Identity: Disciple of Christ

Would you self identify as a "Disciple" of Jesus Christ?  No, really, I am serious here.  I can remember a time when I would have said, "I go to church."  Which then dissolved in my college years to "I used to go to church."  Then upon graduation from college God found me again! (Hallelujah!) In those days I would have called myself a "Christian."  But my self understanding was not one in which I thought of myself as a disciplined follower of Jesus of Nazareth.

Yesterday I read a very interesting article by Dr. Timothy J. Wengert of Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia called "Martin Luther's Movement toward an Apostolic Self-Awareness as Reflected in His Early Letters." In it, Dr. Wengert makes the case that Luther moved in his own self understanding from "obedient servant" of Christ to "Apostle."  Luther thought of himself as a preacher and teacher to be sure, but noted that he became a reformer of the church quite by accident.  God was behind that one.

After the Diet of Worms (1521) where the Church Leaders demanded that he recant (which we know he did not) his self understanding begins to change.  With the struggles in Wittenberg that followed the Diet, Luther's call as a reformer of the church begins to grow and  change as he has to respond to "false brethren" around him, such as Karlstadt, Muntzer, and Agricola to name a few.  The greetings in his letters become more and more Pauline as he begins them with "Grace and peace" rather than the name "Jesus" that usually marked the top of his writings.  He added a Thanksgiving to his letters in the way that Paul did as he wrote to (most) the churches in his ministry.  Rather than signing his letters with the title "Augustinian" as he had before, Luther closes his letters with a Paul-like blessing.  His growing awareness that he is an "Apostle" for Christ and that through the gospel he has been given apostolic authority is evidenced by growing self identification as an evangelist.

So back to YOUR self-identification. . .  do you see yourself as a Disciple?  One who is a follower, a student, a worker for Christ in the world?  To be a disciple is to be obedient to Christ.  It is not a casual thing, something to say for the sake of conversation.  There has been put a call on your life; at your baptism you were adopted by God and now you are being trained for work in God's kingdom.  Each week in worship you are sent out to do God's will-- at your job, in your family, with your neighbors, at the school where your children attend, in the community.  You can do that however you like, the possibilities are unlimited!  But it all boils down to how you see yourself.  Do you simply "go to church?"  Or are you a "disciple" of Jesus Christ?  There is a qualitative, spirit-filled difference.
Peace be with you as you go out into the world with Jesus and for Jesus!  Amen.

Image Credit:  http://www.luther.de/en/worms.html