Bill Hull                   Click to Read   Pt. 1,  Pt. 2

We have seen in Jesus words that the call to transformational discipleship is undeniable. Now we will examine the practical implications of this call for contemporary Christians.

To conclude our discussion and clarify the essence of transformational discipleship, look with me at four clear dimensions in the call Jesus makes to all who would follow him.

If anyone would come after me
he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for me
will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world
and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

Luke 9:23-25 

At the very beginning He makes it clear that . . .

1. Anyone Can Do It

If anyone would come after me . . .

We don’t just amble our way into the life of a disciple. It all begins with understanding the words “if” and “anyone.” “If” indicates this is not fairy dust . . . some magic spell that automatically envelopes a Christian. Jesus speaks of a clear and intentional choice to follow Him as our leader and to live under spiritual authority embodied in another person or persons who also follow Him. Every converted person must subsequently choose to live a certain kind of life. The challenge of the transformational discipleship movement is how to spread and diffuse this growing interest throughout our churches?

“Anyone” means it is for everyone: The truck driver that hasn’t read a book in thirty years, the housewife with four children under foot, the perennial elder who thinks he knows it all and the teenage boy who just recently made a decision to accept Christ. Following Jesus as a disciple requires a clear decision, and it is not out of the reach of the common person.

There are two common stereotypes of spiritual formation:

The Scholastic Model: Since the term comes out of the academic world, this stereotype includes spending long hours in prayer, journaling your prayers and thoughts, reading ancient mystics named Theresa, Blasé, and Henri, engaging in meditation and scripture memory. Doing it for hours and loving it . . . doing it for years and it just flows out of you.

Yes there are people like that, but to play into such stereotypes will hurt the cause. There must be a way for the non-contemplative common man to practice the disciplines and experience transformation that is not laden with the academy.

The Program Model: Classic discipleship literature has been task oriented and that has prompted a second stereotype heavily influenced by para church groups like Navigators, Campus Crusade for Christ and others. This approach tends to be linear with steps and methods appealing to task-oriented people who are looking for results. Engineers and athletes are drawn to it. Discipleship becomes a program to embrace, a regime to finish, a project to do and a goal to be reached. It is no surprise then that people with non-linear learning styles or those who are repulsed by task oriented programs run the other way.

Have I painted with a broad brush? Of course I have.

But to be successful,
we need to blend the best
of both the spiritual formation movement
and the classic discipleship movement.
Either one alone will be dashed
on the sharp rocks of reality.

Following Jesus in a serious fashion is for everyone and it must go beyond temperaments, learning styles, and contemplative types. We must find the underlying principles.

2. Self-denial is Essential

. . . he must deny himself . . .

Jesus named the issue . . . to follow means we must leave something behind. That something is any part of the self that makes it impossible to say Yes to Him. Self-denial for self-denial’s sake is useless; following Jesus, on the other hand entails a clear decision for a higher purpose.

The proof that so many are not following Jesus is in their boredom. Churches are filled with bored people; I would venture to say many more men than women are bored. They are being told that a good Christian attends regularly, commits a good chunk of cash annually, and serves on a committee or task force. Joining a Bible study or fellowship group would also be a good idea. This routine religious activity that is producing disciples who are carnal and infantile despite their years.

We need to break the ice. We see transformation tantalizing us below the ice as we skate over it, but we can’t quite get to it. We must start working on the things that really matter to the soul of every person.

You can’t follow Jesus and be bored.
Were Peter and John bored?
Were the apostles yawning their way
to martyrdom?
Was the Apostle Paul
holding on to get to retirement?

Following Jesus is the most thrilling, difficult, threatening, fulfilling, passionate experience any person can know.

I remember in The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard addressed the high cost of non-discipleship. For years now, I have written and taught that concept. The cost to the church and to human lives in not following Jesus is incalculable and tragic.

When I think of giving up something for Jesus, the parable of the pearl comes to mind. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.¹

Only a fool would decide not to follow Jesus. When we really find him we give up everything to have him. That is the reason I am convinced that Christian leaders have failed those in their care is that so many are under-challenged, under-trained and under-used. If they only understood the priceless value in following Jesus, very few with the life of God resident in them would ever say no. We must rescue this diminished vision of the call to follow Jesus from the grip of the enemy who has used stereotypes to keep people away. We must find to help them stop saying “that’s too hard, that just isn’t for me”, and start saying “I would be a fool not to follow Him and give up anything that would get in the way!”

3. Take Up Your Mission . . . Daily!

. . . and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Sacrifice comes from love; I get great doses of joy from making sacrifices for those I love. Buying a needy friend a car or loaning them what they need, it brings delight to the soul. The only reason self-denial is essential is so the disciple can accomplish their mission or, to put it Jesus’ way, take up his cross. We say No to self in order to say Yes to God.

The majority of Christians don’t know what their mission is and that may be the Church’s most serious problem. The cross, which was Christ’s mission, became symbolic of ours. Jesus reveals our unique mission in life only as we are following him, saying No to self in order to say Yes to God.

Do you every wonder
why we have so many Christians
constantly wondering
what they should do . . .

. . . going to seminars and seeking counsel, trying to find a mission, a direction other than Christ’s path of obedience? It is only on this path of obedience that he can reveal it to us. It may take much self-denial, many mistakes, lots of troubled, painful moments, but it is always there for the serious follower.

The need to go to the Scriptures daily is not incidental; it is integral to the process of spiritual formation. Every day we must answer the question, “will I follow him today?” Because each day has new and sometimes frightening requirements, we don’t follow Jesus alone. We follow him together in submission to His will and to other disciples on the same journey.

4. Gaining Your Soul

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

There are great rewards when we answer the call to join the Society of Jesus, that special order of disciples who follow him seriously. Let’s list some:

• The joy of knowing that our lives are a bull’s eye with God. I have told you this, Jesus said, so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ²

• The comforting words that every disciple longs to hear from His master, Well done, my good faithful servant . ³

• The inspiring testimony of Paul near the end of his life, For I am already being poured out like a drink offering and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day. ⁴

To live a life of great meaning and fulfillment is every disciple’s dream. But such a life does not come to those who drift about as immature converts. It belongs only to those who choose the life . . . the life of transformational discipleship.

God is raising up men and women all over America who hunger and thirst for Him. Leaders who want to be the revolutionaries that Christ intended us to be . . . making disciples of the world, teaching them everything that Christ commanded.

But first
we must teach ourselves
what Christ commanded.
First we must commit
to allowing Him
to form our spirits.

First we must make it the most important and exclusive task of all. When passion and power return to the church populace, then the revolution can begin.