Discipleship (part 2)

09-08-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. Chad King

Last week, we learned from the original disciples that discipleship is a journey; it is an intentional process of becoming fully alive and happy even while on this earth, excitedly anticipating life everlasting in Heaven. That is the reason for the “Becoming Disciples” in our vision statement. Those part of the parish about four years ago may recall that I asked parishioners to read and join our discussion on the book Forming Intentional Disciples. I had first read it about eight years ago (one year into my priesthood). It described what I had observed in the Church in every parish where I had been in but had been unable to articulate. I reflected on how my relationship with Jesus had indeed influenced, directed, and become central in my life. I recognized that it was my relationship and love for Jesus that made the sacraments alive and placed choosing and living my faith as priority #1. However, as I read the five thresholds of a journey to discipleship described in the book, I remembered ways I had grown to become a disciple. The five thresholds include:

1. Trust — in which someone has a level of trust with another person who has faith and a relationship with Jesus or a positive association with Jesus and/or the Church.
2. Curiosity — in which someone is curious about Jesus, his life, his teachings or some aspect of the Christian faith.
3. Openness — when someone is open to the possibility of personal and spiritual change in his or her life.
4. Seeking — someone is becoming aware that following Christ has personal implications and makes real demands on their priorities, time, money, relationships, and all other areas of life and is engaged in an urgent spiritual quest, seeking to know whether they can commit to Christ in His Church.
5. Discipleship — is intentionally and consciously choosing to put God first in one’s life and actively rooting out sin from it.

As I read the thresholds, I reflected on my journey of faith up to that point. I recognized the path to discipleship God had brought me through even though I didn’t realize it at the time. I could see the thresholds in my conversions in faith. For example, in high school, I remember taking down all the posters of sport figures that I had on my bedroom walls and putting up religious things. That was an example of openness because I became aware that I wanted to be known as someone who loved God more than sports. I remember in college, at Franciscan University of Steubenville, growing in my faith, seeking Him more and more, and wanting my life to be centered around Him. After college, I remember becoming a disciple when I was working at a job that started at 6am, and how I got up at 4:30am just so I had about 20 minutes of prayer before work (thankfully, that job didn’t last long). I was able to recognize examples and times in my life when I went through these thresholds towards discipleship, knowing that I still needed continued development. For example, not long before I entered seminary, I helped my sister lead RCIA – the process to help adults enter fully into the Catholic Church. Once I had read Forming Intentional Disciples, which also uses RCIA as an example, I was able to see how my sister and I had done our best to lead that all-important process, based on what we knew, but I wish I would have read the book earlier. Knowing who a disciple is – knowing the extent of what every Catholic is meant to be – would have helped to re-define our objective and how we went about it. Therefore, forming intentional disciples became the direction and purpose of my priesthood. In the book, it says that about 5% of the people in an average Catholic parish are true disciples, and everyone else is somewhere in the other thresholds. In reflecting on my life, and my life as a priest, I can say that is quite accurate. It is a long and difficult journey for many. After all, it is a process of intentionally losing one’s own life and finding it completely in Jesus. Yet, it is a journey that every disciple says is completely worth it. Although the thresholds and understanding and using the word discipleship was new to me, I realize now that it is simply every person’s journey of conversion into the heart of Christ. It was the journey of the disciples we read about in the Gospels, it is my journey, and it needs to be the journey of every candidate in every RCIA, and the journey of every Catholic, including you.

To intentionally be on this journey to discipleship, we need to have a clear understanding of what Jesus means by His call to us to follow Him and His command to make disciples. I’ll let Bishop Donald Hying, from his book, Discipleship: Our Fundamental Catholic Identity, help our understanding:

What is a disciple?
A disciple is one who makes a conscious, firm decision, carried out in action to follow Jesus intentionally with one’s whole heart, soul, mind and strength no matter the cost to themselves. Once we make the decision to become a disciple, this will be the controlling decision that will drive absolutely everything in the disciple’s life.

What do intentional Catholic disciples look like? How do they act? What is qualitatively different about their lives and personalities?

