Followers of the Way, Part 1 of "The Way" series (August 2021)©

I don’t much like the word “Christian.” At least not here in the West of the world, and especially within my American context. It used to mean something positive, something good. Not anymore. It is a word that no longer exclusively means a “son or daughter of Christ,” a “follower of Christ”; a word that has become tainted, stained by the blood of those killed in its name over the centuries, inextricably interwoven with politics and power plays and ideologies that have little or nothing to do with the life, work, and words of Jesus Christ. Most recently, it has become synonymous with how you vote, or whether you march, or wear a mask.

“Christians” decide who is “Christian” based on these and a host of other socio-political positions and consign the non-conforming to hell. And the self-appointed word and behavior (and dare I say thought) police of the modern-day cancel culture, a virtual expression of the Inquisition, seem determined to ensure that none of the really good stuff—stuff that far outweighs the bad—done in the name of Christianity over the past two thousand years lives to see the light of day. If only they would apply to themselves the same rigors of perfection they demand of everyone else.

I digress…

More importantly, Jesus never once called those who followed him “Christians.” The earliest apostles never called themselves by that name either. Other people called adherents to this new religion “Christians,” and it is probable they did so with a bit of snark, meaning it as an insult (see Acts 11:26; 26:28) In fact, Peter tells his audience to feel no shame at being thus labeled (1 Peter 4:16), implying that, at the time, it was in fact not meant as a compliment. Other sites go into the historical and cultural whys and wherefores of this label and I will not go into it here (for example, see GotQuestions as well as multiple Bible dictionaries).

The “Christian” moniker picked up steam as the persecuted church spread out around the known world of the first century, and what started out as a category made up by Greek Gentiles to label those who belonged to this strange new religion became embraced by believers themselves because it came to mean one who follows Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. (“Christ” in the Greek language means anointed one). That was a good label indeed. Notice that it involves following.

Do you know what Jesus called his closest mentees? Not “mentees.” He called them disciples. Church-going folk today don’t particularly care for that word because it sounds disturbingly like discipline. Same root word. There are 261 instances of this word in the Bible and all of them are in the first five books of the New Testament, with the majority appearing in the gospels where Jesus did a lot of talking. There are a great many other names in Scripture that were used to describe the followers of Christ (e.g., believers, saints, the chosen, etc…) but my focus here is on what Jesus called them.

“Disciple” is a very specific and intentional word, full of expectation. It is a word that has largely fallen out of use, but it needs to make a return. In Jesus’ day, it meant a pupil, a student, a learner, who adopted the teachings and philosophy of their rabbi, their teacher, their spiritual master. In a narrow sense, it meant those who literally and physically followed him around as he traveled. In a broader sense, it came to mean all those who embraced and responded to his “gospel”, his good news message.

The expectation was that you thought and behaved as you were taught. You modeled, you emulated, you reflected the words and wisdom and ways of your teacher. The closest thing we might have to such a concept in our modern context is that of apprentice and journeyman in a trade. Some might recognize it in the Hollywood scenes involving a sensei and his pupil, learning the martial arts, or Dr. Strange being schooled in the mystic arts by some guru in Kamar-Taj.

Such learning requires a commitment of time. Such learning requires a commitment of practice. Such learning requires a surrender of ego and a willingness to fall down and get back up again. Sounds like exercise, huh? It IS! It is an exercise of the will and heart and mind. Jesus said we must love the Lord God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27). Translation: with everything we have. It is the voluntary surrendering of what we think we own such as our time, our talent, our treasure. Instead, we seek to leverage, those things on behalf of The One who gave them to us in the first place.

This is no great mystery. This is an act of will. Want to learn to play an instrument? Want to learn how to excel in a particular sport? Want to learn a language? Want to learn to… [fill in the blank]? Depending on what we want to learn and how well we want to learn it, we must be willing to sit at the feet of a teacher (virtual or real) and we must be willing to practice. We MUST be willing to do the WORK! If we want to excel at something it will take our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. World class athletes and musicians don’t get to that status by phoning it in.

It is my observation far too many “Christians” today are doing exactly that: phoning it in. Sure, very few of us will ever be world class athletes or musicians or anything else. But ALL of us who claim Christ as our Savior are called to be heavenly class disciples and Jesus pulls no punches on what that actually means. He speaks at length and with great clarity on subjects like sacrifice, surrender, selflessness, service, obedience, forgiveness, allegiance, abiding, faithfulness, and following. Sometimes the following is quite literal, giving up the familiar and the comfortable to step into the unknown and the uncomfortable. Most of the time the following is about a lifetime practice of bearing witness to the Kingdom of God in our lives and in the little corners of the world God has placed us in, which can often be both unfamiliar and uncomfortable right where we are. It can also be amazing and wonderful. That is the nature of discipleship.

Whether we are called to go far and wide or keep it local or something in between, we are called to do more than check the basic boxes.

There is so much more to this journey than waiting to die and live happily ever after. Jesus came to bring the Kingdom of God on earth. Here. Now. He seeks followers, disciples, who will submit to his teaching, his words, his ways…

Even if they make us uncomfortable.

Even if they buck the norms of our culture.

Even if they demand we discipline our minds, our habits, our finances, our feelings, our wills.

Even if no one else we love or like goes with us.

Jesus said, “If you love me, obey me.” He also said, “I am with you, every step of the way.”

Discipline COSTS something: money, time, effort, sometimes blood, sweat and tears. Being a disciple is meant to cost us: our time, our pride, our right to ourselves, our talent, our inflated self-importance, our money, our sense of comfort and predictability, and maybe our blood, sweat, and tears. Perhaps that is why the numbers of true disciples in the Church today is diminishing at such an alarming rate. It just costs too much. In the end, the failure to move beyond checking the boxes and enter into true discipleship may prove more costly than we thought.

In our modern context, let us stop being “merely Christian” (yes, that is a play on C. S. Lewis’ take on the matter) and become disciples (which is exactly what Lewis prescribes): practicing followers of the words and ways of Jesus with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are not alone.