In pre-marital counseling, one of the challenges is to find those areas where each partner assumes, without discussion, that their way is right – without even realizing they’re not open to other ideas. How to celebrate Christmas, for example. Or how to discipline the kids that may come into the marriage. Problem is: if those differences aren’t brought to light early in the relationship, and thought through together, they lurk as probable causes of tension later on.
Which is why “discipling” has become a common source of disappointment. Jesus just said, “…as you go, disciple all nations…”, and “as the Father sent me, so send I you.” Which means, he wants us to carry on the work he did in leading us to spiritual maturity, in the same way he modeled discipling…with his disciples!
However, there’s no concise definition of discipling, and everyone who’s interested in discipling, or being discipled, sees something different in Jesus’ example. Plus, we add our strong American 21st century bias toward organization, and clear definition. This leads to programs – and to a mechanical view of what Jesus did. And ultimately, disappointment, because of the differing ideas of what we should have a right to expect: to be discipled by someone worthy of discipling us. Read on…