Vision of Discipleship

Before my trip to AUS in April, God had impressed something upon my heart concerning true discipleship. In the modern-day church, there are few terms as vague, subjective, and confusing as discipleship. It is a word that sums up the constant process of following Jesus and submitting every aspect of our lives to His authority. The trouble with current "discipleship" programs is that we often rely on a pamphlet, book, or some outside means to teach people of God. From my study of the Word, Jesus did not have a lesson plan or handbook drawn up from a rabbi He made His disciples read and fill in the blanks. Discipleship is pure "on the job training" while following Jesus with immersion in the Word. Xerox not required! It is not about facts as much as obedience to a Master. And if we have been commissioned by Christ's all-encompassing authority to make disciples of all nations, we ought to know what discipleship is.

I am convinced that there are two separate camps that Christians fall into concerning discipleship and the role of the church: hospice and rehab. This may not make any sense at all to you, but stay with me. During my previous trip to OZ (without a blog at the time!) this is something I wrote that may speak to your heart about your view of discipleship.

Hospice is defined as “a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.” A definition of “palliation” emphasizes the key point of hospice: “(from Latin palliare, to cloak) is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than striving to halt, delay, or reverse progression of the disease itself or provide a cure. The goal is to prevent and relieve suffering and to improve quality of life” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palliative_care).  It is focused on minimizing pain and does not address the root cause of the illness.  There is a growing group that is clamoring for people to “die with dignity,” and have the right to choose suicide to end suffering (http://www.deathwithdignity.org/).  Pain is seen as the greatest evil and suffering to be avoided at all costs, even by the shortening of one’s life. When you ask someone, “How is your Grandma doing?” and they reply, “She’s in hospice” you know that all hope and seek of a cure has been abandoned.

Sometimes terminally ill people are still functional in mind and body, not in a comatose state. Nothing is required from them as food is brought three times a day or they are fed intravenously and receive continuous care. People in hospice are simply waiting around to die. They waste away, longing for a day when they will be free of pain. They receive visits and cards of well-wishers, sharing memories and avoiding talk of the inevitable end. I do not say this to minimize the need for kind people who provide loving care to terminally ill people. This is not to mock or shame people who have received hospice care, as some in my family have. It is simply to point out a prevalent philosophy concerning terminally ill patients. If hospice has a "vision," it is a peaceful, painless existence and death without suffering. The feelings and emotions of the patient receives the full focus of the caregivers. The patient is the purpose for the care.

Contrast this with the concept of rehabilitation or physical therapy. People undergoing this painful and arduous process have often had a brush with death or a catastrophic injury. The prognosis for a full recovery is often doubtful at best. Physical therapy is defined as “a health care profession which provides services to individuals and populations to develop, maintain and restore maximum movement and functional ability throughout life” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_therapy).  Drug rehabilitation is aimed at addressing and eliminating physical and psychological dependency and assisting the addict in becoming a functional part of family and society. While physical therapy and rehab are focused on the individual, there is not the resignation found in hospice care. The purpose of these practices is to empower a person to overcome injury and addiction and live life at the highest possible level.

Instead of seeking to avoid pain and difficulty at all costs, pain and suffering are part of the process to laying hold of the hope of a better life. Physical therapy is draining, taxing, and painful for the participants. Patients are forced to exercise their atrophied limbs to utter exhaustion. But the pain and struggle are for a purpose, a goal believed obtainable through determination, grit, and endurance. For some the goal is one again walking unaided. Some wish to participate in their favorite hobby or sport. Others have a commitment to a program to remain clean of all drugs and alcohol so they can be reunited with their family. Therapy looks to the future with a confident hope. Rehab participants are looking to a new life, refusing to revert back to the old ways that robbed them of real life.

Now as you look at the contrast between hospice care and physical rehabilitation, consider which camp you belong to in your Christian experience. God does not simply offer us medications and "palliative" care when we are born again by the Spirit: He gives us a new beginning and purpose in glorifying God with our lives! Our eyes are not longingly set on heaven, but fixed upon the person of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:1-3 says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls." I believe many professing believers become disillusioned because they think Christianity is spiritual hospice care. When the trials and temptations come and the painful labor involved in sanctification hits hard, people are ready to quit. It is hard work to follow Jesus. In the words of G.K. Chesterton: "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." Do you have a vision of what God wants to do in your life? Are you willing to press toward that goal with all of your God-given strength and purpose? Do not resign yourself to the hospice bed, eyes misty with tears of regret. Your whole life lays before you with unknown potential for God's glory. Give God your past, for He holds your future as well. May you not only be covered in the dust of your rabbi Jesus Christ, but filled with the Holy Spirit as you labor for His glorious name!