Despite the words “Christian” and “disciple of Jesus Christ” being synonymous biblically, Rev. Dr. Greg Ogden has found that many today give these different meanings. He addressed the CCO last April about discipleship, and one of my co-workers and friends reflected on that comment, saying, “‘Christian’ implies a one-time transaction requiring no further action, whereas ‘disciple’ implies an active, ongoing course for one’s life.” Because the word “disciple” appears nearly 300 times in the Bible and “Christian” only appears three times, and furthermore because Jesus calls his followers to “make disciples,” Kelly and I hope to focus this ministry on making “disciples of Jesus Christ” instead of simply making “Christians.”
This is the beginning of our third year ministering at Kenyon College. When we first started two years ago, we were continuing a ministry already established; we inherited two Christian Student Organizations, four weekly Bible Studies, and twelve student leaders. During the first year of ministry, we wanted to get our bearings and begin developing relationships with Kenyon students, particularly with the Christian student leaders. Kelly and I attempted to meet with all of the student leaders individually on a regular basis for discipleship (i.e. meeting them where they were spiritually to walk alongside them, and lovingly challenging them to live out their faith in every area of life). It was not possible to schedule twelve one-on-one meetings in addition to our other responsibilities. We managed to meet with most of the leaders regularly, but there were a few we met with irregularly and a few more we were never able to meet with for discipleship!
At the end of the first year, I discussed with the leaders the possibility of creating a covenant between them, because so far there were no clear expectations for what it meant to be a leader in the Christian community. Some were very excited, some were wary. By the end of the Fall 2007 semester, though attempts were made, we still had no covenant…but God still did wonderful things in and through the Christians at Kenyon, of course.
Last semester I talked with the leaders to address their concerns, and to ask about why the covenant-making process fell apart. One student proposed a shift of language. We wanted a brief statement that was intended to be something that we could look to for bearings as well as something to illuminate our surroundings—a Lighthouse Statement. Based largely on the CCO’s fourth Core Value and a biblical model for discipleship as proposed by Greg Ogden, in late April the students and I composed a rough draft that focused on discipleship.
During the first week of this semester the leaders and I (finally!) agreed on a Lighthouse Statement! It is an intentionally broad statement, which we will hold to through meeting together in small discipleship groups, instead of one-on-one. So although there are now fifteen student leaders, for the first time Kelly and I will be able to meet with all of the student leaders regularly, as we all journey together, as disciples of Jesus Christ. Here is our Lighthouse Statement; I hope it is illuminating for you!
We believe that faithfulness is pursued together, therefore:
We commit to being disciples of Jesus together—holding one another accountable to this discipleship in Christian love. Discipleship means actively pursuing our teacher, Jesus Christ, together—instead of stagnating or being distracted from this course—learning from him and permitting the Holy Spirit to transform us to be more like him and to better live out the Greatest Commandments per Luke 10:27.
Therefore, we covenant to be in relationship with each other in order to pursue our relationship with God the Father and our neighbors.
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