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What Discipleship Isn't


In the middle of Mark's Gospel, there is a significant turning point in the narrative. In the middle of the eighth chapter, the story pivots from one version of Jesus – the mighty miracle-worker who continually amazes everyone – to an entirely different version – the man who would die in disgrace and then rise again from the dead.

JESUS AND HIS ASTONISHING AGENDA

Mark introduces his account by identifying Jesus as “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). First century Judaism simply had no category to account for such claims, nor could it account for a man who had power not only over sickness but also the weather, a man before whom demons quaked in fear. So as Mark tells of Jesus’s miracles, you can see his men slowly working their way toward a deeper, richer understanding of Jesus.

Finally, in Mark 8:27-30, we see Jesus’ men acknowledge His identity. They have finally come to recognize what kind of Person they have in Jesus, and Peter speaks for the Twelve: “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29).

And then, just as they have come to realize that Jesus is the Mighty One, He begins to tell them that He is headed for a disgraceful death, followed by a triumphant resurrection from the dead. "And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly” (Mark 8:31-32).

Then, without taking a breath, Jesus speaks about what it means to follow a rabbi who is going to die in this shameful way. And we have Jesus’s quintessential definition of discipleship: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it” (Mark 8:34-35).

In these few words Jesus sketches what it means to follow him.

And what it doesn’t mean.

WHAT DISCIPLESHIP ISN’T

1. Discipleship isn’t a powerful emotional experience. 

Everyone was amazed at Jesus’s power. His miracles generated a great deal of excitement in first century Israel. But not everyone who was swept up in the euphoria was a disciple. 

In fact, at the end of his time on earth, the man who had attracted crowds numbering in the thousands ended up with only 120 followers (the Jesus Community gathered in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost). Most of those who were caught up in the swell of emotion melted away once it was clear that their hero was going to die.

Jesus’s call to discipleship doesn’t even mention emotions. In his definition of discipleship, Jesus speaks to the need for a sober-minded decision: If I want to follow Jesus, I must renounce my own agenda and prepare to follow him not just in his teaching but also in his suffering.  

2. Discipleship isn’t about winning.

Remember Peter’s strong reaction to Jesus’s announcement of His coming death? Peter had just come to understand that his rabbi was the Mighty One, and now he has no way to process Jesus’s prediction of His disgrace and death. So he foolishly rebukes his master.

But the way of Jesus always is the way of suffering. Jesus showed that the way to victory lay not in acquiring power but in giving up power. His call to self-renunciation is the exact opposite to our instinctive drive to build a following, our yearning to be part of the most powerful tribe. 

Jesus both taught and demonstrated His ethic, which is just as counter-cultural today as it was in His time on earth: the way up is down, through the gauntlet of suffering and service.    

3. Discipleship isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Jesus said that anyone who wanted to follow Him had to “take up his cross.” Jesus had His own cross to bear, and by His suffering he opened the way for rebels to be adopted into God’s family. But His suffering doesn’t mean His followers are exempt from suffering; each of us must carry our own cross.

There is a sense in which every believer’s discipleship is uniquely fashioned, so every believer’s cross is individually tailored for his or her sanctification and service to the Master.

Remember when Jesus told Peter how he would die, and Peter turned to ask about John? Peter knew he would die a martyr’s death. That was his cross. But what about John?

Jesus’s answer to Peter’s question about John? “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:22).

Each of us must take up our own cross, not the cross we would prefer. And, bearing the cross the Master has assigned to us, we must follow him.

So, no, following Jesus isn’t about riding the wave of an emotional high, it isn’t about winning the same game that everyone else is playing, and it isn’t about getting to choose the kind of suffering we would prefer. 

Discipleship is about giving up our options, adopting a mindset that is prepared to suffer, and following Jesus doggedly, no matter the cost.


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