For all sorts of reasons  -  the teaching I've been doing at Spring Harvest, the stuff I've been reading, my own faith-journey  -  I've been thinking about what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus.  I'll come back to this in my next posting, but here are my first three dynamics:

committed to following Jesus

This might seem so obvious that it doesn't need saying, but I'm not so sure.  The whole point of discipleship in first century Palestine was that the disicple became the apprentice of his rabbi.  He didn't just learn great truths from his teacher; he modelled his life on his teacher  -  he wanted to be like him in every way.  So it seems to me that, if we are serious about discipleship, then we need to take the gospels more seriously than we have done: we need to read them carefully, we need to read them imaginatively, we need to get under the skin of what the gospel-writers have to say about Jesus, and we need to make him the pattern for our lives.

What would Jesus Do? needs to become a guide rather than a glib mantra

committed to a company of Jesus-followers

We use the word 'fellowship' very glibly in Christian circles.  Often it means little more than a handshake at the door of the church or a cup of coffee at the end of a service.  Real discipleship demands much more than that.  Jesus called 12 men who walked with him and shared their lives together.  The gospels reveal the best and the worst about that little company, their victories and their failures, their insights and their stupidities.  But they hung together and they grew together and they were the first building blocks of the church. 

Disciples need to be part of the kind of group that will appreciate them and hold them accountable for their progress or lack of it.  One of the most significant developments of our time is the rise of the 'new monasticism' in which men and women who are serious about following Jesus commit to share their lives together.  Full blown monastic communities will not be the way for most of us, but it seems to me that something of that ilk is necessary if we are serious about discipleship.

committed to intentional spiritual formation

I think we've abused the great doctrine of justification by faith.  Sure, we've rightly emphasised that we cannot earn God's favour, that God loves us simply because he loves us, that we are accepted and forgiven purely because of his grace.  But, all too often, we then make the assumption that spiritual growth and progress in discipleship happen automatically.  Anybody who has been involved in any kind of local church knows that that just isn't true!  Most of the problems in churches centre around the fact that too many Christians never grow up in grace.

I guess there's an analogy between grace and a God-given talent.  I may be a naturally gifted pianist  -  I'm not, of course, but you know what I mean!  -  but how good I become will depend on how hard I practice and whether I learn from the best teachers and the most gifted performers.  In the same way, God gives us his grace so that we might co-operate with him, 'walk in the Spirit' as Paul puts it in his letters.

The great spiritual disciplines  -  prayer, fasting, study, meditation, worship, service, solitude  -  they're all part of the pathway we follow.  The great saints across the centuries  -  from Benedict to Booth  - are all guides from whose wisdom and counsel we might benefit greatly.

OK that's as far as I'm going for the moment, but I'll come back to this.  In the meantime, I'd be glad to have your response on this.

And...if you have been, thanks for listening!