If I were to give a broad brush view of discipleship it would be to say that the essence of Christian discipleship is 'taking the words of Jesus and putting them into practice'. There is an unmistakable emphasis on obedience in the New Testament but this obedience is portrayed as rooted in passionate devotion to the saviour: one that is birthed out of love. This then leads to freedom, love for others, strength, rootedness, joy, peace, life etc. Given this as the backdrop, the issues that I see as pressing for those who disciple others in the Christian life in our contemporary society are the concepts of dying to self through self-control, and the regulating of desire.
The more that my husband and I pastor young people, the more I think these are crucial issues for a society that is immersed in and overwhelmed by consumerism and the reality of instant gratification – with 'instant' having a meaning that those of us who were not brought up with the internet are still not entirely familiar with.
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Dr Lucy Peppiatt is the principal of Westminster Theological Centre and author of The Disciple: On Becoming Truly Human
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