What's the Difference between a Disciple and a Christian

Mark 1:14-20; 8:34-38

This is the second in an 8 sermon series following Greg Ogden's Essential Guide to Becoming a Disciple: Eight Sessions for mentoring and Discipling.

Is there a difference between being a disciple of Jesus and being a Christian?  One would hope not, but I think that the way church history has played out in the Western world there is a difference.  So, let’s just take a little walk through history according to me and I will make my case.

In the beginning, Jesus called to himself not Christians but disciples.  For a Jewish Rabbi or a Greek philosopher having a group of disciples was a common practise.  A disciple is a student of a particular teacher who stands in a particular tradition of thought.  In the Greek world disciples of Plato, or Arisotle, or Socrates, or other great philosophers each learned and in turn taught the teachings of their great teachers to others.  These disciples were usually a close-knit group who weren’t just there to learn information, but also/more so the way of life of the originator of those teachings.

For Jewish rabbis, the focus of discipleship involved learning the content of the Law of Moses and how to observe it.  Over the centuries great rabbinic teachers arose giving birth to differing interpretations or authoritative traditions.  And so, rabbis would teach their disciples these different interpretations.  “Rabbi Joseph says this, and Rabbi Benjamin says that”.  There also arose very influential rabbis with quite different interpretations of how the Law was to be interpreted.  In Jesus day there were two primary rabbis, Shammai and Hillel.  Shammai was a very zealous, letter-of-the-Law type and it seems the Pharisees portrayed in the Gospels were likely swayed by him.  Hillel was gentler, more peaceful, and gracious and taught the rule of love.  There are scholars who say that if Jesus was ever discipled by a rabbi, it was likely a close disciple of Hillel.  A few of Hillel’s teachings are written down and Jesus sounds like him.

The relationship between Jesus and his disciples was different than what was the custom among the rabbis.  First, Jesus called his disciples.  He chose them.  They didn’t choose him.  Second, Jesus demanded allegiance to himself and the in-breaking Kingdom of God, which he manifested through healings, exorcisms, forgiving sins, teaching with authority, and even controlling events in nature.  If you were a disciple of Jesus, as I said last week, you soon noticed that Jesus did and said things that only God could do and say.  Third, it doesn’t appear that Jesus taught the Law per se, though he had authoritative knowledge of it.  Rather, his disciples wrestled with who he was and learned the ways of his Kingdom.  The questions “Who are you, Jesus?” and “What have you come to do?” appear to be the primary curriculum.  Personal commitment to Jesus and doing what he said was the way you learned it.  This personal commitment to him meant rearranging the commitments of one’s life completely around him and his kingdom, even to the extent of suffering for him.  Fourth, Jesus sent his disciples to go and bear witness to him as the crucified and risen Lord of Creation and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom by making disciples and he fully expected that they would do this without excuse. 

Jesus came proclaiming a Gospel, his Gospel, the only Gospel, but yet a Gospel that is forgotten today.  He proclaimed, “The time has come.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe this Gospel.”  The word for time there means a new age.  His Gospel was that a new age, the expected age has come about, the age when God’s reign is visibly present and active on earth.  The proper response to this Gospel is repenting and believing.  Repent means a change in thinking and doing.  Ask what God wants and be faithful to him instead of thinking and seeking the will of the unholy trinity of “me, myself, and I”.

Heeding Jesus’ Gospel had consequences for his disciples.  To be a disciple of Jesus meant accepting the real-life, day-to-day consequences and the political fall out of Jesus being the Messiah, the Lord and not the other powers that be.  Sole allegiance to him meant Caesar, the Roman military, Jerusalem, the priests, and all the other religions were false lords.  Allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom in a world that was full of idol worship could cost you your trade and get you crucified.  Jesus wasn’t exaggerating when he said “Deny youself, take up your cross and follow me”.

So, when did the word Christian come into play.  It took a few years.  The Book of Acts tells us that it was in Antioch probably about 10 or so years after Jesus was raised that the term Christian first appeared.  It appears to be a term that outsiders placed on the “followers of the Way” as they called themselves.  It also appears to have been a derogatory term.  The Greek term “Christianous” appears three times in Acts and all three times it was people outside the church placing a label on the followers of Christ.  It was meant to be demeaning. 

