Review of Session 1: What is a Disciple?
· From our study of Simon Peter’s confession we learned that a disciple is foremost someone who has received and believed the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
· Yet, we took note of the fact that this same Peter, whose confession received the Lord’s praise, could a few verses later so oppose the Lord’s will that he would be labeled as “Satan”. In other words, he was just like us!
· We found that the words “disciple,” “Christian,” and “saint” are used somewhat interchangeably in the New Testament.
Our leftover question from last week is: are these 3 words really equivalent in meaning? What different nuances is the Holy Spirit giving us in His inspired Word in these three words? Is it possible to be a Christian, yet not a disciple?
A Thought Question
The late James Montgomery Boice, a prominent PCA pastor, makes the following statement at the beginning of his book on discipleship:
There is a fatal defect in the life of Christ’s church in the twentieth century: a lack of true discipleship. Discipleship means forsaking everything to follow Christ. But for many of today’s supposed Christians—perhaps the majority—it is the case that while there is much talk about Christ and even much furious activity, there is actually very little following of Christ Himself. And that means in some circles there is very little genuine Christianity. Many who fervently call Him “Lord Lord” are not Christians.
He then quotes the German Lutheran pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
· How do you react to these statements? Are you shocked by them? How do they make you feel? Do you agree with Pastors Boice and Bonhoeffer?
Luke 14:25-35
1. What does Jesus say is the requirement for a person to be his disciple?
2. What does he mean by the word “hate”?
3. What did Jesus say were the two great commandments? Does his teaching here contradict that teaching? Why or why not?
4. Please consider the following example:
A thirty-something man with a thirty-something wife and three kids under the age of four, comes home each night and after a hurried supper goes off to “do the Lord’s work” by attending a board meeting, or leading a Bible study, or discipling a friend one-on-one. He leaves behind his wife—who has herself worked a full day of homemaking and mothering—to tend to the three kids, all still in diapers. The man justifies his actions based on the principle of “hating his wife” so that he can love the Lord. Please react to this man’s actions—first from a male perspective and then a female perspective.
5. Why does Jesus give us two examples of counting the cost? What do we learn from these examples?
6. In verse 33, Jesus says a disciple must “give up everything” to follow him? Does that mean that a true disciple will sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor and then do full time Christian service in the Sudan? If it doesn’t mean that, what does it mean? Are you rationalizing?
7. What does carrying the cross mean?
Another Thought Question
The author Dallas Willard in his book The Divine Conspiracy, makes the following statement:
Nondiscipleship is the elephant in the church. It is not the much discussed moral failures, financial abuses, or the amazing general similarity between Christians and non-Christians. These are only effects of the underlying problem. The fundamental negative reality among Christian believers now is their failure to be constantly learning how to live their lives in the Kingdom Among Us. And it is an accepted reality. The division of professing Christians into those for whom it is a matter of whole-life devotion to God and those who maintain a consumer, or client, relationship to the church has now been an accepted reality for over fifteen hundred years.
· Please react to this statement based on the Luke passage and your observation of evangelical Christianity as we enter the 3rd Millennium. Which side of the division he speaks of are we on?
Philippians 3:1-11
1. How does Paul exemplify the discipleship that Jesus speaks of in Luke 14?
2. What are some of the things that Paul “lost” in order to follow Christ?
3. Why does Paul emphasize here the “righteousness that comes from God by faith”? What does that have to do with discipleship?
4. What does verse 10 tell us about “knowing Christ”? How will knowing Christ in this sense differentiate us from those who have only a “consumer” relationship with him? Are we there yet?
5. Please react to the following definition of a disciple (from Dallas Willard):
A disciple is someone who says: “I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I.”
Posted by John Dishman at December 1, 2004 11:15 AMWow, Pop, this is some challenging stuff! How do we constantly learn to live in the "Kingdom Among Us"? I find that my life is a constant battle and flip-flop between growing in discipleship and idol-worship.
Regarding the thirty-something man going off to do the "Lord's work" -- I think that is a very difficult question. The thirty-something man is called to love his wife sacrificially and die to himself for her. But if she is willing to die to herself for the gospel and spend more time alone with a bunch of diaper-wearing, hyperactive kids -- for the gospel -- then perhaps he should be making those sacrifices.
I think this is a situation where trial and error (or trial and gospel) should be applied -- if both spouses are up to it. Take steps in pursuing the "Lord's Work" and then adjust. I find myself in this situation (without the kids) ... my spouse is working very hard to be faithful in her gospel calling and so am I. Sometimes we are both really excited about the others' vocation ... and sometimes we realize we have hurt our relationship by spending our energy too much outside our marriage.
Perhaps the thing that makes discipleship "die off" in the church is the lack of intimacy with the Lord ... "grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate," as you quoted from Bonhoeffer. We start doing things to serve the Lord to the extent where we are unable or unwilling to maintain our closeness with Him. We fall into a Christianity of works, not of love.
Posted by: David at December 6, 2004 05:55 PMDavid,
Thanks for the great comment. As you probably already guessed, the "thirty-something man" was me when you were about 4 years old. And yes, I agree that if the wife also agrees, then his leaving her with the 3 kids **could** be a reasonable choice. In fact--in my case--it was not a good choice, and your mother suffered the consequences of my poor prioritization. The true sacrifice would have been for me not to do "churchy things" (which I was good at) so much, and instead support her in taking care of you guys--which I was NOT so good at, and which certainly was not so much "fun" when it came to the drudgery of diapers, discipline, etc.
Your point about intimacy with the Lord is well taken. That, in fact, is what we are covering in the next lesson (see above) where we talk about the glory of the new covenant mediated by Christ and through which we, too, are changed by the Spirit's work within us.
Posted by: Pop at December 9, 2004 09:01 PM