Hart and Muether on "discipleship"
from D. G. Hart and John R. Muether, With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2002), p. 46.
Sometimes Presbyterians really put us Baptists to shame.
"What then is discipleship? To many people it means assimilation. This is the process of getting new members more fully involved in the life of the church, whether through Vacation Bible School or small-group Bible studies, singing in the choir, or serving in the nursery. We prefer, however, to use an older phrase--Christian nurture--to describe the process of discipleship. In this sense discipleship means being conformed to the whole counsel of God as it is revealed in his only begotten Son. It trains God's people for good works and sustains them with spiritual food for their pilgrimage in the wilderness of this world. Christian nurture sees salvation not as a momentary occurrence but as a continuous and arduous process, from which all Christians are prone to wander. It acknowledges that God's people are in need of salvation continually, from regeneration until death. In other words, the way to measure discipleship may have less to do with how active one is in the programs of the church than with how effective the people of God are in resisting worldliness."
Sometimes Presbyterians really put us Baptists to shame.
posted by Ryan Martin at 3/06/2006 07:25:00 AM
3 Comments:
We Baptists don't define progressive sanctification as church participation(do we?) although we're glad to see the spiritual life of Gal. 2:20 manifest itself in different ways. How are we put to shame-definitionally or practically?
I think we sometimes promote practically the idea that Hart and Muether are saying is not discipleship. I do not believe that we stress enough our teaching "the whole counsel of God" as a foundational part of their discipleship. We want them to be "active" in the Church instead. And although believers should serve the Body, this can too easily become the end. How often do we here, "oh yes, so-and-so got saved and now they're involved with the such-and-such ministry."
By the way, Tim, thanks for stopping by. The problem with generalizations is that there are always exceptions. I am happy for any exceptions that exist! Perhaps my impression of Baptist ways is faulty here.
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