the same as us being good in essence. Because, honestly, our motives are rarely a hundred percent without self-interest.

God, on the other hand, is Goodness - because he really, does not need us or anything from us - but he considers our needs and cares for us.

PhyoMoe Agora Images

So I am going to suggest Another Way Altogether that will take the strife, comparison and hard edge off doing good. A way that enables us to honestly acknowledge our villainy and at the same time, arouse our heroism.

It is called Blessedness.

Blessedness is not an intrinsic or earned quality. It is bestowed, given, offered - and there is great power when we realise our blessedness.

Blessedness is not about avoiding pain, skirting hardship, being protected from loss, confusion, regrets or even recurring struggles.

It has very little in fact, to with the externals of your life: from relationships to possessions, realities to potentialities. Rather, is is a depth-experience of being wanted, being a great idea, fearfully and wonderfully crafted. It's the truth of your life as being valid, precious, unique...of you being sensed, felt, loved...

It is a truth that gets infused into the sinews and molecules of your being when ordinary life is touched by the Transcendent, when the temporal shimmers with the eternal, when the wind from angelic wings whiff close..., what Paul described as "being seated in the heavenly realms {Ephesians 1v3} --- a Position, a Posture, and a Potential that you cannot bargain for, access by force or sneak by scheming.

Instead, you are led to such a place, with royalty, with God, because you dared to follow...and you find yourself coming...Home. The one Home you have been searching for all you life!

 In this Home-space, feel safe, it's bounteous, and full of Life -- even though not a bit of your circumstances may have changed...  yet.. --

From here, you regard everything with a strange sense...like invincibility: 'how can anything ever really hurt you, again?'.  At the same time, you have a ready vulnerability, where you are no longer afraid and feel the need to hide your darker shades of your story.

Both the Light and the Dark become stark and real, and you know a Greater Truth embraces and encompasses both.

Your power of choice is pressed upon your soul and you find yourself choosing again, and again, for the Light.


At Home, in God's courts, which are held by the pillars of righteousness and faithfulness, there's no falsification, pretense or role-play. Rather, there's an inverted sense of abandonment. Whereas life in general reinforces our loneliness and weaknesses, often causing us feelings of rejection and abandonment, here, we can release our efforts and masks and rest in a security and safety that makes -no - demands of us, yet gently compels us to be the best versions of ourselves.

Home is where we belong, where we are beloved and come to see our Blessedness. Home is being with God in complete honesty and surrender.

And so, we can do the most good because we have come Home to Goodness.


The way home is a mixture of large, determined, upward strides, as well as small, consistent steps. These involve three trails.

(1) Detachment - to free us

This is not to become some unfeeling glob please! Rather, it's about refusing to be fooled into thinking that our identity and worth depend on people, possessions and pains. We can define ourselves in so many ways. Some choose family, others choose achievements, yet other still, frame themselves in their pains.

Things that are a part of our lives shape us, and may even confine us. But they don't have to define us.

Yes, every day, something, someone, your past or your future can threaten to cloud over the truth of your Blessed Belovedness.

But, if you step away from it all for a bit, and sit with the deeper truth that you are Blessed and Beloved, that in the midst of the hard and nasty, God is with you and offers you Life and Light.... in time, the veil is torn and you find that you are Home.

Try it and see.

Cry when you need.
Rant when you need.
Then, silence your rancour and let Scripture's cleansing and renewing power do its work.


(2) Contentment- to anchor us

Life cannot be savored in retirement. It has to savored now. (In fact, if you cannot taste life's goodness now, you may not later, and..what about.. heaven!).

Money loses its charm after a time, and can turn around to be a mean and demanding master.

Jesus used very graphic language:

the pagans run after these things... {Matt 6v33}

Running is a strenuous activity. It demands a lot, engages a lot, and leaves us winded. Running can also be rather addictive and during a second wind, you can feel rather powerful. But you cannot run forever.

When do you stop running? When you wisely consider and realise that there isn't even a race. Or when you are finally exhausted? Which state would you rather be in?

The practical way to develop contentment is of course, to practise gratitude*, which is well supported by health and brain science to have enormous benefits to our overall well-being.

When we are not busy asking -
"where is the good deal?"
"how come he has more?"
"when can I have ...?"

We can slow our pace to anchor.

A ship cannot anchor while sailing at twenty-give knots. It has to slow. Modern consumerism's evil is that we are being 'eaten' alive while we think we are 'happily consuming'. We have eschew the insatiable needs consumerism generates in us, slow down, and anchor.

We have to face the dark of our fears that we won't be noticed, known or celebrated. We need to soak up the Light that we are noticed, known and celebrated -- and by One who doesn't change His view of us because He is in a funk!

It is only when we anchor that we can be ready to be an answer to the many cries and questions that are churning all around us.

