Discipleship Is Not a Private Hobby
Category : Blogpost
There is a story that recurs in American Christianity. Someone says, I am spiritual but not religious. Alternatively, my faith is a private matter between God and me. Alternatively, I do not want to get political. I just follow Jesus. Moreover, I understand the sentiment. Religion has been used to coerce, judge, and divide. Keeping faith private feels safer, cleaner, and less complicated.
However, the problem is this: Jesus never invited anyone into a private faith. Every single teaching we have explored in this series: forgiveness, reconciliation, servant leadership, nonviolence, and making disciples, requires engagement with other people. Moreover, other people exist in families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and societies. You cannot follow Jesus sincerely and stay uninvolved in the life of the world around you. Discipleship demands both personal transformation and public engagement.
Do not misunderstand me. The personal dimension of discipleship is essential. The Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) is cultivated in the soil of your inner life. You need prayer, scripture, reflection, repentance, and the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. Without that, any public engagement will be hollow, hypocritical, or self-righteous.
However, if all you have is the personal, something is missing. The Great Commission does not say, “Go and feel privately devoted to me.” It says, Go and make disciples. That requires interaction. It requires teaching. It requires presence in the world. Jesus himself did not stay in the wilderness praying. He went to synagogues, streets, hillsides, dinner parties, and the cross. His personal communion with the Father fueled his public mission. The two were inseparable.
Stay tuned!