The Cost of Discipleship

I work for SU Queensland and our organization was treated to some inspiring Bible teaching at our recent Staff Conference held on the Sunshine Coast. Stephen Gaukroger (UK) was our guest speaker and he led us through a challenging series from the first 6 chapters of the book of Daniel. His talks were very much concerned with the question of how God's people can remain true to Him in a secular/pagan world.

During one of his talks, Stephen made the intriguing comment that in our current secular/neo-pagan world (in the West), evangelism of young people is relatively easy ('converts' readily available - especially when attained in the consumerist arena of emotive rock concert experiences) but discipleship of them is virtually impossible. He compared this to the pagan kings of Daniel's time who, when repeatedly confronted with the awesome reality of the living God, acknowledged Yahweh, but would not grant Him exclusivity in their pantheon of other gods.

In order to follow up on some of these thoughts, I have begun re-reading "The Cost of Discipleship" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer's classic on Christ's Sermon on the Mount, written in 1937) as Gaukroger suggested. I have been deeply confronted about the exclusive nature of the calling of Christ. Bonhoeffer sums it up brilliantly when he exclaims, "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die". Are we calling young people to forsake all for the way of the Cross?

Obviously I have been thinking about the place of the Scriptures in all of this. Discipleship cannot be about getting young people to add on all the paraphernalia of Christianity (read your Bible, pray, go to church, wear WWJD braclet, buy Hillsong United CD). Discipleship must be about assisting young people to reject all narratives that the world offers (there are many!) for the one narrative of the Way of the Cross. If we try to get young people to add the Bible to their life as it stands, I think it will be powerless and disengaging. We must encourage young to make this story (Biblical revelation) their own story exclusively. They must be encouraged to listen to no other voice but the Word of God.

Big ask...but the stakes are high! Maybe I should begin by getting this right myself?!