"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free'." John 8:31-32
Sometimes just understanding what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is tough. It's not that difficult of a concept really, and most of us have a basic understanding of what a "disciple" is, but it still seems hard sometimes to actually figure out what that looks like for us.
For many, the idea of being a disciple of Jesus has to do with the "spiritual" things we do - reading the Bible, praying, attending worship with a community of believers, etc. I think that these things definitely have something to do with being a disciple - but they are certainly not all there is to it.
Maybe some would conclude that it is a heart matter to be a disciple - that we need to be prepared to die for Jesus if necessary. That we will go anywhere, do anything, and take any risk that we feel that Jesus has asked of us - this is what it means to be a disciple for some. I can agree with that. I'm pretty sure that "taking up your cross" means more than eating your cousin's meatloaf at Thanksgiving. But, still seems that something's missing.
What I think is missing in most of our conceptions of what a "disciple" of Jesus really looks like is this - the mundane. The everyday. The minute by minute of life. The ordinary. I know, it's not the sexy part of discipleship is it? But it is the core of it.
I will forever be marked by the thoughts of Dallas Willard in his book The Divine Conspiracy. He boiled discipleship down to this thought: How would Jesus live YOUR life were he you?
Try that one on. Go ahead....I'll wait.
Ok, if you thought about that statement, then you would have to go to the normal, mundane activities of your everyday, workaday life. Assumed in that statement is that God made you and placed you right where He wants you. In the neighborhood, in the job, in the college class, in the PLACE He wants you. So, what does that look like? Well, ask the question:
How would Jesus do my job, were He me?
How would Jesus love my spouse, were He me?
How would Jesus do my school work, were He me? (added bonus here, if Jesus were you I would bank on you being valedictorian).
You can figure it out from here. So often we have looked at discipleship as how we get rid of our ordinary, mundane lives so that we can be "more like Jesus." But that is where we miss it. Where Jesus really shows Himself is precisely IN our ordinary, mundane lives - in the neighborhood, at work, at school, out shopping (though I can't speak for Jesus on this one, I'm pretty sure He didn't like shopping....or maybe I'm just hoping that to be the case so I can say that I am more like Him).
So, think about this and let it sink in: How would Jesus live YOUR LIFE were He you?
