Friday, April 27, 2012
When Jesus invites us to "Come, follow Me" he is not calling us to be mere groupies or followers, but to be His disciples. During His public ministry, there were many who followed Him around the countryside. They liked the stories (parables) He told and His promises of resurrection and a life of glory and utter happiness. Besides, He put on a good show -- walking on water, changing water into wine, healing blind and diseased people, driving out demons. So, they found Him entertaining. After all, in those days there were no TVs, movies or video games. Today, there are people who call themselves "Christian" who, like those who were "groupies" of Jesus, follow Him because they want to be given all the good and wonderful things He promises. They ignore or are deaf and blind to what Jesus tells us are required to be the beneficiaries of His promises. The bottom line is that resurrection, life eternal and perfect happiness does have a price. That price is True Discipleship.
A disciple is someone who emulates the Master, believes in and trusts the Master and his teachings, faithfully adheres to and practices the Master's teachings and steadfastly obeys the Master's commands. True discipleship is characterized by fidelity, steadfastness, love, humility and obedience. Our answer to the question posed by this blog and our claim that "None are like God" is false unless our discipleship to Christ is true. Without being true disciples, we cannot be and are not authentic Christians.
