We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2010
Summary
In this study we have focused on discipleship of Jesus in a quite specific sense: the discipleship to which Jesus himself actually called his hearers during his ministry in first-century Palestine. The outlines of that call and of the discipleship to which he called are clear.
(1) It begins from God and focuses on God. God's rule as Creator and as the one who alone can command allegiance and accountability from all created beings is the primary motive for discipleship. The call is primarily for life and living to be oriented entirely in accordance with that fact – to seek first the Kingdom of God. It is an urgent call: To delay might be not only dangerous, but fatal.
The discipleship to which Jesus called also turned upside down the social and religious conventions of his day.
(2) It gave first place to the poor (“pride of place” would distort the emphasis). The Kingdom of God is theirs! Not as something which can be imposed or fully implemented in this age; but as a recognition of God's priorities, in contrast to those of human society, and as an enabling to live and work within the structures and relationships of this age in the light of these priorities.
(3) It gave equal first place to sinners – those marginalized or even excluded from the circle of God's favor by the righteous. Jesus' call to discipleship is a permanent warning against any form of discipleship which exists by drawing tight definitions and strictly controlled practices round it as a barrier cutting itself off from others. His discipleship is rather to be characterized by the outgoing love, acceptance, and service which marked his own ministry.
[…]
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
