Discipleship

Discipleship is a lifelong journey of living out and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. (via Women of the ELCA)

Luke 9:23

Then he said to them all, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

God’s Way of Turning the World Upside Down

Discipleship means following Jesus, making us ambassadors for Christ. In turning toward us, God demonstrates God’s choice to work not alone. Christ the great delegator. Jesus didn’t ask the intellectual question, “Hey, does my teaching make sense?” He commanded the vocational, “Follow me.” The God who mugged church enemy number one, Saul, is the God who refuses to stay dead and delights in working up the unlikeliest of people into a chosen vessel to bear my name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, making Paul the mere disciple. And if God could choose a person like Saul, hey, God could choose anybody. Discipleship is the way Christ rescues you from vain attempts to try to make something of your life on your own. God gives you a job that’s more important than you. Faced with a broken world, creation out of kilter, God doesn’t send in the Marines. No, God cast forth the meek, foolish, and weak: us. Having called the 12 with mixed results, next thing you know, Jesus sends out 70 two by two. His work is too dangerous to do solo. And they return with joy, amazed. “Hey, it works. Even the demons obey us… though we’ve had not any theological training” and Jesus replies, “Hey, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” Even with our many limitations, we are Christ’s major means of dethroning Satan. We are God’s way of turning the world upside down so that God can put things right side up.
-Rev. Will Willimon, “God Turned Toward Us: Christian ABCs” (2025)

Prayer & Reflection

God has sent YOU into this world to turn things upside down. But, God hasn’t sent you alone. Make a plan to have a conversation with a friend or someone from church about what it means to do this work together.