Discipleship and Obedience

Continuing with our theme of being disciples:

‘’Discipleship in an instant society requires long obedience in the same direction:’ (Eugene Peterson)

What does this mean?  What has obedience got to do with being a disciple?
Simply put - Everything!  

Yet, obedience is not a popular topic today; even among believers there are many that recoil at the suggestion that careful daily obedience either matters to God or ought to concern us. Yet according to Jesus himself, discipleship at its core involves listening to him and doing as he instructs (John 8:31).  Discipleship begins with the simple command of Jesus: “Follow me”, and the first disciples did just that (Matt. 4:18-20).  Like many since, they could have replied: “Yes, sir!” and then done nothing; but had they done that, they would not have been disciples at all (Matt 21:28-32).

Australia today is very much an instant society driven by a customer mindset.  As a society we don’t like to work for, or wait for anything anymore; we are comfortable paying others to serve us; we eat instant food and drink instant coffee; we have convenience stores; and get cranky when the internet is slow.  We make our own plans, and are masters of our own destiny; we have a generation who seek to be famous for being famous; we seek our own honour and glory in our daily activities; and the ‘selfie’ is the most common form of artistic expression.  In our culture today church and faith is ‘slotted in’ between other important activities (or often not at all), and we accept as normal a form of spiritual flabbiness which requires no real dedication on our part from week to week.  

The apostle Paul likens the obedience of discipleship to the training of an athlete, calling us to be fit, skilled and ready for service to the Lord (1 Cor 9:24-27); Our training consists of prayer, reading the Bible, fellowship with other believers, worship, serving and so on.  As we obediently stick to our spiritual training routines, like a 'spiritual athlete', we strive to become more like Jesus everyday; with ‘long obedience in the same direction’ we become spiritually fit, enabling us to run the race in order to win the ‘prize’. 

This is not works-righteousness. It is not salvation by merit. It is a transformed life that we are talking about. It is a changed character. It is genuine commitment. It is obedient discipleship. It is freedom and joy and peace.  It is living the Jesus Lifestyle!

Paul writes:  ’I’m giving it everything I’ve got.  No sloppy living for me!  I’m staying alert and in tip top condition. (1 Cor 9:26-27 Msg version) 

Grace & peace,
Jen