- Stock-take your consumer habits (turn off notifications perhaps)
- Design and live within a budget (it's a thing that works and is great for training kids)
- Make giving a regular habit (for eg. if you plan that each time you buy an item, you will buy a second to give away)


(3) Attentiveness - to liven us

Most of us live in the past (stewing over what went wrong or what could be better) or in the future (imagining what could be). Often, in the present, we are fretting about our responses and how others view us.

Where are we actually? Rather absent.

Attentiveness opens our eyes to notice and marvel at Life and Light. It makes complaining harder. Striving feels like such a waste of the moment. The wonder and giftedness of so much begins to dawn on us. Details present themselves to us and creates bold relief for us to recognise that we are hidden glory.

We take ourselves both lightly and seriously at the same time, knowing when to do which.


So friends,

Continue to bend towards the Light
Do all the good you can

But - follow the Spirit's call to walk into your Belovedness, where you touch the shimmering Goodness of God, and let it find its expression in and through you.

We can change the world we are a part of - through this deep, total revolution with us.

When we are attentive, we may be better listeners (and that will heal so many broken hearts and even help in the restoration of those who are suffering mentally) 

When we are anchored, we may be better givers (and how much inequality and injustice needs addressing) 

When we are freed, we may be better lovers (and how that will save so many relationships)

The Dark is real. It lodges in hearts. It connects on and off-line. It embeds in systems. The news, movies and our experiences magnify it. It can intimidate us. It can overwhelm us. It can unsettle us. But you know, systems are after all, practical frameworks and protocols established according to values we uphold.

Every heart
Every mind
Every life

that begins to sense, believe and live in the Truth of being Beloved and Blessed -- also connects and embeds and can be magnified, to the praise of His Glory.

So, our world needs -

goodness
serious answers
you.

*How To Be Grateful

How To Grow Up Spiritually

How To Press Past Setbacks


[I chose animal photography for this post, because animals are impacted by whether we are good or selfish... And birds of course, were used by Jesus to remind us to trust in our Belovedness and Blessedness].

The Future Is Here

It is, because it first exists in our minds and hearts.

Yes, the future is here, lurking between the spaces of want-dream-pain avoidance-ambition-expectations ----- and it is propelling you.

Jesus told us plainly, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6)

How many years have I known these words from the Gospel? Several decades. But it's a living, present word because -

what we treasure changes with time
often what we treasure is a reflection more of a pain we want to avoid than a dream we dare to own
God wants to be our always-treasure

When I was a teen, I had visions of success (have I shared the story about the sports car, the light rain and the handsome dude?)...which shifted with the years. As a leader and pastor, I had ideas of what should be valued, fought for, stressed out about. As a parent, how my children turn out is a huge chunky preoccupation!

I also learnt that sometimes I treasure something (way too much) because somewhere along the way, it became a part of who I am (the cool lady pastor perhaps? not really, but it nearly did). Certainly, there was a time God has to awakened me to how I idolised a 'perfect' marriage, simply because I was in pain that my parents did not have that.



So now that my children are growing way too fast, with one at (gasp!) marriageable age even -- I realised that I have so far prayed vague, right-sounding prayers for their future. You know the stuff of 'I surrender them to You', 'You have a future' type thing, only occasionally daring to foray into what their future may actually be about.

Just exactly ten minutes ago, the Holy Spirit whumped me on the head and I went 'oof!'. A clarity I am not capable of flashed before the screen of my mind and a truth surfaced: the future is hazy (this word always shows up in my post when the haze is around, hmm).


So try a simple exercise with me. Visualise the future, where your kids are adults:

What are they pursuing?
What are their priorities?
How will they relate to you?
What role will you play?

Wow. I have to admit that I am not fully ready for these questions.

There is a part of me that wants them to have commercial success (money is so useful)... I consider the young adults I know who have such success and must admit I see this: working long hours, escaping on vacations, developing costly hobbies, obsessing over online shopping, Netflix...

Well, ok, my children probably won't be like this. Of course they will be serving in church, possibly in leadership... but then I hit a ...haze.

It's not like I need to know, and God forbid that I try to control anything.


But I feel the Holy Spirit is inviting me to have a conversation about this.

It's an important conversation because I need to examine my treasure.
It's an important conversation because there are things I can put in place to support the unfolding.
It's an important conversation because God wants me to anticipate and grow my trust.
It's an important conversation because I need to shield their destiny with prayer.


I am quite certain the conversation and prayer will not end up with me being able to visualise the details. But it will do these three things:

keep my heart tender to what God wants (faith)
help me be positive to developments I witness in them (hope), and
be a constructive and empowering presence in their lives (love).

The Bible says these things last - treasures indeed. (1 Corinthians 13)


What about you?
What conversation are you having with God over the children He has called you to steward?


Here are some related reads:
Helping our children 'beat' the competition
3 Anchors for your child's bright future
Raising children who Contribute
Are we Future Ready?
Maid In Singapore Kids