SHUTTERSTOCK
First, given the fact that disciples will cer- tainly live, act, and believe in wondrous variety and diver- sity, even within the same congregation it behooves leaders to ponder and name specific character- istics exhibited in a person who has been found by Jesus.
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change us. Our members talk quite openly each year about the radical expec- tations of the covenant before choosing to sign it. Sometimes it’s a sign of spiritual health in a person if they choose not to sign the covenant.”
Growth and change “What kind of people shall we become?” A process
of growth and change, assuming ongoing conversion, is difficult to initiate in congregational life and still avoid all hints of legalism. I recall ELCA theologian Martin E. Marty saying
somewhere that living the tension between justification and sanctification is a lot like life on a tightrope. It’s a balancing act between two pitfalls: works righteousness on one side and cheap grace on the other. I can’t recall a time in the gospels where Jesus pushes
a person toward conversion. “If any want to become my followers …,” he says in Mark 8:34. Tere can be no coercion here. Anything that smacks of arm-twisting is inauthentic. But in the same verse he’s very clear about what life as a disciple looks like: “… let them deny themselves and
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take up their cross and follow me.” In my experience congregations can be coercive
without much content (legalism) or inclusive with little cost involved (cheap grace). Marty says the right place is on the tightrope, feeling the tension of both pitfalls and regularly conversing honestly about discipleship and how disciples are made among the group of believers with whom I commune and serve and live. I’ve always been fascinated that the book of Acts
holds together the conversion of thousands in Jerusalem (2:41) and the conversion of only two by name in Athens (17:34). Different contexts and vastly different results—an important truth for a pastor called to a variety of places in a 30-year ministry. “How are disciples made?” is one of the most impor-
tant questions pastors and congregational leaders might return to again and again. Following are three consider- ations that attempt to answer this question in any context.
Three considerations First, given the fact that disciples will certainly live, act, and believe in wondrous variety and diversity, even within the same congregation it behooves leaders to ponder and name specific characteristics exhibited in a person who has been found by Jesus. In conjunction with that, leaders begin to shape an educational curriculum and other experiences that might engender these qualities in a convert over time within the powerful and cyclical structure of the church year. I recall a young man whom I’ll call Mark. He came to
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