St Mark tells us in his gospel that anybody could be a disciple and a follower of Jesus. This is proved when Jesus chooses his disciples. In the Choosing of the disciples’ 3: 13-19 the men Jesus chose include a taxman (someone who was greatly looked down on at the time), a zealot, two violent tempered brothers and fishermen. These were all people who were neither rich nor very highly thought of, they were people who had sinned before and Jesus wanted to be associated with them. Jesus proved that nobody is perfect and that everybody makes mistakes by choosing these people to be the people who would help him on the path of preaching god’s word. Peter’s promise and denial is also an example of this, as Jesus knew that he was going to deny him but did not dismiss him.
Another thing that we learn from Mark’s gospel about discipleship is the importance of generosity. This means to give to others and less fortunate instead of yourself. This is shown in the story of the widow at the treasury 12: 43-44 where Jesus tells the disciples that a poor widow who gave a penny to charity gave more than the rich who gave lots. He tells them “… this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others…the others put in what they had to spare of their riches…but she, poor as she is… gave all she had to live on.” This tells us that we should give all we have, today as Christian disciples, to help others have what they need instead of us having what we want. The story of the rich man 10: 29-30 tells the same example when Jesus tells the disciples that “…anyone who leaves home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will receive much more in the present age…a hundred times more…” This shows us that if we give everything we have now, we will receive much more in the age to come. Giving everything to God leads to even giving up life which is an incredible sacrifice for which you need to be devoted and very sure of the cause. The idea of giving up friends, family and all material things needs not to be done half-heartedly for a true disciple to become.
Something else we learn in Mark’s gospel is that to become a great disciple you must be able to endure the suffering and rejection. In other words disciples must put up with misery and negative responses on the way. Jesus expresses this when he tells the disciples that when giving up everything for him in the rich man 10: 30-31 that they have to “…receive a hundred times more persecutions… and in the age to come will receive eternal life. But many who are now first will be last, and many who now are last will be first.” This tells us that the suffering and discriminations that disciples in modern day life endure will be very beneficial when their time comes in front of God. In the Cost of Discipleship it mentions
Part 2
I have chosen to talk about a modern day disciple, David Wilkerson, as I find his story moving and inspirational. David was born in the mid 1930s in Hammond, Indiana, USA. His father was a minister and he was part of a family of five. When David left school he went to Bible College for a year before becoming a member of the ministry. He was a pastor of a small church for five years before becoming a full time worker helping teenage gangs in New York try to lead a better life. In 1961 he opened a centre in Brooklyn called the Teen Challenge Centre. He put the troubled teens of New York before his work, reputation and safety. He helped them when all others had given up hope.
David shows the quality of faith as he put trust into a group of teenagers who others just saw as murderers but he wanted to help them as they were so young and wanted to get to the bottom of why they did such sins. He trusted God to guide him to the right places and to help the teenagers by keeping him safe in places for a person like David to be in was very dangerous. He approached criminal teenagers on the streets and had faith in God and the youth to keep him from harm.
David showed his quality of service as he gave up his time as a minister to help the teenagers on the New York streets. He fought for them when no one else had faith and dedicated his time to improve the way in which the teenagers ran their life. The Centre that was set up for the teens came about due to David’s hard work and efforts
Part 3
“Children can’t be disciples so they can’t be Christians either.”
Some people would agree with this statement and they would argue that the children aren’t old enough to fully understand and put into practice these qualities of discipleship. Some would say that the views the children express are not those of their own but those of their parents and schools and if they only know what they are taught and not truly feel it is right from experience they can not act on them. Until these children have their own opinions of God and what a disciple does that they wish to follow then they cannot become a true Christian as it is the belief of others and not their own. Children can be thought of as too young to carry out the many responsibilities that are accompanied with discipleship. In Mark’s gospel we are taught to ‘…forget self, carry cross and follow me.’ Some see this as a way of saying the children must give up their families, friends and possessions for a life of suffering, rejection and sacrifice to preach. To preach to people who may dismiss them would be very hurtful to children of such a young age, being innocent and vulnerable. The children at such a young age would be thought of as too young to have a complete knowledge and understanding of the Christian and disciple life and if they do not know wholly themselves then it is not possible for them to preach to others.
Others who agree with this statement would reason their view by saying that a Christian and a disciple are two different things. Some adults consider themselves good Christians but do not think they are disciples or lead a life of discipleship. These adults would follow God well and pray but not give up their possessions, money, family and friends for the sake of their faith. If adults can be Christians without being disciples then so can children. In one of Jesus’ stories 10:14-15 when talking to his disciples he says “…Let the children come to me. The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” By ‘like a child’ some think Jesus means with all the qualities of a Christian they posses whilst many adults don’t but are still thought of Christians. Children are strong in faith and very open about their beliefs. They don’t have any prejudices and are innocent, open-minded, eager to please and keen to learn. When people say that children do not have enough knowledge or understanding to be a Christian, can they really judge the young at a level so much higher than they are capable?
I disagree with this statement, as I believe that children can accept the Kingdom of God much better than many adults or teenagers. When children talk about the Kingdom of God they speak with pride and content. Even if they cannot suffer or give up their family and life for God, they can still make good Christians, better than many adults. They are a credit to Christianity where as many teenagers often abandon their faith to make time for socialising and material things. Without these pressures children always seem to make the time to pray and when they do they do so whole-heartedly. They are never to busy with work and socialising or such to pray or do it properly like many adults are. I agree that they cannot achieve many of the requirements of discipleship. I do think that they can be Christians though and very good ones too.