Interesting to note, there are a good many Bible scholars who will point out that “Christianous” isn’t the word that appears in the earliest texts of the New Testament but rather “Chrestianous” which basically meant a “goody-goody” or “follower of the goody-goody” reflective of the costly reality Christians faced for renouncing the idolatry and Pagan lifestyles that pervaded the Roman world.  They say “Christianous” is a later textual gloss from a day when the church had accepted the name Christian. 

Moving on in Western History over the first century or so of the church “Christian” gradually became the self-referent for those who followed Jesus.  In the early 300’s the Roman Emperor Constantine gave Christianity legitimacy and it soon became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.  By the Middle Ages, in Europe and Northern Africa one became a Christian by birth, that is unless you were Muslim.  In post-Crusade Europe, if the King of your nation was Christian, you were a Christian.  Even your citizenship was determined by the location of your Baptism.  When the Reformation came about distinctions were made as to what kind of Christian you were not whether or not you were a Christian for “everybody” was Christian.  There were a few movements that tried to take up the ways of the first disciples but they were persecuted by the Christian church as fanatics.

Today, in the wake of the Enlightenment and North American Revivalism being a Christian predominantly means one of two things.  First, it is an answer to a question on a census.  A person is simply one of the 2.2 billion adherents to the Christian religion, which is one of many religions.  Second, in popular North American culture if a person today claims to be a Christian they likely mean that they believe/trust Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, that they are on God’s good side because of that belief, and that they will go to Heaven when they die provided they live a morally sufficient life.  Today people claim to believe in Jesus largely due to the benefits they believe they receive from him, not because they have relinquished their lives to follow him.  Broadly speaking, Christians have forgotten how to be disciples.  I would go as far as to say that when someone comes in our midst claiming to be a disciple of Jesus we immediately presume they must be some sort of fanatic.

The “Christian” church in North America is dying and I believe Jesus will let that “Christian” church die.  Yet, I also believe that the church in North America that disciples people will in some form persist -- the church that proclaims Jesus is Lord and lives like it; the church that prayerfully and humbly calls people to come and be disciples of Jesus; the church that equips disciples of Jesus to disciple others will be the seedbed of the church for the 21^st Century.  I fully believe that it is time we who profess to be Christians get serious about once again being his disciples.  Amen.

Who Does He Think He Is

This the first in an eight sermon series based on the book Essential Guide to Becoming a Disciple: Eight Sessions for Mentoring and Discipleship by Greg Ogden.

Mark 8:27-37

Who do people today say Jesus is?  Well, that’s an answer you can find on YouTube.  I recently saw a video called Who Is Jesus? A NYC Street Survey.  Here’s what people said:  “A white guy with a beard.”  “He died for our sins so that we could be saved. And in my religion that means we can f#*+ up as much as we can and as long as we are truly sorry, we can be saved.”  “A white guy that looks like he’s from the Sixties.”  “A reason to believe and to carry on in your life, in your journey.”  “Not that blonde hair dude they show in all those pictures.”  “I think Jesus was just a story made up by someone, could have probably been a real person with something special, but not like the story says.”  “Uh, Jesus, a friend of mine from Puerto Rico.”  “Jesus? I don’t know Jesus very well.”  “Jesus?  Like Jesus, the Son of God?”  “Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.”  “Definitely not the guy who cuts my lawn – there’s definitely something special about Jesus. The same things that are special about me and you and, well, everybody.”  “Definitely good morals and beliefs and probably had some special gift.”  Rich guy snorts and walks away.  “He’s really important. His birthday’s coming up.”  “People, believe that Jesus, that he’s your saviour.  He’s number one.”  “He’s just really cool.  I think he even smoked some pot.  So I love Jesus even more.”  “He seems like a kinda Ghandi type guy.  Some super power I just don’t know. I believe in him.” “He was Jewish.” “I think he’s inspiring for a lot of people.  So that’s really cool to me.”  “A make-believe story that’s got blown out of proportion.”

Well, that’s not exactly who the Apostle Paul says Jesus is at the beginning of Colossians where he writes: “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:15-20).

I don’t expect to hear an answer like Paul’s on the street anywhere.  To be honest I wouldn’t expect to hear an answer like his if you surveyed most churches.  If the people on the street of NYC are representative of North Americans in general, then if they’ve even heard of Jesus, they believe he is someone special, somehow connected to God.  They want a Jesus who is a lot like them in every way, even smoking pot.  Christmas has something to do with him.  The stories about him seem unbelievable.  Those who do seem like they know a bit more about him have what I call a “Good Friday faith”, they believe that he died to save us from our sins. 