• Disciples are ordinary people
• They have experienced the love, forgiveness, presence and consolation of God
• They have experienced the challenge of God poured out through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit
• They have fallen in love with the Lord
• They find their deepest identity in their relationship with Him
• They find God and the mission of His Kingdom to be the fundamental purpose of their lives
• They find the whole Catholic experience of the Scriptures, sacraments, moral life and prayer to be the transformative means of their ongoing conversion
• Disciples instinctively evangelize
• They naturally share their experience of God and their faith in Him with others
• The power of their moral example itself evangelizes
• Disciples are both courageous and articulate in their proclamation of Jesus and the difference He has made in their lives
• They will freely pray with others
• They do volunteer work
• They witness to how the Lord has worked in their daily experience
• They offer moral advice when asked
• They share spiritual books, CDs and DVDs with family, friends and co-workers
• They actively cultivate a discipleship response in those around them
• An intentional disciple is a Catholic maximalist, not asking what the minimum is that must be done in order to be saved, but asking what can be done for the sake of the Kingdom of God
• A disciple has moved from the obligation of the law into the astonishing freedom of Christ

Let me highlight a couple of these characteristics of a disciple. Disciples have experienced the love, forgiveness, presence and consolation of God — many disciples can remember a distinct experience, oftentimes even dates and times, in which they truly encountered God’s love, forgiveness and presence. Can you recall ever having such an encounter? Disciples have fallen in love with the Lord. It is not just that disciples believe God loves them, or that they love God, but it is that they have fallen in love with the Lord, and He becomes always present in their hearts and minds throughout the day (like how many married couples each have the other spouse in heart and mind). Thus, a disciple truly knows who God the Father is, knows who Jesus is, and knows the activity of the Holy Spirit in his or her life. It is not about knowing about the Persons of God but rather, knowing God personally and having a relationship with each Person of the Holy Trinity. Disciples find their deepest identity in their relationship with Him. A disciple has given one’s life over to the love of God in such a way that his or her entire life is oriented around Jesus Christ. So, what John the Baptist says, “He must increase, and I must decrease,” and what St. Paul says, “I myself no longer live but Christ lives in me,” are not just nice cliché ideals but have begun to and continue to be visibly fostered in one’s life. A disciple is asking what can be done for the sake of the Kingdom of God. It is when one’s prayer life has grown from always and only asking God for what he or she wants (so, primarily intercessions), to wanting what God wants for that person, and how he or she can be entrusted by God for His purposes and desires instead of one’s own. Thus, it entails a realization that God is in control of one’s life, and so the disciple is able to trust that God will give all that he or she needs and wants according to His will. Therefore, a disciple can say, “Not my will, but yours be done,” and in this and every circumstance, actually mean it. Therefore, when disciples’ prayer lives and everyday lives have become so infused with God’s love, presence and activity, then, sometimes unknowingly, disciples instinctively evangelize, they naturally share their experiences of God and their faith in Him with others. The power of moral example itself evangelizes; disciples are both courageous and articulate in their proclamation of Jesus and the difference He has made in their lives; they will freely pray with others. Thus, evangelization does not seem like such a big, daunting task, but becomes natural and normal because we are living our lives in and through Christ. Furthermore, we will then become and be doing what God commands of every member of His Church: to be and make disciples.

Finally, let me touch on moving from pre-discipleship to becoming a disciple. Remember, the thresholds of trust, curiosity, openness and seeking are pre-discipleship. A disciple is one who makes a conscious, firm decision, carried out in action to follow Jesus intentionally with one’s whole heart, soul, mind and strength no matter the cost to one’s self. Becoming a disciple doesn’t come about on its own or accidentally. It is something intentionally sought, wrestled with, and after much deliberation, the seeker makes the firm decision to commit oneself entirely to Jesus, reorienting one’s life so that Jesus is number one in everything from that time forward. Discipleship involves the whole person – heart, soul, mind, and strength. It takes all of who we are, not just a part of our life, not just certain times of the week, not just certain aspects of who we are. At the same time, discipleship fulfills the deepest desires of every human heart. It will cost us — it will require sacrifice and struggle. Disciples realize that their lives are no longer their own, but the Lord’s and they will have to change their lives to fit the demands of the Gospel — moving away from relationships that are not leading them closer to Christ, changing moral and ethical behavior to align with Jesus’ teachings, and severing worldly attachments — to things, attitudes, addictions, and people — that distract from or prevent the pursuit of the Kingdom of God and helping others to become disciples. Once we make the decision to become a disciple, this will be the controlling decision that will drive absolutely everything in the disciple’s life. The disciple’s walk with the Lord informs his or her thoughts, words and actions. Putting Jesus at the center is now the disciple’s priority and everything else is secondary.

Becoming a disciple of Jesus requires much, but it will bring about the transformation, intimacy with the Lord, and deep fulfillment of all desire that you have been seeking your whole life. Discipleship will change your life forever! May we all reflect on how we can either become a disciple or grow in our discipleship.