The Vine Madison

Some of Jesus' last words to his followers are to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28). Regarding discipleship, the apostle Paul tells the young pastor Timothy that "what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2).

We know that discipleship is something that's important, something we probably should be doing, but how do we go about doing it?

Trevin Wax at the Gospel Coalition blog has some great insights into discipleship.  He sees that churches typically fall into two camps on opposite sides of the pendulum swing that imperfectly pursue discipleship. Camp 1 forgoes thoughtful discussion about the Bible and simply tells people in detail how to live. Camp 2 faithfully communicates doctrine, but is not very helpful when the rubber of application hits the road of life.

Jesus' example of discipleship included years of living and traveling with his followers and friends.  There was definite doctrinal instruction, but also a clear example of doing life together.  While a weekly meeting at the coffee house is a good starting point for discipleship, we are being called to something deeper.

The three core values of the Vine Church are gospel, community, and mission.  Discipleship—following Jesus' example and adhering to him—involves living out all three.  

Jonathan Parnell has a great excerpt on discipleship from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who deeply followed Christ in the midst of Nazi Germany, even to the point of death: 

Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship.

An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever, and are essentially inimical [or hostile] to the whole conception of following Christ.

With an abstract idea it is possible to enter into a relation of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps even to put it into practice; but it can never be followed in personal obedience.

Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.

 

Amy Scott:

This morning I read an article by John Piper in which he reflects on his retirement. At 35-years-old, I can’t imagine that I was the target audience for the piece. 

It reminded me of something. (Let me elaborate and then I will wind back around to the article.) When I was a young mom with small children, I remember looking for other young moms to share my life with. There’s nothing wrong with that. Women often seek out friends who look like them. 

I understand the reasoning. For starters, the logistics are easier. When you hang out at a house with sippy cups, you don’t have to worry ancient Egyptian relics being displayed at knee level. 

But it also made navigating those early years a little harder than they needed to be. And let me tread carefully (because women need each other in a profound way), but when I surrounded myself exclusively with people struggling with the same issues that I was, it distorted my perspective. Enter, the mommy wars– the field where bottles and breasts are moral issues and vaccinating your child will demote your standing on the playground. 

I remember crying after I got a smackdown on the playground because my toddler was still (!) using a bottle at 18-months-old. He is a teenager now, and he does not use a bottle or suck his thumb. He even makes it to the potty in time. (He doesn’t pick up his big boy toys without death threats, but it is not my fault. Really.) I love my baby, but really, I did not have the mature perspective to distinguish between moral issues and practical ones when he was young. I was young (and still am). 

What does this have to do with Piper’s article on retirement? Only this: that the more we invest our lives into learning and growing from those that don’t “look like us”, the more we’ll learn. It’s a challenge, to me and to all the women who tend to join bandwagons and get all myopic about our pet issues.

Read the rest.