Our Journey into Discipleship
What do you think about when you hear certain words? It’s a natural human instinct to react to words that we hear based on our understanding of the words and our past experiences with those words. We have all seen the psychological word test where we say the word that first comes to mind when we hear a certain word. Say “cat,” say “dog,” say “island,” say “ocean,” and so on. What do you think about when you hear words like “Stewardship” and “Discipleship”? Many people would respond with “money” for “Stewardship” and almost any word in the English language besides “Catholic” for “Discipleship.” Why do we react this way to words that are used so often throughout scripture and used by Jesus himself in his parables of teaching so often? It is all based on our own past life experiences.
Let’s start our journey by casting a clear vision.
Jesus taught his disciples many things while he was among them. His teachings culminate in one succinct and direct command before he ascends to the Father, and we find that command in Matthew 28:18-20, where the Lord charges them, and us, by saying,
All power on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.
Thirty-three years of life, three years of ministering and teaching His disciples, betrayal by His friends, an unjust trial, a horrid torture, a humiliating and excruciatingly painful death, a secret burial, and the resurrection all culminate in this command that He gives to us… “Go therefore and make disciples!” The Lord gives us this command and in doing so invites us, more accurately “voluntells” us, into ministry with Him. What is that ministry? It is to do the will of the Father. What is the will of the Father? It is to bring the kingdom of heaven to the world. This is our vision as missionary disciples-to bring God’s kingdom to the world. Everything we do in our lives must be seen and done in reference to this charge of the Lord. We are called by the Lord himself to help him, to cooperate with his will, to bring salvation to the world. This is our vision to begin our journey and to keep before us as we move deeper into discipleship with Jesus.
Let’s put our vision into action by creating a way, a clear path, to discipleship.
Teachings on stewardship, or being a steward, are found in the Bible from the Book of Genesis all the way through the New Testament. What is stewardship, and why is it often a point of teaching of the Lord? Merriam-Webster defines the word stewardship as follows: “the conducting, supervising, or managing of something especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.”
If you said the word “stewardship” to 100 people, do you know what 99 of those people will instantly think? You got it….MONEY! Why? Because we have become accustomed to associating money with stewardship, especially in the Church! If your parish has a “stewardship campaign” is it focused on raising up stewards? Probably not, it is more likely associated with raising the offertory or money for a project.
Go back and reread that part of the definition of the word “stewardship” that begins with “especially.” Now think of your life in relationship to that phrase. The Lord’s teaching on stewardship as part of our discipleship in him is centered on love: his love for us, our love for him, and our love for each other, our brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus (Matt 22:37-40). Was not Jesus’ life a life of service and love? Was not the greatest act of love in the history of the world the giving of his life for ours in fulfillment of his Father’s will? Of course it was, and that is what we are called to do-to live our lives as good stewards of the gifts and graces of God.
If our only gift from God were money, then our instinct to think of money when we hear the word “stewardship” would be right on the money...no pun intended. However, as disciples, we know that EVERYTHING we have is a gift from Almighty God. The air we breathe? Yes he created it and gives it to us. The food we eat? Yes, all his doing. The talents and skills we have to produce work and an income to live in the world? Again, yes, it all comes from him. Our moms, dads, sons, daughters, cousins, nephews, nieces, and all our in-laws? Yes, a gift from him. What about our priests, deacons, sisters, and the laity that always “gets it done” at the parish and for the Church? Yes, all gifts from God, given in love to us, so that we can more fully participate in his will to bring salvation not only to ourselves but also to others.
God gives us these gifts, literally everything we have, possess, and know, freely and out of love for us. God only asks us to use them for good and to help bring his Kingdom to the world. By our Baptism we become adopted children of the Most High God. By receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus at Mass we publicly profess our “communion” with the teachings of Christ and his Church. By professing our belief in Jesus, we also incur the responsibility he gave to his disciples to “Go, therefore, and make disciples...”
With a vision of cooperation with God to bring salvation to the world, our clear path to that vision is to lead a life of stewardship, giving of ourselves to Christ and His Mystical Body, the Church, we are now ready to charge forward…..but how?
“Follow me!” (motto of the United States Army Infantry School)
Whenever something needs to be done, we need leaders to help us get it done. Leadership manifests itself in many forms. It is not always the General Patton type of personality, standing tall in a perfect uniform commanding respect and barking orders to eager troops. Leadership can often be disguised in hard word, thankless jobs, and the “quiet behind the scenes” actions of people. Have you ever noticed that your parish is decorated beautifully for Christmas and Easter Masses? Do you think elves and bunnies do that decorating? No, but leaders do. Have you ever gone to a Bible study at your parish with all the chairs, tables, food, and drink ready for your arrival? Who does that? Leaders do! Have you seen our brothers and sisters receiving help in the form of food, water, and shelter after a storm or some type of disaster? Who collects, organizes and distributes all that stuff? Leaders do! “Leadership” is another one of those words that conjures up images of fearless men and women standing before an unwinnable situation and somehow finding the way to win. Yes, those are types of leaders, but they are not as common as you think. The real leaders in our lives are the people who care for us, who love us, who nurture us both physically and spiritually. They are our family, our religious sisters, deacons, priests, and bishops. In living a life of true Catholic stewardship we are all called to be leaders in some way. We are leaders when we are faithful in prayer. We are leaders when we are faithful in participating in the life and mission of the parish, especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, our single greatest gift that God has offered to us freely. We are leaders when we live our lives in accordance with the teachings of Christ and the Church, and when we actively invite our family, friends, and even strangers into that life of grace and holiness. This is a simple way to cooperate with the will of God to make disciples. Will it always be easy? Of course not. In every relationship there is a cost and a reward. The conditions set for being a disciples of Jesus are set clearly in Matthew 16:24-28:
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then He will repay everyone according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The price of leadership in being a disciple is extremely high in terms of this world, but the rewards are eternally awesome! Will you be a leader for the cause of Christ the Lord?
Alignment….it’s not just for your car!
Have you ever been a part of a team tasked with a job or a project? You get together, discuss what is needed, gather supplies and then strike off on your own to start working to add your own individual piece to the puzzle. Have you ever gotten to the end, and had several great pieces that just didn’t fit together in the big puzzle picture? That’s where the importance of alignment of purpose and action come into the scene.
As leaders, (and we are all called to be leaders for Christ, right?) we all have our idea of how things should go. That idea must be aligned with the bigger picture, in this case the vision, pathway, and leadership that Christ calls us to in our lives. To change our own hearts, our families, our communities, the Church, we need not “swing for the fence” in an attempt to hit the grand slam home run for salvation. What we do need is to be disciplined (there’s that word “disciple” hiding in plain view) in our own thoughts and actions and to be constantly moving the ball forward a few yards every day in our own lives. When we do this, we begin to grow a little bit more in discipleship each day. When we begin to grow daily, we begin to witness to those around us in our daily lives: our family, friends, fellow parishioners, and colleagues. A popular phrase is “a crowd attracts a crowd.” Test it yourself some time by trying to walk past something a crowd has gathered around. You just can’t help but give it a peek and watch what everyone else is watching. This is a great model to use in drawing people to a more stewardship-centered life. Get 100 people working at your parish, school or ministry on a Saturday and watch how many people drive up to see what all the hubbub’s about.
The more we begin to live our lives grounded in the fact that all we have belongs to Him and it’s just on loan to us while we are here, the more we will value these gifts and use them to draw ourselves and those around us to the One who calls us into a life of stewardship, Jesus the Lord.