The True Meaning of Radical Discipleship

Finding the Real Revolutionary Spirit of Christ

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  Revelation 22:1-2

It is easy to allow your good intentions and motivations as a Christian to be hijacked. Many believers who have set out with great fervor to follow Jesus radically have failed to do because of this fact. It is not because they were not Christian, did not know the Bible, or did not want to do good. Rather, it as because they accepted definitions and outlines for their discipleship that were adulterated or from the wrong source. They were like a cook who set out to make an apple pie but did so using a recipe for cooking steak. There is good intentions, but since their plan and method was off, the result will never taste good regardless of the effort. The importance of following the correct recipe in your Christian life cannot be overstated. You can understand and accept the call to be radical as a Christian – on fire or completely sold out to God or on mission, but in order to live out that calling, you must look only to the original definition set out by Jesus…and that may be markedly different than what you expect.

It is only following God’s way that leads to the pure river of life.

A Thousand Ideas of Christian Extremism

If you ask many different people to describe a radical Christian, their answers will likely vary greatly depending on their backgrounds, political orientations, and church experiences. Their ideas may include people with extreme ideologies, with no real connection to Jesus other than the fact that throw Christian in the title like the Christian Identity Movement. They may come closer with thoughts of highly motivated monastic communities who take vows of silence and poverty. Even among Christians, calls to be radical tend to accompany encouragement to forsake the “normal” and set off for a distant missionary field.

The common thread among these hypothetical radical Christians is the presence of high drama and intense conflict. Living as a radical Christian must involve you seeming to be starkly different from society as a whole and usually fighting to overthrow the current way of doing things. The radical Christian takes huge risks, fights hopeless battles to save or fix something, and puts themselves at the front of a movement of some kind. He or she is depicted like a modern version of John the Baptist. John set himself apart from the culture, loudly and fearlessly condemned the sin of all of Israel and refused to back down, even when his life was on the line. You may even feel like you are not living as boldly as you should be due to the absence of dramatic ministry like John’s in your life, particularly if you were raised on a steady diet of Sunday School Bible stories.

Let Go of Trying to Fit In – Day 3

There should be a certain amount of cognitive dissonance present, though, if John is your standard and this is your definition of radical Christian. Despite his faithfulness, it is impossible to deny the fact that John the Baptist’s life and ministry is not the model you are meant to follow as a disciple of Jesus. In fact, John’s ways often clash with the example of Jesus and His teachings to the disciples and not for any bad reason. Rather, the simple and unavoidable truth is that Jesus’ plan for and direction to the New Testament disciple is not the same as his plan for and direction to John the Baptist. Put another way, John was a pre-resurrection messenger of repentance and the coming of the Messiah. John was not a post-resurrection follower of Christ called to make disciples of all nations according to the teachings of Jesus. This distinction should make all of the difference for you, even though it gets overlooked.

Go Directly to the Source – Jesus

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure…

James 3:17

Jesus could have told you to continue marching on as His disciple in the same way as He set out in the Old Testament. There is nothing wrong with the actions of the prophets and kings and God clearly directed them. Yet, Jesus instead explained what all that came before meant and pointed to, Himself, and then set out the constitution for the kingdom and guidebook for your life in the New Testament. In doing so, Jesus often shocked His audience because His mission and message for them was so different than what they were used to. A Christian cannot put new wine in old wine skins so you must look first to the New Testament as your source for the fundamentals and definitions of Jesus’ Kingdom. This obviously includes what it means is to be a radical Christian.

John expressed his radical faith by wearing camel skins and eating locusts, yet Jesus never tells you to do the same. Instead, He tells you to look to what Jesus taught, values, and emphasizes for the church as the baseline and then take those to the extreme. This picture of radical is very different than John the Baptist’s version and also likely not like many of the Christian cultural ones as well.

A Radical Disciple of Jesus

“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you…”

Matthew 4:19

The true core of great discipleship is accepting Jesus’ invitation in the very same way as Peter. This idea may seem way too simple, but He is the good Shepherd has no need for anything complicated and the calling keeps your focus where is should be, on Jesus.

Jesus beckons you to:

1 – Hear the call of Jesus.

2 – Follow Him.

3 – Let Him transform you into your role within the church.

Follow Him means much more than simply trailing behind another person. The invitation is to join Jesus as disciple and student. This means taking in the teaching and example of Rabbi Jesus and seeking to be like him in every way – in speech, thoughts, and actions. This call was also made as perfect Lord, Messiah, and King, which obviously includes doing what He tells them to do. His orders and expectations naturally deserve to be obeyed and met, even when they are unexpected and counter cultural. All this together necessarily means not just following directions, but actually understanding and adopting His worldview, loving what He loves, being saddened but makes Him sad, and acting like Jesus did as shown in the Gospels.

Follow Me as I Follow Christ

Jesus call is for you to have the same heart* as Him and to let that heart guide your life. If you want to be a radical Christian, commit your whole heart to Him.

(*heart as used in the Bible means more than just emotion. The heart was viewed as the center of all who you are as a person. It is where you made decisions in addition to from where emotions flowed. It brings deeper meaning to “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks”.)

This is perhaps best seen in the Bible when the disciples failed at it and allowed their own desire to lead them, rather than the Lord’s.

Do you remember the moment when Peter tries to rebuke Jesus over the plan of Redemption? Great example of this problem

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

You can scoff at Peter and judge his error, but the truth is he is doing what all of us are guilty of on a regular basis, being human. His words reveal his heart..and it is far from Jesus’. His own wants, expectations for Jesus, and plan for Jesus’ success lead him away from Jesus. As a result, Peter’s heart is at odds with Jesus’ and his mind craves the artificial substitute that he believes will be better for everyone involved.

