"It is not possible to be a true disciple of Jesus in the modern world" , do you agree, give reasons for your answer, showing you have considered more than one point of view, refer to Christianity in your answer.
A03, DISCIPLESHIP COURSEWORK.
QUESTION:
"It is not possible to be a true disciple of Jesus in the modern world" , do you agree, give reasons for your answer, showing you have considered more than one point of view, refer to Christianity in your answer.
ANSWER:
No I do not agree with the statement " It is not possible to be a true disciple of Jesus in the modern world"
Discipleship means denying yourself, carrying your cross and following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. A disciple is a person who devotes their life and follows the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ .Discipleship involves making material sacrifices. Obviously there are several differences in our world today and the world of Jesus' such modern technology nowadays, such as computers, telephones, mobile phones and so on, whereas in Jesus' day these things were completely unheard of. These differences make our world today completely different to that of which Jesus would have lived in however in my opinion discipleship still exists in our world today.
Calling today can be described as 'vocation' . We are all called to continue the good work of Jesus Christ, we as Christians work and pray for the growth of the kingdom of God on earth. Priest and Nuns are also called, they live the values of Jesus in our world today, and from this they give witness to others . Just like the first disciples, we as Christians today are all given the part to play in continuing the work of building god's kingdom we can do this by teaching our children the faith of the catholic ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Calling today can be described as 'vocation' . We are all called to continue the good work of Jesus Christ, we as Christians work and pray for the growth of the kingdom of God on earth. Priest and Nuns are also called, they live the values of Jesus in our world today, and from this they give witness to others . Just like the first disciples, we as Christians today are all given the part to play in continuing the work of building god's kingdom we can do this by teaching our children the faith of the catholic church and showing a good example to others who may have little faith, these people need the help of others to lead them in the write path. We are all given qualities, examples of some of these are, talents to help others, charity workers, and so on. When baptised we are welcomed into Gods family 'the Christian community' and by being apart of this family we all have responsibilities just like we have in our own families. In the modern world we can do simple things to be a disciple of Jesus, some of these being by helping around your house to take the stress from your parents, by helping someone out who is in need of help, by fighting any temptations you may come across, by helping the elderly, by taking God into the world of school, work and home, all of these are responsibilities which we as Christians have today. By carrying out responsibilities such as these we are being disciples of Jesus.
'Go in peace to love and serve the lord' we hear this quotation at mass where we come together as members of gods family, a Christian unity, we are living the Eucharist. We can go in peace to love and serve the lord in many different ways, We respond to God by actively living his love for others, to be more caring, kind, forgiving, helpful, charitable, giving and less selfish and sinful. We live the Lords life by caring, by understanding as he understood, by loving as he loved. As quoted from the Corinthians chapter 12 ,verse 12, 'The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.' there is a place for every one in Gods kingdom, nobody is different, we are all equal. Gods way is one of love, forgiveness and compassion, Gods kingdom is for everyone. As seen in Marks gospel when Jesus choose the twelve disciples, he didn't choose particular men, he randomly choose twelve men, who to him were all equal. When attending church we as Christians come together as part of the same family, Gods family.
To become a disciple of Jesus, the disciples had to change there whole way of life, they were so devoted to Jesus they left everything they had and important to them behind, they left their families, friends and jobs behind to become followers of him. As I previously mentioned in my introduction, to become a disciple meant having to devote their life to Jesus and follow the ways and teachings of him, several material sacrifices had to be made. In our modern world today there are also people who do similar, Such as people who use there wealth to help others such as Sir Cliff Richard, Bono, Bob Geldoff and so on. By sacrificing a percentage of the money these people earn they are helping others around the world who greatly need it, this shows how they are kind caring generous people. People like Mother Teresa and Archbishop Romero also made great sacrifices, even as far as sacrificing their very own life., people like these show how a true disciples should live, they are great role models for Christians today to follow, It is people like these who show us how to help expand the kingdom of god . They show it is possible to a true disciple in the modern world.
As I come to the conclusion of my essay I think I have expressed my views clearly ,that I do think it is possible to be a true disciple of Jesus in the modern world. Jesus continues to live in the world today through the believing community of the Christian family. We as disciples are individual followers of Jesus Christ who imitate his life and base our ideas on his life. The building of the kingdom of god is an on going process.