Spirituality and Discipleship

John 15:4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

Galatians 2:19b I have been crucified with Christ; 20and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Matthew 1:23‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’

Matthew 25:40 And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.”

Matthew 28:20 And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

I come to know myself not alone, but in the company of fellow travelers; I come to know others not merely in collusion, but in shared commitment to the One who brings us together justly and safely in the triumphant surrender of ultimate trust.
David Augsburger, Dissident Discipleship

I confess. I've resisted Christian spirituality. It's been a reaction to the hyper-individualism of my Evangelical roots, longing for a more socio-economic-political faith reflected in the New Testament. The Kingdom of God--his Dream for the world inaugurated in Jesus the Messiah--invites all and sundry to join in radical living and loving. But my error has been an indifference to the Source of discipleship. Christian faith is rooted in the belief that the God who created the world incarnated himself in a Jewish man from a small town in backwoods Galilee. His death at the hands of the Roman political and Jewish religious leaders was vetoed by a resurrection empowered by God's Spirit. This vindicated Jesus' way of life--the kingdom of God!--communicated through teachings, miracles, healings and modeled by Jesus' life.

Jesus' disciples, from Peter and Andrew on the shores of Galilee to those of us pledging allegiance to God's Kingdom in Orange County, live out the legacy of Jesus' Presence in our world. God's Spirit continues to guide, comfort, energize and empower us to live out his way. John's Gospel has Jesus, on the night before his death, urging his disciples to stay connected to Jesus--like a vine connected to branches--receiving life and sustainance to bear fruit. Christian spirituality is intimately connected to a Living and Loving God who has invited us to participate in the redemption of the world. This is hard and mysterious work, yet we believe it is the most compelling and fulfilling lifestyle on offer. The real Jesus is not only what he did and taught back then, but what he continues to do with communities of his followers in our rapidly changing world today. He will be with us until he returns in glory, when we see reality for what it really is 'face to face' [I Cor 13:12].

How then do we crucify ourselves [our identity and vocation focused on ourselves] so that 'the faithfulness of the Son of God' lives in us? Like an athlete training for the Olympics, we bring a whole program of disciplines and practices to shape our lives in his messianic pattern of humility, enemy-love, service, forgiveness, compassion and rugged resistance of all counterfeit ways of being and living. The end goal of Christian spirituality is more dangerous participation in the adventure of God's Dream for the world.

We meditate on Scripture...reminded that we are in his Presence.
We memorize Scripture...reflecting on it throughout the day in his Presence.
We sit in silence...listening for his Presence.
We sing...celebrating his Presence.
We pray...asking his Presence to guide us and change circumstances.
We fast...leaning on his Presence for all of our energy.
We love and serve our friends, family, acquaintances and enemies...remembering they are his Presence.

Our spirituality, habits that train us to discern and engage with Jesus' Presence, is for the world because we are God's family that serves and models Jesus Way. Jesus' continued Presence does not call us to flee the complex and confusing world of sin, shame, death and destruction, but instead to engage with the world, living an embodied reminder of God's redemption. We do this together. David Augsburger calls this 'tri-polar spirituality'--self, others and God. We cannot know any of the 3 without each other. Our identity and vocation, our healing and transformation, is shaped by God's Spirit working through others that have also joined up in God's Dream for the world.