The Heart of Discipleship

By Pastor Josh Kirk

“For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me” – 1 Corinthians 4:15-16

The Heart of Discipleship

What is discipleship and what does it require? How are we to go about this business of disciple-making that is part of the grand Christian mission spanning across all times and places? If someone off the street were to ask you, “How do you make disciples?”, what would you tell them?

         I suspect if someone asked us this, we’d probably borrow language from Matthew 28. Making disciples involved baptizing (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and teaching them, the emphasis being on ‘teaching’. All this is true and we’d be perfectly correct to answer that way. But we often think of ‘teaching” differently than Paul, and possibly quite different than Jesus.

         In 1 Corinthians 4:14-15, Paul makes a distinction between ‘guides in Christ’ and ‘fathers’. The word we translate as ‘guide” refers to a teacher or an instructor. Paul views the Mosaic law as a guide. What is noteworthy about Paul’s word choice is it lacks any close relational component. We don’t hire guides or teachers for relationships, but rather for information. In contrast, Paul says he became a Father to them in Christ Jesus. His teaching to them was relational. It was not simply the passing on of information but was at its root, imitational.

         Paul’s distinction here gets at the heart of discipleship. The aim is not the impartation or acquisition of knowledge, the goal is transformation. This is something greater than merely passing along knowledge. It requires the kinds of close relationship that only intentionality, time, and vulnerability can bring us.

Not A New Command, But An Old One

         This spiritual father model of discipleship was in fact set for us by Jesus himself when he made disciples. Jonathan Dodson points this out in his article on discipleship (included below). He writes, “Jesus could have transmitted the gospel by dropping a Bible from the sky, launching an infallible podcast, gathering Twitter followers, or projecting holograms of himself in every village and city. But he didn’t. He chose flesh, human touch, sight, smell, and presence. The Son of God became a spiritual father to twelve disciples in order to transmit the gospel through flesh and blood. He calls us to do the same. Technologically mediated preaching—and even preaching in person—isn’t enough. People need to see the gospel live and hear it in relational stereo. They need our bodily presence, faults and all. Disciples need encouragement that breathes and correction that has a heartbeat. We all need gospel fathers to help us imitate Jesus.” Our spiritual sons and daughters need information. They need to read good books, wrestle with big theology, and be confronted with God’s Word from the pulpit. However, they also need to see how it’s lived out in everyday life. They need to see how their spiritual fathers deal with the disappointments and stresses of work and yet still serve their wives and love their kids. They need to see mothers doing the mundane tasks of running a household in a way that glorifies God.

Lowering the Bar

         We tend to view serious discipleship as the kind that reads good books and talks about them over a latte or in a small-group meeting. But let’s be honest, there is only so much time in the day. We don’t always have two hours we can set aside on a regular basis. But what if we embraced Jesus’ model of presence and example as the main ingredient of discipleship? For instance, a mother could, instead of carving out two hours to get coffee, invite a younger woman over to talk as they fold the laundry, or make dinner together, or go grocery shopping. Spiritual fathers could invite their spiritual sons over to work on a project and talk about their efforts to keep their hearts pure. Or perhaps they could talk while doing the dishes after dinner and stick around for family devotions afterward. The point is we ought to feel free to be creative in our discipleship. Let’s embrace Jesus’ model by bringing someone along with you to do what you already have to do, redeeming the time through intentional conversation. On the one hand, this requires less work. It’s informal, often spontaneous and requires no preparation ahead of time. But on the other hand, it’s messier. It requires vulnerability, a willingness to let others behind the curtain to see what kind of person we truly are.

         As we wrap up the first month of the new decade, take a look around you. Who can be a spiritual father or mother to you? Who could you be a spiritual father or mother to? If the chain of discipleship is to continue, we should strive for both.

         If you are interested in exploring this topic further, take a look at the two articles posted below. Discipleship is a key ingredient of a healthy relationship with Jesus and the pastoral staff wants to help equip you well for this task. To that end, we’ve also included a brief survey about your own experience with discipleship. This information will help the elders shepherd the church better and give them an opportunity to help you find spiritual parents or children if you don’t already have them.

Link to Survey – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekiGbMVqUWPytT3JUVkNTIsjLd_yKJb5yG9k3l43L_y7u9VQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Article – CHBC Member Handout: Plugging Into Discipling Relationships

Article – Discipline: More than a Podcast Preacher