Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Disciples vs. Believers
In Flickering Pixels, Shane Hipps makes a great distinction between believers and disciples (followers). He tells of a friend that can't seem to get to the belief in the divinity and resurrection fo Christ but in every other way you would never no he wasn't a believer. He was a devout "follower" of Christ and probably more in tune with his faith than many "believers". So the big question is: If he can't get to the resurrection, is he going to hell? We Lutherans don't like to ask such questions, but many of our parishioners do and will. How are we to answer this? It's so easy to flip through scripture and find a "difinitive" answer but is that what we are called to do? I'm really not sure either way. I know so many people, from my own family even, that are without a doubt believers, but I would be hard pressed to know if they are followers. What does this say about someones faith? Does it say anything? Hipps ends this discussion with pointing out that Jesus commanded us to make disciples, not believers.
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I've thought a lot about what "faith" really means. Often, we define it as right belief (you have to believe everything in the creeds in order to be really "Christian"). However, a model of discipleship suggests that faith is more about God's transformation of our lives than it is about an intellectual exercise. Thanks for bringing up this contrast!
ReplyDeleteGiven your comment on Jennie's blog, I can see how this struggle really impacts you and how it can affect and effect ministry. I do see this trend going in the way you phrase it, the dichotomy between believers and followers. I ask the question of those who are believers and struggle to follow- how has your faith been put into action, not to gain grace or freedom, but as a loving response to the grace and freedom given to us by God in Christ Jesus. Thanks for bringing up the struggle with knowing versus doing, it is something that needs to be addressed constantly in our daily living!
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