Discipleship, transparency and transformation
Photo by Duncan Kidd via Unsplash
I enjoy visiting local barbershops when moving into a new area. It’s a great place to make friends and I've found a really cool spot close to where we now live. The owners, two ladies, are dynamic, creative and very influential. After showing interest in them and the business, they shared how recently they got into trouble for posting the following on social media, "Men, we are looking for models to come for a free beard trim". Some of their followers felt excluded and hurt, because they have beards, but do not associate as being Men.
My new friends were caught off guard and felt misunderstood. Being in a same sex relationship they have always seen themselves on the side of the 'oppressed' rather than the 'oppressor'. We reflected on how painful it is when we feel misunderstood or judged unfairly. They commented how difficult it is to know what is truth these days and I then asked, "We all learn from someone about what is true and how to live, who do you learn from?"
The conversation is ongoing... But it got me thinking. How is the Gospel good news to a growing community of young people struggling with their sexual identities? How do we as spokespeople for Jesus present the Gospel to a community that has been deeply hurt, feels misunderstood and most likely carries some serious misconceptions about who Jesus is. Jesus had strong sayings and hard asks, but it was the people that did not fit into the socially acceptable categories of the day that felt most welcome in his presence. How did He do it?
A friend once shared his experience of meeting Jesus for the first time, "I was living on the streets at the time, and when I turned my heart to Him, I heard these words, I feel no shame about you my son, I love you". Jesus did not exclude anyone from His teachings and miracles; He invited Roman centurions (Mt 8:5-13), tax collectors (Luke 19:1-10), Samaritans (Luke 10:25-37), "unclean" lepers (Mt 8, Luke 17:11-19), and "unclean" women (Mark 5:25-34, Mt 5:27-23, Luke 7:36-50) to follow Him.
In Hamburg we opened our home and offered prayer to the sick and those struggling with fear. I will never forget when Claudette, a trans-woman, came to our home. When we asked what he wanted, he replied "I want freedom". To be honest, when I first saw Claudette, I thought he simply needed repentance. After hearing Claudette's story of abuse, pain, judgement and hypocrisy I realised, that this is a person that is not simply a sinner, but someone that has been sinned against. He did not only need repentance, but he needed mercy, he needed someone to take his hand. So in our awkwardness we simply took Claudette’s hands and asked Jesus for a blessing and for freedom from his pain. That night was the first night Claudette slept well in years. Whilst praying for Claudette, I felt God saying "before I made him a man or a woman, I made him my child". For Claudette the good news was, "To all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God”.
I am thankful for this experience and for the countless stories we've heard from Syrian friends fleeing a brutal war and encountering a merciful Jesus on the way. These stories and similar experiences changed me. I went from one of those people that did not want to judge, but was judging, to all of a sudden seeing Jesus was on the side of our Syrian Muslim friends, on the side of prostitutes, pimps and trans-women, offering mercy.
You might ask, when do we start addressing sinful behaviour? When do we talk about the elephant in the room? Jesus did tell the 5000, "You are only following me for the food I can give you, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you". Wow, that is a hard saying and as you know many stopped following Him that day. Our King does require obedience. But consider the way He approached the woman at the well in John 4:4. Fighting through her insecurities, pain and cultural biases, finally she saw Him and tasted His goodness. Obedience was a very natural, intimate and a deeply joyful next step for her.
I am learning that it's all about discipleship! Discipleship that pulls rather than pushes and is more about deep transformation into Jesus’ likeness than editing people’s behaviour. The type of discipleship that starts even before someone follows Jesus. It's helping people see Jesus, live His life and experience it to be true. It is an art that we hope to learn about for the rest of our lives. If you have read the words of Jesus, you might have come to the same conclusion; it's hard to avoid. I went through a period where my Gospel had very little to do with discipleship and becoming like Jesus and more to do with proper belief. This made ministering to people very hard. Ministering to people felt more like pestering people.
Something to consider:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
What is Jesus' definition of a disciple? What was His method of teaching? What is His definition of obedience? What did He command us to do? What is your Gospel? How is the Gospel good news to those we are serving? Jesus, how can we be your disciples today?
About the author: Marko lives in Jamestown, South-Africa and is married to Maxie and the proud father of twins. Marko and Maxie have been involved in church planting for the last 10 years in Jordan, Hamburg and Africa. He is part of the Win A City team and desires to see Jesus' movements in several key cities. If you would like to subscribe to their newsletter, please click here:
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