Discipleship: An Expression of Pride?
Over the years, it has become increasingly obvious for me to recognize pride in my own heart. Of course, it would be prideful to think that this self-examination is done perfectly. Yet, it is obvious that youthful ignorance tends to blind oneself to any sense of personal pride while aged wisdom tends to recognize pride swelling in the heart quicker than before (if we have been growing in the grace of God).
I think the same has been true in ministry. As the years have gone by, and the number of people one encounters inevitably increases, recognizing pride in general becomes more common. Here, I do not mean recognizing pride merely in myself, but also pride in others. Certainly, I am no reader of the heart. Still, if time teaches us anything it teaches that the ways of humanity are unchanging. The prideful tendencies, and the ways that pride is expressed, usually follow the same steps and patterns as before even if they may go around with new names.
Why do I labor to share a few thoughts about pride? Because I fear that pride is more often the motivation of our discipleship than we care to admit. In fact, I wonder if pride motivates our discipleship endeavors more than the spiritual well-being of those whom we disciple?
Discipleship happens in a variety of ways. It can take place between two people, it can take place in a small group, and/or it can take place in the life of a congregation. Hopefully it is taking place in all three ways. Fundamentally, discipleship requires at least a singular individual spiritually investing into someone else. It is here that pride can begin to take root if we are not careful. It might take root in the one investing in others or in the one being discipled. Either way, if we are not aware of the intention of discipleship, pride may morph it into something it should not be.
Here are two thoughts on discipleship that I think might address and prevent pride from taking hold.
1. Discipleship is Set Toward Another
As I stated earlier, discipleship requires at least one person investing in another. This requires the exhortation, encouragement, confrontation, and instruction of one into the life of another. Which means it also requires vulnerability. It is in this process of sharing life and exhortation that a certain temptation tends to grow. It becomes easy to think that our job in discipleship is to make people into our vision of mature Christians. We can forget that we are to point them to Christ and exhort them to imitate Him.
In other words, the great temptation in discipleship is to make people into our own image rather than the image of Christ. It is tempting to try to make them like us. It is tempting to desire to live vicariously through those we disciple. It is easy to try to impose our understanding of Christ onto others. When we do, we actually do little more than call them to our standard of holiness rather than God’s.
Discipleship is not about forming people according to the molds we have in our minds. Discipleship is about regularly pointing to and exhorting others to follow the person of Jesus Christ. If we forget this great, central goal of discipleship, we will crack open the door to pride. Before we know it, we begin to think that we are engaged in Christian discipleship when in reality we are engaged in making people into better versions of ourselves.
2. Discipleship is More than Instructing
Over the years, I have watched as people try to disciple the church in various settings and circumstances. Most often this happens in Bible study or discussion groups. But sometimes, these disciple-makers actually undercut the very discipleship process.
If you have been in church for some time then it is likely you know what I am referring to. There is that one person that always has something to say. They have an answer to every question, a thought for every verse, and a comment for every comment. Furthermore, they are always right. They speak in statements and never ask questions. They are never confused. They have all the insight.
Such people are naïve to what they are doing. They talk at people rather than to people. They spout lots of knowledge, but actually instruct no one. They fail to realize that, far from being helpful, they are actually being harmful. Indeed, they miss the point of discipleship altogether.
Sometimes the best thing to do for the spiritual growth of others is to silently let them wrestle out the truth of God’s Word. Of course, we do not want them to fall into error. But we can watch them from afar as they are forced to reason, contemplate, analyze, and cultivate a proper understanding of the Scriptures. If we continue to talk at someone, they will never be forced to think about the Bible for themselves or learn how to personally discern truth.
Discipleship is far more than telling people the right answers. Sometimes it is actually remaining silent and forcing others to do the digging. This is often the best test to see if others are growing and developing in the Christian walk.
Jesus employed this same test. As we watch Jesus interact with His disciples, this is how we find Him disciple them. He teaches them, yes, but He also sends them out. He sends them to other towns (Mark 3:14, 6:7). He has them baptize others (John 4:2). He makes them prepare the feasts and disperse the foods (Matthew 14:19). He has them teach and interpret. In other words, we find Jesus letting His disciples stumble through life on their own so that they can properly learn to walk and stand for Him on their own.
Next time you are tempted to speak and give the answer consider patiently allowing others to wrestle together. If you are more concerned with their spiritual good rather than your prideful positions then you will find much joy in watching them grow through this process of trial and error.
