Discipleship is hard work. We invest so much of ourselves as we try to guide a new believer towards growth. Pastoral care of any kind comes with a dilemma. We are dealing with sheep, and sheep are not so easy to control. They have a mind of their own.
Unfortunately, when faced with the difficulty of an uncooperative discipleship protégé, there is an opportunity to do harm rather than good. Often we default to the wrong response because it is the natural thing to do. This is best understood when we consider the objectives of discipleship. The disciple is facing two struggles. One is against the dominion of the flesh, and the other is against the dominion of the World. Our approach to losing control of the process naturally tends to align itself with the methods of the World. It is a tragedy that we can become the World in order to free someone we dearly love from the clutches of the World. When we think of it that way, we know, of course, that we have already lost. How could we lose our way to such an extent and actually become part of the problem?
Biblically speaking, the World is a system that stands against the will of God. It is a system that crushes and controls. It will stop at nothing to have its way. It wants nothing more or less than conformity. In the last couple of years I have seen the World in a new light. I have been living with my family in the Middle East, trying to run a business there. There were all sorts of moral struggles as we went about that. A number of times it was suggested to me that if I would conform in certain ways, then my business would thrive, and if I did not it would fail. The threat to conform or perish is common the world over, and I had seen that in my home country of Australia often enough. The difference in this situation was the way that religion was using economics as a carrot and stick to “guide” their people’s behaviour. I had this moment of revelation where for the first time I saw the evil sceptre of the World for what it was. It was so strong I wondered what could stop it. It harmed us a little, but we watched it ruin lives around us. We watched it crush the fight out of anyone who raised their head to question the system in any way.
I watched the squeezing pressure that was applied to force friends to conform. To lose your job in Australia is unfortunate and bad for the ego, but much more severe in this part of the world. Here it is a severe penalty for attempting to be something different from what is the accepted norm. I looked on wondering whether the people in the system understood what they were doing. Would they really turn that family out into the cold, and to poverty? Was control of the people really meant to be achieved this way? Did the end justify the means? I learned in just a few months to hate the World. It brought to mind this verse:
Unfortunately, when faced with the difficulty of an uncooperative discipleship protégé, there is an opportunity to do harm rather than good. Often we default to the wrong response because it is the natural thing to do. This is best understood when we consider the objectives of discipleship. The disciple is facing two struggles. One is against the dominion of the flesh, and the other is against the dominion of the World. Our approach to losing control of the process naturally tends to align itself with the methods of the World. It is a tragedy that we can become the World in order to free someone we dearly love from the clutches of the World. When we think of it that way, we know, of course, that we have already lost. How could we lose our way to such an extent and actually become part of the problem?
Biblically speaking, the World is a system that stands against the will of God. It is a system that crushes and controls. It will stop at nothing to have its way. It wants nothing more or less than conformity. In the last couple of years I have seen the World in a new light. I have been living with my family in the Middle East, trying to run a business there. There were all sorts of moral struggles as we went about that. A number of times it was suggested to me that if I would conform in certain ways, then my business would thrive, and if I did not it would fail. The threat to conform or perish is common the world over, and I had seen that in my home country of Australia often enough. The difference in this situation was the way that religion was using economics as a carrot and stick to “guide” their people’s behaviour. I had this moment of revelation where for the first time I saw the evil sceptre of the World for what it was. It was so strong I wondered what could stop it. It harmed us a little, but we watched it ruin lives around us. We watched it crush the fight out of anyone who raised their head to question the system in any way.
I watched the squeezing pressure that was applied to force friends to conform. To lose your job in Australia is unfortunate and bad for the ego, but much more severe in this part of the world. Here it is a severe penalty for attempting to be something different from what is the accepted norm. I looked on wondering whether the people in the system understood what they were doing. Would they really turn that family out into the cold, and to poverty? Was control of the people really meant to be achieved this way? Did the end justify the means? I learned in just a few months to hate the World. It brought to mind this verse:
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
At the same time as I was witnessing this, I was beginning to see the contrast of the World and the Father’s house – Be conformed or be transformed. I suppose I saw the World for what it really is. To be worldly is not about going to nightclubs or drinking or smoking because those things are bad choices. Those things are called worldly because when we go to those places and do those things we are making those choices to please others and appease the system. The world is about compromise rather than sin and evil desires. Jesus would not conform, and that enraged the system so much that they set out to end his life. We can expect no more from the system for ourselves if we follow in his footsteps.
It is startling to look back at the Church from over here and see more similarities than differences. Doctrines and beliefs aside, our methods tend to be the same. We don't want trouble. We want things to be in control. I looked at the foreign culture in which I lived and I saw the World so clearly. Upon reflection I saw startling similarities back in my home country. It was different but it was the same in many ways. I saw the World functioning back in my home country – in workplaces, churches, families. It appeared to me insidiously invading so many areas of life. Most importantly of all, it influences the way we disciple others. All is not lost. We get to choose the way we disciple our friends. Have a look at this contrast that Jesus laid out for us:
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
John 15:15-18
We choose transformation or conformity.
- When we bring our protégé before the Father to be blessed, they are called friends. There they become fruitful, and their prayers are answered and they start to contribute to a truly loving society.
- Otherwise, we can treat them as slaves. We can be the system, and to us they will be just a statistic. We want to control them, and that physical tension operates through anger and hate.
If we are focussed on physical control when we disciple others we are part of the system, no matter what we are trying to achieve, and no matter how good our motives are. The thirst for control eats up our soul, and so quickly we respond with negative emotion when we lose control. We punish those we are trying to help. Of course, it is for their good because sin and bad habits will harm them, and their bad example may also lead others astray. We hate what they are doing and strike out to “make them” come back into line. We make them conform and strive for power in these situation to make things the way they should be; to make people the way they should be. We
…weigh men down with burdens hard to bear…
Luke 11:46
However, there is another choice. We can release those who we disciple into the freedom of transformation in the heavenlies. We can trust the Lord for the spiritual prosperity of our disciples. We can choose love over hate, and believe that anyone can be transformed as they dwell before the Father. Let’s encourage them to come before him, to draw near to experience divine friendship, and fruitfulness springing out of spiritual blessings lavished on them by the Father. Perhaps we too should draw near so that we can experience that ourselves.
Our discipleship of others can be a beautiful display of the desires of the Father, or an ugly disappointment that hurts more than it helps. Our choice to go against the flow may make unpleasant waves, because the system hates to be disrupted, but as we escape its clutches, we can take others with us. Our discipleship can be a partnership with the Father in the transformation of our friends.
Our discipleship of others can be a beautiful display of the desires of the Father, or an ugly disappointment that hurts more than it helps. Our choice to go against the flow may make unpleasant waves, because the system hates to be disrupted, but as we escape its clutches, we can take others with us. Our discipleship can be a partnership with the Father in the transformation of our friends.
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