A Community of the Committed?
I have a question, Jesus, that I only want you to answer. Some good friends of mine are telling me that the community of faith is really only those who are totally sold out to follow you. They would say that the community should, on the long term, be uncomfortable for those holding out. It is really only a fellowship of true disciples.
While I agree that the ideal for community is one-hundered percent discipleship, I guess I wonder if process is missing from this picture. Throughout history, I feel like your people are on a journey toward deeper and deeper commitment. I'm wondering if community is partly the people of God journeying to discipleship, and then fellowshiping in that discovery. For example, when your disciples were first gathered, they had little idea what it meant to follow you, just a shallow commitment to do so. Some continued as they learned who you were and what following meant, but others dropped out. All the while, the community journeyed together to the cross and beyond until they learned the meaning of "follow me".
While I think discipleships is a one-on-one thing, I also have a deep sense that it is a community thing. Perhaps it is true that there can be no real community until the people commit at some level to follow, but for me right now, that has more to do with direction of intent than with proficientcy or even application (*gasp*). We all fail in follow through, but I'm not sure thast should be the reality, or that it shouldn't (as Ron says "normalize dysfunction" and then work to heal it).
What I need is for you to speak. Teach me heart and soul about this. Whatever the course, whether it is easy or difficult, I want to follow your voice. Is there a place for the observer, skeptic, and uncommitted in community? Should we be a community with a tight center but blurry margins? Does it hurt us to have the nominal and stubborn in our midst, if we understand the seriousness of following? How militant should we be about discipleship? Should we read the narrative of the disicples dispensationally, or was your time with them when they weren't fully committed just as much The Community and the growth process as what happened after Pentecost? How can I discipline myself to use my maxium effort on behalf of those who truly desire discipleship? Should I not use time and resources on those who do not?
I could even use some help on the correct questions to ask. Amen.
While I agree that the ideal for community is one-hundered percent discipleship, I guess I wonder if process is missing from this picture. Throughout history, I feel like your people are on a journey toward deeper and deeper commitment. I'm wondering if community is partly the people of God journeying to discipleship, and then fellowshiping in that discovery. For example, when your disciples were first gathered, they had little idea what it meant to follow you, just a shallow commitment to do so. Some continued as they learned who you were and what following meant, but others dropped out. All the while, the community journeyed together to the cross and beyond until they learned the meaning of "follow me".
While I think discipleships is a one-on-one thing, I also have a deep sense that it is a community thing. Perhaps it is true that there can be no real community until the people commit at some level to follow, but for me right now, that has more to do with direction of intent than with proficientcy or even application (*gasp*). We all fail in follow through, but I'm not sure thast should be the reality, or that it shouldn't (as Ron says "normalize dysfunction" and then work to heal it).
What I need is for you to speak. Teach me heart and soul about this. Whatever the course, whether it is easy or difficult, I want to follow your voice. Is there a place for the observer, skeptic, and uncommitted in community? Should we be a community with a tight center but blurry margins? Does it hurt us to have the nominal and stubborn in our midst, if we understand the seriousness of following? How militant should we be about discipleship? Should we read the narrative of the disicples dispensationally, or was your time with them when they weren't fully committed just as much The Community and the growth process as what happened after Pentecost? How can I discipline myself to use my maxium effort on behalf of those who truly desire discipleship? Should I not use time and resources on those who do not?
I could even use some help on the correct questions to ask. Amen.
posted by soulster at 12:33 AM
2 Comments:
If we ever learn all the questions, maybe we can get close to the answers. If Jesus is the example, HIS community included people at all levels. HIS community eventually included the one who persecuted HIM the most by persecuting the church. IF only the totally committed are a part of the community then how many of us are truly in it. Am I today but not tomorrow? Am I when I fall or only after I return like the prodigal? Who gets to measure whether I am truly committed?
Thank God that HIS grace is for all. As HIS disciple, commitment is my privilege and my duty. But since I am not perfect, when do I reach perfect commitment? And, if I am not 100 percent committed all the time, do I have no place in the community of GOD?
So many questions!!!
Thanks for the comment, Dad. I think I'm growing in conviction that community must have very open margins if for no other reason than time. I think about the ten or so years between when I said I was commmitted and actually acted so and even now I've just begun to learn the real practice of that committment. Thanks for the comments and the questions!
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