Christianity Without Discipleship

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:18:34 -0500

I’ve been haunted by a quote I read recently by Detrich Bonhoeffer:

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

This statement is up-front in saying that without discipleship, Christianity doesn’t exist, because following Jesus activates the Christian faith.

Sadly, non-discipleship “Christianity” dominates the thinking of the American church. Share if you disagree. Many Christians are walking around with a “grace and forgiveness only” theology.

Dallas Willard once said “We have not only been saved by grace, we have been paralyzed by it.” How will you change this mindset with yourself and the people God has entrusted to you?

Questions to consider:

What is your understanding of discipleship? Compare it to how Jesus discipled.
Are you pursuing and practicing discipleship as a follower of Christ or have you settled for “grace and forgiveness only” theology?
Are you using the doctrine of justification by faith and God’s grace to teach that people don’t really need to follow Jesus to be Christians?

Mark Satterfield

Christianity Without Discipleship