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What does it mean theologically to say that one is a disciple of Jesus Christ? Discipleship, obviously, stands at the center of the Christian life. Luke, in particular, places discipleship at the heart of the church’s life together.

From my experience in the church there is considerable confusion around the meaning of discipleship. It is often understood as synonymous with believer-ship. That is, it is assumed that being a disciple of Jesus means that one believes in him and/or believes certain things about him (i.e. Son of God, fully human, sinless, die for our sins, etc.). While belief is important, belief is by no means an end in itself. In the synoptic gospels, we never hear Jesus say, "Believe in me," but, "Follow me." Although there are plenty of "believe in me" statements in John’s gospel (Jn 11.25; 17.20-26), the emphasis there is not on belief itself, but upon the object of one’s belief, namely Jesus, or through Jesus to God the Father. There is a world, indeed a whole kingdom of difference between which is emphasized.

Following Jesus means more than just getting the beliefs right or correct, or even ideas we might have about him. Indeed, a disciple is often characterized as a follower. While this is accurate, it is too easy for us to hear it passively. Perhaps a better and more literal rendering, suggesting a more active participatory role would be student, as one continually learning what it means to live and serve in the Kingdom of God School from Jesus, the Teacher. This understanding suggests that the "Christian" or follower of Jesus has to be teachable, which required humility of knowledge.

Being a student in Jesus’ school obliges an enormous commitment that, in the end, proves costly. It demands action of a radical nature. It involves a radical choice. To hear strong words like "hate" coming from Jesus’ mouth is very unsettling and denotes the seriousness of one’s relationship with Jesus and his message. Jesus places faithfulness to the kingdom of God far above every other allegiance, including one’s family and commitment to one’s self. In Jesus’ day that would have been considered an outrageous, perhaps even blasphemous demand to make upon an individual. In our own day, especially in American culture where the family is often idealized, Jesus’ words prove an equally demanding claim upon one’s life. Yet, there is no getting around the radicality of Jesus’ message.

We must choose first for kingdom of God above all else. In order to make that choice, discipleship requires the relativization of all relationships (see Lk 14.20-26) and claims upon our lives. In his study on the dynamics of religious conversion, A. D. Nock (1902-1963) argued that one of the greatest challenges for a Christian in the Roman world, where everyone was religious, worshipping an assortment of deities, including Caesar, all at the same time, was that you could not be Christian on the side. You could not worship both Jupiter and Jesus. One had to decide. Christian discipleship required commitment, devotion to one God and not to an assortment of gods.

For Luke, even the competing allegiances of familial "deities" can distract one’s attention from the work of the kingdom.1 Luke includes two unique parables that reinforce this point: "Don’t start if you can’t finish."2 Why? Because it is costly.

In his classic text, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1909-1945) wrote, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."3 Discipleship means following after Jesus who carried the cross. What this concretely means in the lives of disciples will be particular to one’s circumstances. For some, being a faithful student of Christ will lead to physical death (as was the case for Bonhoeffer), but for others (probably the majority) it will mean the many proximate forms of death, of loss, of suffering the Christian experiences because one chooses to be faithful to the kingdom. Either way, action is involved that includes some form of loss or suffering.

However, it needs to be stressed that being a disciple does not mean choosing loss or suffering. Far too many Christians have feigned victimhood and played the martyr as some kind of expression of their faithfulness to Christ. When the focus is on the kingdom of God and our choices are made around an absolute devotion and dedication to it, it will inevitably lead to some form of loss or suffering or sacrifice, which are experienced willingly because the kingdom matters most. Our commitment to the kingdom means giving up our loyalty to everything and everyone else. The ability to carry the cross then becomes an expression of freedom and release. One can and does "give up," because one is no longer bound to competing deities and allegiances that have hindered our lives. It is why Anthony W. Bartlett can make this seemingly paradoxical claim: "The grace of the cross in the life of the believer makes the whole universe tremble with the utterly new. This is the freedom of the children of God, a terrible, disturbing freedom in respect to all given in history."4

What we hear Luke saying to his community, what he expects them to embody is both demanding and difficult. Luke’s explication of discipleship found in this text will probably stand in sharp contrast, no doubt, to the way most Christians seek to be faithful to their calling. These are challenging words to hear. They come with a considerable critique of the way the church organizes itself. But they are also potentially liberating.

Kenneth E. Kovacs

Baltimore, MD

1. A. D. Nock, Conversion: The Old and the New Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998 [1933]).

2. Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991), 231-3.

3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1963 [1937]), 99.

4. Anthony W. Bartlett, Cross Purposes: The Violent Grammar of Christian Atonement (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International), 2.

See James Howell's Preaching Journal! James C. Howell is Pastor of Myers Park UMC in Charlotte, NC and adjunct professor of preaching at Duke Divinity School. His publications include Introducing Christianity, The Beatitudes Today and The Will of God, all published by WJC. Dr. Howell shares his weekly sermon preparations from selection of text until he is ready to go into the pulpit. 

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Woodhaven Presbyterian Church
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