Discipleship: weird cultishness or inevitable reality

One feature of Christianity, and especially evangelical Christianity, that strikes some outsiders as odd is the emphasis on discipleship. The idea that one would be shaped by a community in a set of beliefs and practices and ways of approaching life can seem deeply sinister. Isn’t this what cults do?

But we think this way because we are blind to how universal discipleship is. Being discipled is an inevitable reality. The only questions are “By What?” and “Have we chosen?”

Discipleship is learning how to think and live by watching examples, by explicit instruction, and by feedback on our own words and actions. And so we are all discipled. We are discipled by our parents. We are discipled by the news we watch or read, and the media we watch. We are discipled by educational institutions. We are discipled by our peers. We are discipled by our professions. Lawyers have similar ways of thinking not only because those type of people choose that profession, but because the process of being trained to handle legal matters shapes the person. And that is true of most types of jobs. There is then an additional shaping element from the specific company or organisation you work for, which will have its own shaping culture.

The question is not if we will be discipled but by whom. Jesus calls human beings to become his disciples. He calls people to look at his life, listen to his teaching, and trust in his death and resurrection as the central reality of the cosmos. He calls people to deliberate lifelong learning and training in his path by reading the Scriptures, prayer, worship, communal love and living, and active good works. To be a Christian is to opt to be shaped by Jesus, through his word and people.

And that is far better than being shaped by an educational institution, or the values of media producers, or even our parents. Jesus wants us to choose to follow him not be brain washed into it. And since he is the only man who was truly good and the only man who is truly God, he is the best person to be shaped by. Thinking and living following his teaching and example is true wisdom. So don’t be afraid of Christian discipleship. Instead, ask who or what is influencing you, and whether that is truly good for you, and if your current disciplers are the ones you really choose today.