How we read the Bible as a church will have a say in how our churches participate in the mission of God. However, our reading of scripture or hermeneutic isn’t the only challenge to our participation in the mission of God. Discipleship, or the lack thereof, matters too.
In general, Christianity in the West has really struggled with discipleship or learning to follow Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”1 He wrote from a context in which he witnessed the abject failure of discipleship among most of the Christians in Germany, who aligned themselves with the Nazi regime and we all know the results. But he knew the words of Jesus in Mark 8:34-35:
All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them.2
Therefore Bonhoeffer followed Jesus, which meant obeying Jesus rather than aligning himself with the Nazis. And so, this German theologian and pastor followed Jesus even to the point of death — executed by hanging inside Flossenbürg Concentration Camp on April 9, 1945.
The third chapter of my book Gospel Portraits: Reading Scripture as Participants in the Mission of God begins the second section which focuses on discipleship and the church. In the chapter, I share some stories and struggles with discipleship but the point of the chapter is that following Jesus is the beginning place for missional participation. Yes, I believe we need to read the Bible in a manner that opens space for reimagining how we, as local churches, participate in the mission of God but learning to follow Jesus is the prerequisite for such missional participation.
Discipleship begins with hearing the call of Jesus to repent and believe the good news of the kingdom of God, and therefore come to follow Jesus (Mk 1:14-15, 17). We obviously can’t literally follow Jesus anymore. However, we can learn about the life Jesus lived through scripture and Christian tradition as well as from imitating others who take discipleship seriously. The key is first in repentance, which is not just a turning away from sinful ways but turning towards the way of God’s kingdom, which requires us to believe that the kingdom-reign of God is really appearing in Jesus. Following then happens by learning to live the life Jesus teaches and exemplifies. Over time, our entire life is transformed in a way that redefines and reshapes us, determining how we will live and therefore participate in the mission of God as local churches.3
What I hope is sufficiently conveyed in my book is that following Jesus is not just about us as individuals but about us becoming local communities of disciples. This is why discipleship matters to how local churches participate in the mission of God. Yes, I believe reading the Bible as a Christ-centered and Kingdom-oriented narrative, which I am getting to, is necessary for a contextual participation in the mission of God. But we can’t ever truly participate in the mission of God apart from following Jesus as his disciples. However, once we are committed to following Jesus, then, as I conclude the third chapter, “God becomes not only the center of our lives but the fullness of our lives through the Holy Spirit. As that happens, we become partners with God in the real restoration movement which is living as a new creation in Christ bringing about heaven here on earth—the kingdom of God” (p. 45).
If you’ve already purchased a copy of my book and are reading, thank you! If you haven’t, I hope this post might encourage you to consider getting your copy. I didn’t write this book for any other reason other than I had something to say, something I believe God wanted me to say as a word to the church. To that end, my prayer is that Gospel Portraits will help cultivate this missional hermeneutic that opens space for a new imagination of what it means to live as the church.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, New York: SCM Press, 1959; New York: Touchtone, 1995, 89 (the link is to a 1980 edition).
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are taken from the Common English Bible, copyright 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church, rev. ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 255.