A Case for Faithful Presence (Part 2)
What is the purpose of Faithful Presence?
Our Mission “Whole Life Discipleship for the Whole of Life.
Our Vision“Equipping individuals in our nation’s capital for a life of faithful presence through Spiritual, Emotional, Relational, Vocational, Ideological, Cultural and Missional Discipleship.”
These are just nice words without explaining why they matter and the implications of not addressing these seven facets of whole-life discipleship.
Spiritual Discipleship
All discipleship starts with receiving the gospel and becoming a spiritual disciple of Christ, and such is the command Christ gives to the Church upon his ascension to the right hand of God. “Make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey all that I have commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).” Thus, the role of engaging seekers and skeptics with the good news of the gospel is essential for any ministry focused on equipping disciples.
Beyond a profession to follow Christ, whole-life discipleship is crucial for preparing elect-exiles to live in a posture of faithful presence. The Apostle Peter instructs the elect exiles of Asia Minor,
“2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:2-5).”
Spiritual discipleship is an ongoing and intentional process of participating in the Christian formation of individuals that God has called to serve and lead in his mission “to proclaim the excellencies of the one who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.”
Emotional Discipleship
An essential and often overlooked aspect of disciple-making, especially in stressful contexts, is the individual’s mental health and emotional maturity. Much recent work (“When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community From Emotional and Spiritual Abuse,” Chuck DeGroat, “The Body Keeps the Score,” Bessel Van Der Kolk, "Emotionally Healthy Leadership," Peter Scazzaro, "Resilient Ministry" Guthrie, Chapman, Burns), is recognizing the inherent hindrances to leadership that comes from incomplete discipleship and fractured emotional health. In many cases, the drive to government service and leadership comes from a genuine desire but gets hijacked by emotionally unhealthy character traits. Some of these individuals are attracted to government service and similar contexts by their insecurity and the need to fill a void that only Christ can fill. In recent years, the number of individuals carrying unresolved family of origin issues, emotional and sexual abuse, chemical dependency, and other mental health struggles have skyrocketed. Our leaders must not only be emotionally healthy themselves, but they must also be able to help others move towards emotional health.
Emotional discipleship takes seriously a critical aspect of our lives and seeks to apply the open, honest, and authentic narratives of Scripture to our mental and emotional health.
Relational Discipleship
An entire series of relational sins are laid out by Paul to the church in Galatia, “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy.” We see these issues throughout Scripture in the life of Adam & Eve, Cain & Able, Isaac and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, David and Bathsheba, the disciples, and the church in Corinth. Those serving in government are operating in a world of uneven power differentials where relationships are a commodity used for personal gain and the advancement of agendas.
“The Quest for Community” James Nesbit, “The Politics of Ministry” Guthrie, Chapman, Burns, “The Four Stages of Community” M. Scott Peck are all helpful works in discussing the importance of relational aptitude in our present culture.
Relational discipleship is essential for working in our nation’s capital as Washington is a city built on relationships. This kind of discipleship includes a Biblical approach to conflict resolution, navigating workplace dynamics with uneven power differentials, and adopting a humble posture of service towards one’s neighbor.
Vocational Discipleship
“Vocation is integral, not incidental, to the mission of God.” writes theologian Stephen Garber in "Visions of Vocation." This reality finds its anchor in the Creation Mandate of when God reveals to Adam and Eve,
"And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:28).”
Work is not a curse but the means by which mankind brings glory to God. This truth is affirmed throughout Scripture, including when Paul writes to those living as slaves should, “23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
The intersection of work and faith goes beyond ethics (not stealing the stapler), evangelism (leaving tracts for coworkers), and economics (paying the bills and tithing). As Christians, through our work, we are offering foretastes of the kingdom of God to seekers and skeptics and participating in the mission of God.
Ideological Discipleship
Recognizing the term itself raises obvious problematic connotations underscores the necessity of pursuing ideological discipleship. There is a rich Christian tradition and literature on political philosophy, economic theory, subsidiarity, shareholder vs. stakeholder capitalism, social justice and mercy, statecraft, sphere sovereignty, creation care, racial and gender issues, and foreign policy. True flourishing and oikonomia are the proper fruit of whole-life discipleship, which includes ideological discipleship. In approaching ideological discipleship, the goal of ideological discipleship is not what to think but how to think.
Cultural Discipleship
To properly disciple those in their care, individuals must understand the challenging cultural context they operate in, especially political life. Over the past 75 years, the West has moved from modernism through post-modernism and is now decidedly post-Christian. No longer is Christianity seen in the West as part of the solution. Instead, research indicates that many see Christians as a primary obstacle to cultural flourishing. Recent studies suggest that outsiders see Christians as “irrelevant and extreme (Good Faith, Barna),” and the Church as “hypocritical, judgmental, too-political, anti-gay, culturally archaic, and focused only on getting people saved (unChristian, Barna).”
Missional Discipleship
The mission of Christians is complex. Our confession states that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” While this is the end, Scripture paints a multi-faceted picture of the means. Genesis 1 says that we are to “fill the earth and subdue it.” Genesis 12 indicates that God’s purpose for us is “to be a blessing.” Jeremiah 29 declares that we are “to seek the welfare of the city.” Jesus tells us to “make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey all that I have commanded.” Most recently, the missional focus of our branch of the Church has seen a rise in the culture-making and world-forming applications of this mission which has not always been helpful.
A Case Study
The Apostle Peter’s work, life, discipleship, and ministry leadership are helpful in this discussion. Through his sanctification and maturity, Peter moved from the emotionally unhealthy disciple to the Apostle who commended the Church of Asia Minor to live in a posture of faithful presence (see George Davidson Hunter), soft difference (see Miroslav Volf), and for the joy of the world (see Greg Forster) in a toxic environment where they possessed little political agency.
Perhaps there is hope for us all!
Michael