Jesus’ rebuke of Peter and rejection anything but God’s plan is clear.

23But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25

The things of God simply don’t enter Peter’s thinking, but Satan’s sure do.

Please take note of the fervor and drama of Peter’s declaration. He sets himself apart and speaks boldy, but he only honors Jesus with his lips since his heart is far from Jesus. Instead of fighting, declaring, and rebuking in the name of what Peter thinks is right, Jesus gives him the foundational formula for faithful discipleship – humbly deny what he wanted, take up his challenges in doing so, and follow Jesus as Jesus commanded.

Paul encourages the same submission and adoption of the heavenly mindset out very clearly in his letters, including Colossians 3:

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

and
Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 5:5-6

These verses are likely familiar, but it may be overlooked how they point to the very heart of your faith. The foundation of your Christian life is not in the work that you do or the results you see, but in your heart devoted to loving and following Jesus and His way.

You Can be an Extraordinary Christian!

This may lead you in a fashion that is dramatically different than your expectations.

His leading is not about making you a more valuable, more active, harder working, or more involved, or more committed to serving at your church Christian. It is not about measuring your platform or impact. Rather, it is about teaching you how to love Him and trust Him more. It is about transforming your heart so that is one with His.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12

This all may be familiar to you and you may be wondering what that has to do with defining what a radical Christian looks like, as a result. The answer is, well, everything…in concept, execution, and accessibility.

An Everyday Extremist

Very few people can live cut off from the world, unattached to people, and shouting from the rooftops like John the Baptist. Yet, based on Jesus’ call, every Christian has the ability to be radical. You just need to let Him change your heart and then live that out. You can be a radical Christian wherever you are in life, without the dramatic steps that you may expect.

Reclaim Rest in Christ by Rejecting the Expectations of Man

You can be a radical Christian student, father, mother, business person, teacher, server, often without camel hair clothing and bug eating. You may be called to make a dramatic step, but for every Peter and John, there have been millions of radical Christians who live quiet and peaceful lives doing God’s will. All it takes is the heart and it is no less valuable than the alternative.

Your Invitation to Dangerous Discipleship

Are you telling me not to witness or be a missionary?

Of course not! However, sometimes in the esteem with which the church holds certain roles in the church, you can miss the fact that Jesus’ focus for the disciples is generally not your specific role, but the overflow of your heart no matter where you are. If you are His disciple, His focus for you is to

Follow Him

Fix your eyes on Him.

Love your neighbor and your enemy in the way that Jesus loves you – not just tolerate. The fact that this is the Greatest Commandment upon which the Law and Prophets hinge cannot be understated.

Love those who don’t love you and not love the world.

Allow His love to direct your feelings and compel action.

Love people so much that you put yourself last and make yourself a servant.

Live at peace with all men because Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Willingly gives up your rights for the good of others because Jesus style love is unselfish.

Consider others better than yourself, forgive others even when they are not sorry, to be kind, long suffering, not easily offended, be generous, and not be contentious because Jesus loves the church and unity so much that to do otherwise makes no sense.

Go into the world and seek out all those Jesus loves to make them disciples.

Obviously, this list does not include every command of Jesus for His people or all of the roles set out for the church. However, it is clear that Jesus is more concerned with who you are and how your heart is doing than what you do – in ministry, work, or life. He certainly does not discount your actions, but they overflow from inside you. Jesus uses the transformation He brings about in you both in your relationship with Him and with everyone around you. This is loving God and loving your neighbor, with all of the Law and the prophets hanging on these two commands from Jesus. This love is at the heart of everything you do as a Christian and it is what powers the hard things like humility, service, forgiveness, and patience. It is what made Jesus wash the feet of the disciples and what Jesus is pointing to after He finished:

“Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. John 13:12-16

Follow Jesus and He Will Make You

So if you want to be an extreme Christian, you don’t need to chase after the spectacular or cut ties with everyone and everything to live in silence in the desert. There are plenty of Christians who take this path and do so without love, a worthless effort. You can simply trust where the Lord has you now and let your heart filled with radical love, joy, peace, humility, and patience. You can be an extremist disciple and take Jesus seriously when He told you that the greatest among the church shall be the least and to build up treasures in heaven. You can be an fanatical Christian by loving your enemies, neighbors, friends, and other Christians with the same sort of love that Jesus has for you. You can even think others better than yourself, be united with the whole church, and not fight over disputed things or the matters of the world. You can not change any of the metrics by which the world judges you, relationships, job, home, and the like, but still be a revolutionary who rocks the world around you. The question to answer is whether you want to do it Jesus way or yours?

So if you add these factors all together, it becomes obvious that many of the contemporary ideas of what a radical Christian looks like, both inside and outside the church are much like the artificial ingredients that still show up in your food. They seem good in concept, but will leave you feeing badly and may be downright harmful. Jesus’ definition is very different and is pure and sweet. Anyone who wants to live a life that shines brightly for Jesus, needs only to look to the way that was set out by Jesus and open to every Christian. Let your heart be molded by Jesus and hear His calling. Follow Him and do whatever Jesus asks in the way He modeled, foregoing the world’s version in the process. That is what really changes the world for Jesus.

Hear Jesus call, follow Him, and let Him make you into His ambassador of love and peace, wherever He places you.

God is Love