The one thing I didn’t hear the people of NYC mention was Easter.  That Jesus was raised from the dead unless that’s what people meant by the stories that they didn’t believe.  Even the people who seemed to have a handle on Jesus, they knew Jesus died for our sins, but didn’t have anything to say about him being raised from the dead that by him all things are becoming new.  To me that reflects a lack of hope on the part of Christians.  If we who know Jesus talked more about Easter and lived more Easter-like lives maybe the people on our streets would have real  hope in them.

Who is Jesus?  Looking at Mark’s Gospel the disciples are quick to point out that the polls are reporting that the general populace thinks he’s some sort of very important prophet.  Yet, they themselves believe him to be the Messiah – the Holy Spirit anointed King who would deliver Israel from the Romans and institute God’s Reign (Kingdom) on Earth. 

Yet, Jesus had been proving himself to be more than expected because he did things that only God could do.  Jesus commanded demons out of people and they obeyed.  Jesus healed people not by magic, but by touch and command.  Jesus raised the dead.  Jesus commanded nature. He walked on water, calmed storms, caused a great catch of fish, miraculously fed multitudes.

Jesus also said things that only God could say.  He forgave sins.  He called people to be his followers and demanded their total allegiance.  He redirected their lives from life on their own terms to serving God’s mission to bring in his Kingdom on Earth.  Jesus said he could give life, eternal life, life rooted in and flowing forth from knowing God.

Jesus disciples experienced Jesus as their God in their midst doing and saying things that God said through prophets long ago that he would come himself and do.  Jesus had authority.  The Greek word for authority is exousia – ex- means from and ousia means being.  His authority is from the very source of being.  As Paul says all things were created through him for him.  He is not a “matter of private, personal belief”.  He is at the heart of everything there is.  He has the power to heal God’s creation and put things right.  God is at work as Jesus freeing the Creation from the oppression of sin and death and setting in motion God’s ultimately making all things new when Jesus returns.  Jesus has the power to heal and to transform not only us each, but the whole creation. 

In Matthew’s Gospel the last thing Jesus said to his disciples is “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me.”  And then he commanded them to go and make disciples, to teach, and to baptize all peoples.  And, he promised to be with them always.  When I ponder who Jesus is I am amazed at just how casual I can be with him.  He is God with us, with us with the power to heal and to make new.  The change, the healing change, he has wrought in me throughout my life, the emotional baggage he’s healed me of, the grudges I no longer bear.  He has been a real, actual presence at work in my life for my good and yet, I will still make every attempt to live life on my terms.  When there are things I get a hunch he wants me to do, I will hem and haw and stare at the ground and fake doubt and in the end miss wonderful opportunities to grow along with others in faith all because I’m shy and I fear embarrassment.

Jesus is God with us with all power to save and to heal.  Let us not be casual with him.  Let’s listen for what he wants us to be and do and realizing there’s nothing to fear for he is with us, go and be and do it.  Healing, deliverance, worth and dignity restored, these are the things that arise in his wake.  We’ve nothing to be ashamed of.  Amen.

Are Y'all Ignernt?

Romans 6:1-14

I apologize for the title of this sermon.  I was hoping that you would see the irony in the guy with the Gomer Pyle accent asking, “Are y’all ignernt?”  Well, that’s you humorous moment for the morning.  Actually, in Romans 6:3 Paul asks us that very question, “Are you ignorant?”  In my humble opinion most translations gloss it over to make it more polite writing “Do you not know…?”  But, the Greek could just as easily be translated quite literally as “Are you ignorant…?”  What Paul is asking is “Are you unknowing” with respect to a particular matter of the faith and ignorant simply means unknowing.  Of course, this is all one grand word play to get your attention. 

The Greek word for “unknowing” or “ignorant”, agnoeo, is the word from which we get the word agnostic.  A person is agnostic if they don’t understand something because they have no personal, experiential knowledge of the subject.  This is what people mean when they say they are agnostic with respect to God.  They have no personal experience or knowledge of God and therefore are not going to make any claims in the matter.  One could say that someone who is agnostic is ignorant in matters pertaining to God, but that sounds rather crude to our ears today, but back in the day it would have been okay to say that.

