All the Time. Everywhere. Everything.

Jesus lived with his disciples for three and a half years. In addition to teaching the twelve, he ate with them, slept next to them, shopped with them and walked with them from town to town. They were together a lot. His schedule for building disciples was not limited to a one hour morning meeting at the Jerusalem Denny’s. Jesus knew, as we must learn, that discipleship is about the whole person because following Jesus involves the whole person. Discipleship is more than meeting once a week for a time of prayer and accountability. Discipling someone does not mean that our purpose is to help them memorize several verses and develop a regular quiet time. If we confine our understanding to this narrow characterization, then we are missing both the reality and the necessity of walking together.

Perhaps this misunderstanding of discipleship stems from our inaccurate view of spirituality as just one of many dimensions of our lives. We have our social life, our school or career life, our hobbies and our spiritual life. We view ourselves as segmented individuals. The truth, however, is that everything we do is touched by our spiritual lives. Our Heavenly Father cannot be confined to one room in our soul’s house. Everywhere there is truth, the Father is speaking. Everywhere there is brokenness, the Father is there to offer hope and healing. Consequently, when we confine discipleship to merely one piece of our lives, then we are already missing the point. Our intellect, our relationships, our interests, our sexual urges – everything we are is affected and informed by our understanding of the spiritual.