Discipleship and the Kingdom

August 4, 2008 · 3 comments

An interesting bit of synchronicity today in my reading.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Foss recently began his pastorship at my church, and we're currently reading through one of the books he's written as a staff. Power Surge: 6 Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church is about how (protestant) churches need to switch from a member model of church to a discipleship model, and lays the groundwork for how to get from the former to the latter. In the first chapter, Foss says this:

"Perhaps the greatest weakness of the [member] model has been the loss, over time, of its vision for the mission of the church -- a mission that can be characterized quite simply as participation in God's love in Jesus Christ for the world... What we need to communicate to those outside the church is radical openness to all, an openness extended from a position of strong, vibrant self-identity as followers of Christ and participants in God's love for the world. That's what the discipleship model gives us." (16, 20)

Today James K. A. Smith, the author of Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? (among many others), announced on his blog that's he's finished his new book, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview and Cultural Formation. In the post he gives an abstract of the book, in which he says:

"In particular, I'm pressing the limits, even distortions, that attend 'worldview'-talk which tends to now dominate Christian higher education. Such worldviewism, I suggest, continues to reduce Christianity to an intellectual system that can be grapsed apart from the church and is then 'taught' as information to be merely transferred from one head to another. In contrast, I argue that Christian discipleship is a matter of formation, not mere information -- and that 'Christian' education should be fundamentally a matter of shaping our love, our desire, to be oriented to the shape of the kingdom of God. And such formation happens not primarily via the heady, cognitive 'lectures' (whether in our Protestant sermon factories or our Christian college classrooms) but through embodied practices that seep into our imagination and get hold of our gut, our heart, our kardia."

Although Foss' message is directed to those in the church and Smith's is more far-reaching, I think they're both essentially asserting the same point. So what do you think? Do you agree with Foss and Smith? Disagree? Leave a comment below and let me know!

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Tagged as: christianity, discipleship, james k. a. smith, kingdom of god, michael foss, religion

  • http://godsnowhere.wordpress.com Erik U.

    I tend to think it’s “both/and”, not “either/or” when it comes to the head vs. heart debate.

    We Lutherans have a tendency to avoid the touchy-feely stuff and hunker down in debates about the Augsburg Confessions and Luther’s explanation of the third use of the law. Bleh! Perhaps its no surprise that a “thriving” ELCA congregation has only 1/3 of its membership regularly attending worship – we’ve turned the beauty of faith into a mock trial competition for intellectual savants.

    On the other hand, those who want to focus on the feeling of being close to Jesus are missing the point as well. Talking about “personal relationships with Jesus” are often pious, dressed-up excuses for not reading the Bible or talking about the nuances of faith in community with others. This desire to check your brain at the door and be happy in your faith can cause people to be misled by power-hungry pastors and other leaders who are looking to manipulate the congregation. Furthermore, this approach can lead to a crisis of faith for people who go through periods of time where they don’t “feel close to Jesus”, and they have no theological backbone to hold them up.

    All is to say, perhaps post-modern Christians are able to find a way to engage their brain but not let it get in the way of real emotional, spiritual experiences with the risen Christ.

  • http://www.newlynearlymarried.blogspot.com Noah Braymen

    Hey Jake;)

    I think the concerns are right…but I think it’s a “both/and” situation as well. I think that “membership” is very useful…or biblically speaking “partnership” would probably be a better term. Anyhow, the concept of “membership” is not a bad one (nor is it “unbiblical”), but if it is divorced from discipleship then it’s definitely flawed…you know?

    Also, the “head/heart” issue is key. In a holistic sense they are related…and they are certainly not divorced from our actions. This being said it’s probably good to focus on the heart and the personal relationship of that heart between them and the Lord. Sometimes in order to penetrate the heart we have to minimize or encourage certain action…or access the heart through the head. To act like we can target one without paying attention to the others would certainly be a mistake.

    This being said we cannot penetrate the heart with the gospel purely by promoting action divorced from the factual information/knowledge of the gospel. It’s a difficult balance that we don’t fall into the ditch of legalism heaping actions on others. On the other hand part of the call to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is to count the cost of following Him…joining in the fellowship of His sufferings. However, we can’t forget that the fellowship of His sufferings centers in on the gospel…and that when we do the work of spreading the gospel of the kingdom it will cause offense.

    That’s probably enough;) Thanks for the post and opportunity to converse. I have to jump in the shower! Have a great day!

    In Christ,
    Noah

  • http://caffeinatedthoughts.com Shane Vander Hart

    I don’t think I can add anything significant to what Erik and Noah just said. I agree. It is a both/and. We need both head and heart. We are to love the Lord our God with all of heart, soul, mind and strength.

    Having worked with kids who have gone through AWANA and have been a part of Bible quizzing programs (popular in the Great Lakes District of the EFCA) I have come to realize that the greatest distance in the world is the 18 inch drop from your head to your heart. Kids with lots of scripture memorized and not being obedient in what they “know”.

    You need to “know” so you can “do”, but knowing isn’t enough. The Gospel is spoken or read, and then known, but then their needs to be a response or action. Jesus in Matthew 7:21-27 warns that verbal profession alone, and having head knowledge (hearing) alone isn’t enough.