Disciple of Jesus or "child of hell?"                             "Where the world seeks gain, the Christian will renounce it. Where the world exploits, he will dispossess himself, and where the world oppresses, he will stoop down and raise up the oppressed. If the world refuses justice, the Christian will pursue mercy, and if the world takes refuge in lies, he will open his mouth of the dumb, and bear testimony to the truth. For the sake of his brother, be he Jew or Greek, bond or free, strong or weak, noble or base, he will renounce all fellowship with the world. For the Christian serves the fellowship of the Body of Christ, and he cannot hide it from the world. He is called out of the world to follow Christ.”                                                                                                                                                 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Bonhoeffer's "The Cost of Discipleship" has had more of an impact, outside of God's own Word, than any book I've ever read. I am deeply troubled over what the church today, and many self-professing 'disciples of Jesus' (and I consider my own faults in this evaluation), have SETTLED for in terms of claiming to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus. I am afraid we have institutionalized discipleship, stripping away the rawness, transparency, authenticity we see Jesus describe in passages like the "Sermon on the Mount," Matt. 5-7,  and Christ's hard teaching on discipleship in Luke 14:25-33. I'm in a relationship with a few brothers in Christ, most from different churches than where I pastor, and we can get real, "get into one another's faces and business." We even occasionally anger one another, but our desire is to help the other one recognize his faults, blind spots and weaknesses. It's hard to develop such discipleship, accountability driven groups, and I have tried and failed often to get men to engage in true discipleship! But...the brothers I regularly meet with (one who just reached out to me today, when I really needed some encouragement) address the issues that must be addressed to assist us in pursuing Christ more passionately, and conforming our lives to his example.

I am afraid that the kind of "discipleship" being developed and multiplied by far too many was spoken of by Jesus in Matt. 23:15, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves." Discipleship is NOT to become "more like Jesus" ONLY in our knowledge of Scripture, moral behavior, ability to point out all the failures of others, etc. and I've had sharp conflict with many who have adopted and are proliferating THAT model of "discipleship!" A "self-righteous" misapplication of discipleship is often what is posted by professing Christians (and THIS one has been guilty) on social media and even blogs such as this one while ignoring the things Bonhoeffer spoke of. Too often, we post a "rant," being sure to include a verse, often taken out of context I might add, to "Christianize" what we want to make a point about. Jesus didn't realize so many of his words were about political issues!😉 Bonhoeffer's burden and quest for justice, mercy and compassion for the marginalized, oppressed, disillusioned and persecuted cost him financially, in personal and even ministry related renown and eventually resulted in his death. 

Could it be that the most authentic followers of Jesus can't be found with catchy quotes on social media, and that maybe some currently leading small groups, d groups, bible studies, etc., or who are at church every time the door opens are the kinds of "disciples" Jesus was warning about in Matt. 23? Do we constantly evaluate ourselves and ask, "Do I possess and reflect the heart of Jesus in the things I am most passionate about, most burdened with, and most vocal about and known for? Do I seek to know which attributes of Christ are available to me, and am I seeking to possess and emulate them?" The Pharisees Christ spoke of were more "religious" than any of us will ever be! They had simply determined in their hearts that their appearance, behavior, performances and ability to point out YOUR sin, and even their disdain for the Roman government made them more godly than "the rest!" I got to witness and come along side students who served people fitting Bonhoeffer's description of those in need of grace, mercy, compassion as they ministered mostly in obscurity last week. Most of those students have their own issues - struggles with immorality, materialism, popularity, self identity and self image issues, etc. Let's be a generation of true Christ followers who model authentic, biblical discipleship rather than Phariseeism and shaming and/or dismissing and discouraging them for not being like us! The world has enough "children of hell," I want to be checking myself to make sure that moniker can't be said about me!