If our focus is to be on abiding and thus on being not on doing then it seems that the culturally accepted view of discipleship is wrong. Most American evangelical churches take the Great Commission and the Great Commandment and create some four or five action steps to indicate discipleship. Then the church leaders sit back and think up a quantifiable way to measure what a person looks like if they do those core priorities in their church. Such an approach puts the emphasis on doing and not on being, indirectly re-enforcing the idea that we are sanctified by our works.
In effort to not deconstruct alone, which is not very helpful in shepherding, I've been trying to think through a "grace" perspective. First the Great Commission and Great Commandment were not given to quantify the Christian life but be essential to our DNA. Therefore, they ought not be made into a checklist but rather be who we are: lovers of God and people on the sojourn of pointing people to Jesus in this life. Second if we understand that we are sanctified by grace (and not our checklist) then we must Listen, Adore and Cooperate with Jesus!
Listen: Jesus only did the will of the Father and went away to pray late at night, all night, early in the morning, on the lake, up on the mountain…you get the idea. So our part in abiding is to "be still and know", we listen. We listen, in our prayer time but also in the Word; thereby, not staying Biblically illiterate.
Adore: we love Jesus! We worship Him and keep our eyes on Him and present all that we are to Him. So in much more then singing on a Sunday morning we abide in conscience appreciation for His functional life source.
Cooperate: as Jesus listened to the Father, the Father had stuff for Him to do. This understanding of grace does not mean we live a monastic life of sitting on our hands. Rather, Jesus leads us to cooperate with Him in the tasks that He will do through us. In abiding we do not produce the fruit, He does; our role is to show it off, be the vessel of bearing the fruit.
I realize this incorporates some of the same elements of the checklisters, but again remember the Great Commission and Great Commandment are in our DNA. Still this is more than rehashing old ideas in new clothing because this is coming from a different theological and philosophy of ministry grid. Or at least it is coming from a shepherding perspective of "how can I communicate discipleship and not lead people into a sanctified by works paradigm"?
