What is discipleship?
Have you ever tried to summarize for those in your care what the Scriptures teach about the behavior of real disciples, about the everyday lives of those who follow him? It’s an important subject, most of us would agree. But nowadays it’s hard to discuss without people interpreting such summaries as volleys in the culture wars. Summaries of Cross-Shaped Discipleship The Bible is full of moral admonition for disciples—abiding in Christ, putting his kingdom above all, living by its ethics even among our enemies, and so on. It seems to me, though, that when we look to the New Testament for summaries of genuine discipleship, three kinds stand out: (1) statements about the way of the cross (and the cost of discipleship), (2) summaries of the Law and the Prophets, and (3) new commandments about practically fleshing out love for God and neighbor. I want to underscore what Jesus said of cross-shaped discipleship—the first of these three kinds of summative pronouncements: If anyone comes to me ...