So what are we ignorant of according to Paul?  Well, (this is a huge one) it is the meaning of Baptism.  Are we agnostic, ignorant, experientially unknowing of the reality that Baptism is participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Paul lays it on heavy saying we were buried together with Jesus into death, so that just as he was raised from the dead with, through, and by means of the glory of the Father (which is the Holy Spirit) so also we, being raised with Jesus, now exist in an existentially new existence (which he calls “in Christ”) that is free of the tyranny of sin.  We are no longer slaves of a master called Sin, doing whatever it wants us to do.  Rather, we live in the realm of grace.

Do you know what grace is?  Our theological tradition, the Reformed Tradition, in good ole medieval fashion tends to begin talking about grace from the human side focusing on our undeservedness when it comes to the love of God.  Add to that, many in our tradition focus on a courtroom or penal understanding of grace that leaves us thinking that grace is an undeserved acquittal releasing us from the penalty of death for our sin (our bad behaviour) because Jesus died for us.  In this vein of thought grace simply becomes God has making possible a favourable eternal outcome for those who will believe the right things about him and Jesus and live accordingly.  Those who don’t believe and live rightly don’t get this favourable outcome nor do those who live accordingly yet are unbelieving.  This line of thought simply makes believing to be a new requirement of the law and has nothing to do with grace.   

Grace is that God invites and physically, existentially brings us into his presence where he is favourably disposed towards us and he, the Creator and the Sovereign Lord of all Creation, listens to us and acts for our best interest.  Our undeservedness, though we may feel it, has nothing to do with it.  Like alcoholics miraculously freed from their compulsion to drink to live a new life, so God in his grace (his presence, favour, and power to act) that he manifested as the new life in Christ Jesus has freed us from enslavement to a tyrant called Sin.

Sin is the human condition in which we don’t know God and instead create idols mostly in our own image that we put in God’s place and compulsively serve to our own detriment.  It is life under compulsion to serve lies – addictions, grudges, being controlling, greed, anxiety, pleasure, happiness.  To fix our inability to know him, God revealed himself to us in and as Jesus Christ and has made himself personally available to us as the Holy Spirit who in turn unites us to Jesus so that we know him and share in the relationship that he and the God the Father have.  The outcome is that we know ourselves to be the beloved children of God, loved as much God loves Jesus himself, and that the Holy Spirit is at work in us destroying our idolatries and freeing us to be more like Jesus.  That all adds up to being what grace is.

Sin’s tyranny could only be broken by dying.  Twice in this passage Paul says there is something we do “know” meaning we are not ignorant of or agnostic about with respect to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  First, God has nullified, rendered inoperative, destroyed the old humanity that is enslaved by Sin by the crucifixion and death of Jesus and just as he was raised from the dead to a new kind of life, so also we in the realm of faith live a new existence in him in which we encounter God and experience his grace. 

In verse four the word for new means existentially new.  We in Christ are made new right down at the core of our being and this newness begins to arise over time.  It’s not like going to the dentist to get a rotten tooth pulled and leaving knowing you need to floss and brush better.  It’s like the tooth is miraculously made new and you want to floss and brush better to show it off.  We have a new life in Jesus Christ.  This new life is grace-filled life, life lived with, in, and by means of being in God’s presence, enjoying God’s favour, and his acting in the situations of our lives for our benefit in Christ, which means to make us more like Christ.

So, the first thing Paul says we “know” with respect to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is that we are no longer enslaved to sin.  The second thing is that due to Jesus’ death and resurrection death no longer has lordship over us.  Death is not the final word.  We need not live in fear of death.  The fear of death is an anxiety that always makes us serve ourselves inordinately to the harm of ourselves and others.  Jesus’ once and for all death and resurrection makes resurrection and new life in him the last word.  We are to consider ourselves dead to sin and free to live for God.

Coming back to Baptism, there are many metaphors we float around for Baptism – a washing away of sin, the sign and symbol of God’s forgiveness, or an event similar to Old Testament circumcision marking us as one of the people of God.  I think those metaphors are secondary to the primary understanding of Baptism that Paul gives us here.  In Baptism we have been crucified dead, buried, and raised to new life with Christ.  This is an existential fact not a teaching metaphor.  So, let us not be ignorant of the fact that we really do have a new life in Christ Jesus.  We have died and been raised with him because the Holy Spirit is with and in us uniting us to Jesus.  We can look back at our Baptism and say “I’m free.”  We can now live life for God, life that is filled with his grace.  We don’t have to continue on in the SOS (Same old S#*t) of the old life.  We can pick up our mats and live this new life for God as Jesus disciples, studying his life and living accordingly.  Amen.