Details of Discipleship

Walking with Jesus in a life of discipleship is an all-encompassing journey that affects every area of life.  A commitment to follow Christ is not just a spiritual orientation; a true commitment to pursue Jesus will make a difference in how one lives in the nitty-gritty of life's realities, including in our relationships with other people. 

When Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders, he often rebuked them for the way their behavior sought to exclude the sick, the poor, the sinners, and the oppressed.  The legalistic theology of the Pharisees was exclusivist and had no room for outcasts.  Yet, when Jesus spoke to his own disciples, he also reminded them of the danger of becoming Pharisaical because the temptation toward self-centeredness is a daily battle for lovers of Jesus as well.  In Luke 17, Jesus lays out some details of discipleship and reveals to us how the gospel is translated into daily living.  

Here are some of the discipleship details from the mouth of Jesus:

1) Followers of Christ are committed to lead others toward spiritual maturity.

Whereas the Pharisees were working against the proclamation of the gospel and, consequently, people were encountering "spiritual maturity roadblocks" in their teaching, Jesus says, "Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come" (Luke 17:1).  The judgment pronouncement ("woe") of Jesus is directed toward the attitude of the Pharisees.  They were trying to keep people from Jesus and were serving as stumbling blocks to the spiritual growth of others.  Their self-serving religion was so damning that Jesus shockingly states: "It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble." 

One important question for us to consider is: Do our words and behaviors guide others to Christ and facilitate spiritual maturity?  Or, are we steering people away from Jesus and offering stumbling blocks to others?

2) Followers of Christ are committed to reconciliation and forgiveness in relationships.

We have all been deeply hurt by others at some point in our lives.  If these wounds are left unhealed, they will become an underlying infection that will contaminate all our relationships.  When someone wrongs us, we are tempted to demonize or dehumanize the offender in order to feel some type of moral superiority over that person.  In essence, we are tempted to become Pharisees.   

In Luke 17:3, Jesus said, "If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.  Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them."  In the first century, the number seven symbolized fullness or completeness.  In other words, Jesus is saying that if someone sins against you to the greatest extent imaginable, you are still commanded to forgive.  The fact that Jesus attaches an obligatory statement to the topic of forgiveness indicates that there must be a power at work which can make the "impossible" (forgiving those who deeply hurt us) possible.  This leads us to #3....

3) Followers of Christ rely on God's grace to live by faith.     

Immediately following the command to forgive, the disciples cry out to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" (see Luke 17:5)   I believe they recognized the human impossibility to obey Christ's command and they were, in a sense, throwing themselves at the mercy of Jesus.  The response of Jesus is significant because he states, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."  Mulberry trees were known for their extensive root systems so this example is a powerful one that really communicates more about the power of God than the faith of men.  Small faith in a big God can accomplish more than we could ever ask or imagine!  Essentially, this is God's grace proving sufficient for us because His power is perfected in our weakness.  The only way we can truly live out the life of discipleship is through the empowering grace of Christ.  Remember, it's not about how great we are.  It's about how great He is!