Discipleship 101

For something that will change history forever, it is one of the more understated beginnings. No PR, no “kick starter,” and no celebrities are there to launch a movement to change the world. It is just so mundane. John the Baptist is with two of his disciples, who are themselves not prime candidates to lead a cultural movement, and when he sees Jesus and says, “Behold the Lamb,” these two individuals follow Jesus to the place he is staying. They are so taken that, after this encounter, Andrew goes and finds his brother and says, “You won’t believe who we have found.”There it is: Jesus’ whole plan to change the world. What we see in the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is what we will see at the time of his death. Jesus called a few people to himself, poured himself into them, and says –Go, and do the same thing with others. It is shocking in its simplicity; it is embarrassingly mundane, and it is disappointing to us who are addicted to novelty and the “next thing.” And yet, was Jesus crazy? He had three years to change the world and in the first couple of days has five followers. It really doesn’t get much better because after three years Jesus only has twelve. After the resurrection, there are only 120 in the upper room, pondering the new reality that has swept like a hurricane into their lives. Yea, Jesus was crazy – crazy like a fox!At St. Patrick, we would say our ministry is very simple. It is about making disciples who make new/better disciples. Our desire is to do what Jesus did, and we have found it is hard. It is hard to do what Jesus did; it is a lot easier to imitate the culture and just give people a little information. But real transformation, like Jesus demonstrated in his earthly ministry, is a long obedience in the same direction. We’ll talk about it Sunday.Blessings,Jim