The Journey Continues

Friends, I'm feeling nostalgic tonight. Perhaps it was because I just had a fantastic dinner (elk for the first time!) with the folks at General Conference who went on the Mission of Peace to Cuba in 2008 (and other fantastic and really awesome people), but I feel like reflecting a bit on the past tonight.

See, 2016 is kind of a big year for me. December 31 at 11:40pm will be eight years of me knowing that I'm being called to ministry.  But this year, in fact this very month, marks ten years since my Confirmation and becoming a full-fledged member of the United Methodist Church.  It marks ten years since my decision to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

We talk a lot about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the United Methodist Church.  After all, our mission—our whole reason for existing—is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

But here's the thing about discipleship. It's more than a one-day-a-week thing.  It's more than giving 10% of your income.  It's more than going on a service trip every now and then.  Discipleship is a complete and total commitment to following Jesus Christ.  Discipleship is giving your all to Jesus Christ all of the time and encouraging others to do the same.  That's what it means to make disciples. 

And we need this total commitment from EVERYONE if we're going to build the Kingdom.  Clergy alone can't build the Kingdom.  Americans alone can't build the Kingdom.  Africans alone can't build the Kingdom.  The wealthy alone can't build the Kingdom.  We need—no, Jesus needs—everyone for this sacred work.  Christ needs his whole body, not just parts.

And we heard as much today in the laity address from Upper New York's own Scott Johnson.  It's gonna take doctors and lawyers and teachers and farmers to accomplish the task.  Or, as we heard in the episcopal address a few days ago when Bishop Palmer quoted Upper New York's own Thom White Wolf Fassett "we need to discover again the vocation of being full-time Christians".

Child of God needs to be our primary identity, followed closely by follower of Jesus.  Those two are the only labels that should matter in our lives and when looking at other Christians.  All other identities and labels come after those two. 

Will we slip up every now and then?  Most definitely.  But as long as we're all moving onward and upward, then that's ok.  Praise be to God, and in the words of Bishop Tom Bickerton, pictured above, the journey continues.