What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus today?
The answers to this question are many, but we may start off by stating that many of those who bear the name ‘Christian’ are not in any sense disciples of Jesus.
To be a Christian today has become a social category, supported by birth, marriage and other such processes. It has, sadly, little to do with personal choice or inner conviction.
In fact, many ‘Christian’ societies are at the forefront of very unchristian behavior, if one compares what they do with what Jesus said and did in the Gospels.
The selling of military arms, for instance, the sex trafficking of women and children, racism and neo-colonialist strategies are frequently associated with the ‘Christian’ countries of the West and are a matter of scandal to people from other cultures.
So to be a genuine follower of Jesus means much more. It means making a personal choice, a ‘conversion of the heart.’
This change of heart – or of value system – is what the New Testament calls ‘baptism.’ It’s more than a purificatory rite; it‘s an infusion of a new outlook, what Christians call “being empowered by God’s Spirit,” so that one’s whole lifestyle changes.
Naturally, this is far more complex than mechanical attendance at Sunday Mass, or at other religious services.
When we read the Gospels about the meaning of discipleship, one notices that Jesus always posed two challenges to those who wished to follow him: (a) leave your family, and (b) surrender all your worldly possessions.
To leave one’s family is a very radical option, even today when family ties have been weakened by divorce and fewer children. And in the traditional societies of Asia and Africa, it’s virtually impossible.
It means that one puts aside kinship values, and racist attitudes and looks at every “other” person as “brother and sister.” Can we really become that inclusive?
Not an easy thing at all, for we are greatly conditioned by language, culture, food habits, skin color and people who “look just like us.” In earlier times, missionaries left their homes and lived among strange peoples, motivated only by their desire to preach the Gospel.
Today foreigners have migrated into our cities and our homelands. They demand that we treat them with fairness, equality and understanding. Frequently their strange cultural habits irritate and upset us. Does Jesus really want us to ‘include’ such as these?
Jesus’ second demand of his disciples is that they relinquish their worldly possessions – house, car, job, reputation – everything in fact that gives one a sense of identity in the world of today.
For, this is what possessions do: they enhance one’s sense of identity. Who you are depends on what you have.
Jesus’ radical demand is that his disciple should rely on God alone and possess nothing of any material value.
If we find this an unrealistic option – and it may well be so for most – perhaps we could examine the role of money in our life, and how it has slowly become the determining value. We could ask ourselves how easily we share our wealth with those in need, how we relate to the capitalist exploitation of the earth, how we in turn exploit the labor of others indebted to us, or whether we can put limits to our consumption and live more frugally.
These are real questions in today’s consumerist and wasteful society, which clever advertising keeps telling us is the best kind of life.
Each year Holy Week reminds us that to ask these questions in public and to demand honest answers from the establishment, is to run the risk of being arrested on bogus charges, being thrust into jail, and being put to death, as Jesus was.
But as Easter tells us again and again, death is not the final answer. Life is. Our life “in the Spirit,” which is what the Resurrection is.
It’s this “spirit-filled life“ which heals and energizes. It’s this life which becomes the gift of discipleship, enjoyed by all who have made Jesus’ values their own.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
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