A Disciple of Christ is?

source: theunitive.com/choose-generosity/

The UMC is a church that is dedicated to making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This is a wonderful mission that I too have dedicated my life toward fulfilling. The problem is we don't really know what that means. 

One group may see a disciple of Christ as one who is pro-gun while another thinks disciples of Christ are pacifists. One group might see a disciple of Christ as one that warns people of hell and damnation if they don't accept Jesus while other groups think Christ brought universal salvation regardless of creed.

While it is true that disciples of Christ are advocates of love, even love is difficult to get Christian groups on the same page. Is it loving to kill a someone if you believe they are going to hurt your family? Is it loving to use fear to get people to accept Jesus because you really love them and want to do everything you can to ensure they will avoid the torment of hell? Is it loving to allow someone to just continue to live in sin without calling them to repent and change their ways?

So might I offer an alternative to think about what a disciple looks like? 

What would it look like to build a community of faith that defines a disciple of Christ as one who is growing in generosity? 

Giving more time, prayer, attention, resources. Giving more thanks, extending greater hospitality, being less attached to stuff. Having open palms and not clenched fists. 

I believe that God is generous. I do not believe God withholds things from creation or is stingy. I do not see Jesus as building barriers to God but rather his death tore open the curtain in the temple so all may access God. 

A disciple of Christ is at the very least one that is generous. If we are not growing in generosity then are we growing in Christ? 

While not a perfect metric, might faith communities focused on generosity be the same faith communities that are making disciples of Christ?

Is Focus Leading Us Astray?

Odeo was a tech company that created a platform for people to create podcasts quickly and easily. At the time, right in the middle of the "dot com" boom, tech companies were getting a lot of funding but not all tech companies were surviving. Odeo was floundering. 

The company's leadership decided to refund all the investors and shared that they were ditching their podcasting platform. Additionally, the leadership shared that the company was going to take a little side project one of their employees was working on and try to make that product work. Odeo changed it's name to Twitter and, well you know what might have happened next. 

In the part of the Church that I work in, there is a emphasis on being focused. My conference has a focus "empower and equip local congregations to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world". My denomination has four areas of focus. Local congregations are encouraged to have a mission and vision statement in order to bring focus to the missional goals of the local church. And while this emphasis on being focused may be a reaction to the multi-tasking and distracting world we live in, focus can lead us astray. 

Jesus said the Spirit blows like the wind. We neither know where it comes from or where it is going. The Spirit came down at Pentecost and opened mouths not so that one focused language could be heard but that every language was heard. The work of Paul was like that of Jesus; moving from community to community on a constant search for the next thing that the Spirit is doing. The Spirit moved in the hearts of reformers and the Church is now expressed in thousands of denominations around the world. The Spirit cannot be contained, it cannot be focused.

Might it be possible that with our efforts to try to be more focused we are missing what the Spirit is trying to do in our midst? 

If Odeo was focused on podcasting and their software, they would have missed out on the wild-eyed idea that one of their people had to create a micro-blogging website which others did not see the value of. Odeo chased down an unfocused idea in order to discover a new and wonderful tool of connection and sharing. 

It was not what they thought they were going to create, but it was where the spirit of inspiration took them. 

The question for the local church is are we so bound to being focused that we are unwilling (or unable) to go to a new place that the Spirit may be taking us?

"truth" Trumping Love

Every political outlet these days has some commentary on Donald Trump. I am willing to bet that you have an opinion on Donald Trump. If you agree with him or not, he has to be dealt with because he is drawing so many people and, in his words (which are never short of sensationalism), "I'm literally killing everybody in the polls." 

Why is he doing so well in these polls that are so many days away from the election? Many people have commented that they like Trump because he "tells the truth" or is "real" or "unscripted". He is a not a politician who is sensitive to political correctness but just a guy who is out there being "authentic". 

His comments about Mexican immigrants, women, African Americans, Global warming, President Obama's birth, and his ego-centrism are applauded by some as evidence that he is a man who says what is on his mind and tells it like he sees it. No matter how offensive or degrading the comments, it is the "truth" that is Trumping the day.

When I say "truth" I do not mean that Donald Trump is correct or even speaking Truth. I believe that he, and his supporters, feel that Trump is speaking the truth as they perceive it. So when he speaks, he is giving voice to people who feel like they do not have a voice - classic politician. 

But even if you agree with Donald Trump and his comments and think that he is speaking Truth (or "truth" as it were), as a Christian we have to consider the question - what is more important Truth or Love. 

I believe that Love trumps Truth everyday of the week. I cannot quote every Bible verse that talk about the supremacy of Love because there are many. There is scripture that states "God is Love". Paul does not even list Truth in his "big three" (Faith, Hope and Love) to his letter to the Corinthians. Jesus broke the laws (and thus was "wrong") in order to show love to the neighbor.

The Christian is faced with the conviction that if our "truth" is not loving then it is not Truth of Christ. It just is not. If the "truth" we seek and applaud is not bringing more love and light into the world then it is not Truth. If the "truth" we affirm is one that puts women down, builds barriers to relationships, marginalizes groups of people, views the world as "us vs. them", sees people as either "winners" or "losers" then it is not Truth. 

Trump may be polling well these days in part because we have become more like Pilate who was on a quest for "truth" rather than like Christ who was on a quest for Love. When we value "truth" (our little and limited perception of Truth), over Love then we have indeed lost our way.