How do we measure our discipleship?

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective
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Bootstrap
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How do we measure our discipleship?

Post by Bootstrap »

This is a spin-off from the Worldly thread.

How do we measure our discipleship? How do we know if our spiritual practices are hitting the target? What do you do to assess this on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, as an individual or as a group?

Let me include some things Haithabu said in that thread as food for thought.
haithabu wrote:I think of worldliness as the state of society in which its collective values and workings are governed by the effect of the flesh at work in its individual members - ie, when they are governed by their individual needs and desires as described in I John 2:15,16.
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
When we walk according to the flesh, we naturally tend toward worldliness and so we are drawn toward worldly entertainment and practices, because they serve the flesh. When people chase after power, money or status in any form, that is another form of worldliness, because the flesh also wants those things. And how much is society shaped by these pursuits - even among Christians! When church leaders engage in political machinations to bring through certain agendas, that also is a form of worldliness and the world has entered the church.
For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? I Corinthians 3:3,4
The collective effect of people walking by the flesh as described in Galatians 5:16-25 and James 3:14-16 is a poisoned social order. But to the extent that believers walk by the Spirit, society is preserved. I believe it is in this way that we are called to be salt in the earth.
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Hats Off
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Re: How do we measure our discipleship?

Post by Hats Off »

Uh - is that something I should be doing? As in "I just measured again and I am better than most others" or "uh yeh, I measure up very well so I can give myself a pat on the back." What standard are we going to measure against?
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Re: How do we measure our discipleship?

Post by Bootstrap »

Hats Off wrote:Uh - is that something I should be doing? As in "I just measured again and I am better than most others" or "uh yeh, I measure up very well so I can give myself a pat on the back." What standard are we going to measure against?
I don't think we should be comparing ourselves to others, but I do think we should be constantly asking what God wants of us, where we may be falling into sin, where we are distracted by the cares and temptations of this world, where we are chasing after power, money, and status, etc.

Not as a trophy, but as a compass.
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Re: How do we measure our discipleship?

Post by Hats Off »

Bootstrap wrote:
Hats Off wrote:Uh - is that something I should be doing? As in "I just measured again and I am better than most others" or "uh yeh, I measure up very well so I can give myself a pat on the back." What standard are we going to measure against?
I don't think we should be comparing ourselves to others, but I do think we should be constantly asking what God wants of us, where we may be falling into sin, where we are distracted by the cares and temptations of this world, where we are chasing after power, money, and status, etc.

Not as a trophy, but as a compass.
I like that underlined part.
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Re: How do we measure our discipleship?

Post by Bootstrap »

Let me give an example or two.

If I believe what Matthew 25 says, serving other people, especially those in difficulty, is important. Do I need to be doing more? If so, what exactly should I be doing?

If I believe much of the New Testament, loving my family and my wife is important. How best to do that is not easily captured in a bunch of black and white rules, and depends a lot on what is going on with them at any given time.

We read about Jesus telling the disciples to leave their boats and follow him, but often find ourselves still fishing to feed our families, and Paul kept making tents. Our discipleship often looks different from the specific things that disciples did in the New Testament, but it should at least rhyme.

So what are the best ways to reflect on our own discipleship, compare it to what we see in the Bible, and get a good sense of direction? What's the best way to get a feel for how we are doing?
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Re: How do we measure our discipleship?

Post by haithabu »

I think the pursuit of discipleship lies very close to the struggle to preserve one's first love. For me the one is tied very close to the other.
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. John 14:21
For me part of the solution is to keep myself prayerfully exposed to the ministry of the Word, and in this area there are two parts of Scripture which speak to me most powerfully: the Sermon on the Mount and the Gospel of John, especially chapters 14-17.

The first speaks to a radical obedience. Sometimes I think it is lavish obedience, just as the woman's lavish gift of oil, which both expresses and sparks that first love anew. And what is the Sermon on the Mount but a call to lavish obedience? So when I examine myself I don't just ask myself "What sins am I committing", but also what call to obedience am I ignoring?"

The second passage speaks to God's tender heart toward me and my need to maintain a reciprocal tenderness toward Him and to return to it constantly as it ebbs and flows.
My eyes are dry
My faith is old
My heart is hard
My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be
Alive to You and dead to me

But what can be done
For an old heart like mine
Soften it up
With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew
With the wine of Your Blood

- Keith Green
I think it is for this reason that those are the two parts of Scripture which always have lain closest to the top of my mind.
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