In Mark’s gospel Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship (8:34-38), as he knew after he had died those who believed in him would suffer. In the time when Mark was writing Christians were being persecuted so to “take up his cross” was reality to a lot of them so reading the Gospel helped them to realise the nature of discipleship would them having to suffer. Disciples should “deny self” and put others before themselves. When he said, “follow me,” he meant living the Christian way of life, which was not easy, but also to share in Christ’s resurrected life.
Mark included the rewards of discipleship (10:28-31). Jesus talks about the disciples receiving “hundred times more houses, brothers…” he is talking about the church, the family of God. Jesus tells them that they will “receive eternal life” and Christians therefore believe if they follow Jesus and his teachings they will inherit eternal life. This keeps them persevering to be a committed disciple and follow the nature of discipleship even at tough times.
Mark includes a lot of stories where the disciples fail. It is important that Christians realise that at times they will fail but should not give up. One example is the feeding of the 5,000(6:30-34), as the disciples were putting themselves before the crowd. Jesus did not reject them but carried on teaching them as they learned from it.
In Mark’s Gospel the nature of discipleship is covered in great depth. It doesn’t just tell them but also supports them to carry on and understand why the nature of discipleship is so important.
Word count – 665
Skill AO2. Explain how his teaching about discipleship might affect the life of a Christian today.
Discipleship is important to modern Christians and they should try to follow it in daily life. Jesus’ teachings can apply to modern Christians who are trying to become good disciples.
Mark’s Gospel tells Christians today that ordinary people can be disciples but they have to be willing to drop everything for God in the call of the disciples (1:16-20).
Christians today can interpret what Jesus said about roles of a disciple (6:7-13) and use it in their daily life. Jesus told them to “preach the good news”, some Christians feel they have a vocation to spread Christianity and become priests, monks and nuns. Others believe they can do this in their daily lives, telling those they meet. The disciples were told to “drive out demons”; this could be done helping those who have been hurt by evil or try to bring peace (stop war). For example Bishop Biguzzi and Ibrahim Sesay (who work for CAFOD) risked their lives to meet, and try to release, children soldiers in the Civil war. Christians can “heal the sick” in lots of different ways. It doesn’t just mean healing people physically, becoming a doctor, but also healing people’s faith or be a counselor healing them mentally. When Jesus talked about the role of discipleship he meant it for Christians then and those to come.
To be a true disciple you have to be prepared for the cost of discipleship. In the story of the rich man (10:17-31) it tells Christians what they must do to inherit eternal life. Disciples today can do this by not being blinded by materialism and be as self-less as possible. Though it doesn’t have to particularly be money but be prepared to give away what you love to show that you love God more. In this case the man couldn’t, as he loved his money more.
Modern Christians must take into account what Mark wrote about the suffering as a disciple (8:31-38). Christians today should “deny self” by helping their community in their spare-time rather than going shopping. Christians today should be willing to “take up the cross” for Jesus by suffering in one-way or another. This could be being mocked for believing in God or, like Martin Luther King, killed for their beliefs. Christians should obviously “follow” Jesus, maybe by living the Christian way of life which may lead to suffering by putting the will of God and others first. The widow at the treasury (12:41-44) does this by giving all her wealth and may suffer in consequence but she believes that God will provide. Mother Teresa is a good example of this as she was following Jesus’ teachings, helped the poor and the sick, and at times suffered.
Discipleship has its rewards and modern Christians can look at these in 10:28-31. This tells them that their lives will be enhanced and will gain a family at church.
In the future, most importantly, they will receive eternal life that keeps Christians today persevering with their daily lives and become worthy disciples.
Prayer and humility are important aspects of discipleship for Christians today. When Jesus heals a boy with an evil spirit (10:14-29), it tells modern Christians that if you pray and believe it will help you through tough times. Oscar Romero prayed for the “courage to die in faith as St Peter did”. In 9:35 Jesus says “whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all”. This tells modern Christians they should not seek fame but work for the right reasons and then they will be noticed for their true greatness.
Discipleship can be hard work in today’s life, with the need for money and materialism, but it can also be rewarding. It may lead to you working extremely hard for others needs but you get the end result the happiness of someone else.
Word count – 642
Skill AO3. “Children can’t be disciples so they can’t be Christians either”. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer showing that you have thought about more than one point if view.
Some children are brought up in the church community but can they really be disciples? If not, what makes them Christians. In the statement “Children can’t be disciples so they can’t be Christians either” the age of the child could affect someone’s views.
In infant baptism, a child is welcomed into the church’s community free from original sin and is a Christian. Others could argue that it is the parents’ who decide to baptize the child so therefore the child’s belief has no part to play. Though if a child is then confirmed surely this justifies that he/she is a Christian and truly believes in God. Followers of believers’ baptism would feel that a child is not capable to make this decision and that it should not come from their parents. They believe that you should be baptized as an adult because Jesus was baptized an adult. For this reason followers’ of believers’ baptism agree with the statement that children can’t be disciples.
In 10:13-16 the disciples reject some children, Jesus sees this and says “the kingdom of God belong to such as these.” This backs up the view that children’s qualities are a key part of a Christian. It also shows in this story that the children are eager and are willing to learn. An honest and trustworthy child would not deny their beliefs of God. Others could disagree and say a teenager under peer pressure may deny their beliefs. A child might not be able to comprehend the concept of suffering for Jesus and therefore not be able to prove their faith. One could argue that an adult, unless was actually facing persecution, would be able to suffer for Jesus either.
Children can tell their friends about the good news but how well can a child actually do this? It must be quite hard for a child to understand the good news themselves so it must be even harder to explain it to a friend.
I believe that children can be a Christians and can try to be a disciple. Children are disciples in the making.
Word count - 348
