Intentional Discipleship

Taking the next step on the journey to Jesus

04/19/2018

Acts of the apostles 8:26-40 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” So he got up and set out.  Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. This was the Scripture passage he was reading: Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth. Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him. As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued on his way rejoicing.

I believe every man, woman and child who has ever lived is on a journey to Jesus. Now, sometimes that path is “explicit” as when someone knows Jesus and becomes his disciple formally and firmly. But sometimes it remains “implicit,” like when someone simply tries to lead a good life by obeying the voice of their conscience. Theologian Karl Rahner would call such a person an “anonymous Christian.” I recently read a book by Sherry Weddell where her explicit journey led her into the Catholic Church. It was not an easy journey. She writes candidly: “I had been raised as a strong anti-Catholic fundamentalist in southern Mississippi, and contemplating becoming Catholic was like considering become a Martian (Forming Intentional Disciples, 131). Now you know why so many people look at you funny.

Everyone’s explicit journey to Jesus seems to involve five thresholds or steps, as Weddell describes in her book. Let me touch on each briefly. First, trust. You first have to trust a Christian before you can trust Christ. I believe trust means knowing someone will not hurt you. Second, curiosity. Curiosity is testing the water with your big toe to see how cold it is, but you’re not sure you want to jump in the pool. Third, openness. This is the point where someone starts reading books on Catholicism, wants to have discussions with people about faith, and asks God for grace. Fourth, seeking. Sherry Weddell describes this step as “dating with a purpose, but not yet marriage.” This is the point when someone enters RCIA, and publicly (as well as personally) says they desire an explicit relationship with Jesus. And fifth, intentional discipleship. This step means I place Jesus at the top of my personal pyramid of priorities. I always try to please him more than anyone else. Changing metaphors, Jesus becomes the axis around which my world turns.

The first reading from Acts chapter 8 offers a perfect “case study” in these five thresholds and how Philip as a wise evangelizer knows and respects this process. An Ethiopian eunuch, in charge of the queen’s treasury (he was her CFO, chief financial officer) embarks on an explicit journey to Jesus. First, Philip establishes trust by engaging in simple conversation with the man. Second, the court official is curious so he has traveled to Jerusalem to worship, to see what they do in that great Temple (he probably sat in the very back of the temple). He’s testing the waters with his Ethiopian toes. Third, he’s reading Isaiah on his way home, and open to learning more about Judeo-Christianity. Fourth, he wants to talk to someone about his desire to know Jesus, and so he asks Philip to explain the passage in Isaiah. And fifth, he wants to take the plunge into the ocean of Christian discipleship and so he says: “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” The Ethiopian eunuch becomes an intentional disciple. This same patter and series of steps is repeated up and down the centuries as people journey to Jesus.

The question for each of us today is whether we have made our journey to Jesus explicit, or put another way, whether we are intentional disciples. This is no idle question, a lot hangs on our answer. Weddell makes this surprising but also sad observation: “One of the fascinating things you learn as you listen is that some baptized and catechized Catholics have not even progressed as far as simple trust (the first threshold), while some of the unbaptized are much further along” (Forming Intentional Disciples, 129). What a shocking but sadly true indictment. Could this be why so many Catholics stop going to Mass in their twenties and thirties? Is this why some people only come to church on Christmas and Easter? Could this be why so many evangelical and fundamentalist churches – that speak explicitly and eloquently about discipleship – are filled to the rafters with ex-Catholics? Could this explain why many Catholics just go through the motions of the Mass while their minds and hearts are a million miles away, like going through a car wash? Deposit your money and you come out clean on the other side, but no personal commitment to live a life radically conformed to Christ.

Follow the path of the Ethiopian eunuch and take the next step on the road to intentional discipleship.

Praised be Jesus Christ!