Full Discipleship

Philippians 2:1-2

Is there . . . any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? (Philippians 2:1)

SOMEHOW MODERN CHRISTIANITY has developed a kind of discipleship that is reduced to knowing God’s Word and doing it—the mind and the will. We read or hear Scripture and apply it. We learn what the Bible says and live it out. The two sides of this approach are both vital, and we would never want to neglect them. But are the mind and the will the only components of our personality? Or are we missing something?

We are, and it’s the reason so many followers of Jesus say they have done what they are supposed to do but still feel distant from God. They have left out the heart. Salvation for them was a one-time event, much like a couple who stares at their marriage certificate to remind themselves of their relationship. But God has called us into a heart-to-heart mutual pursuit that involves his love, hate, joy, anger, zeal, jealousy, delight, grief, and affection. It’s the kind of discipleship Paul explores in Philippians 2:1-2, among other places, where he suggests that since the believers share common feelings for one another, they should line up their minds with one another too. Just as aligning our hearts with those we love is the way we grow closer, so is aligning our hearts with God the way we draw near to him. We bring every aspect of our personality to him, and our hearts begin to beat with his.

This holistic discipleship transforms our lives and relationships, and it has positive effects on the people around us. When we are moved by the ethos, mood, emotion, and energy of the Spirit, others get to see real people inhabited by Jesus, not Christian automatons controlled by a system of principles. They see God’s compassion, grief, and joy in the flesh, fully expressed in the lives of his image-bearers. In other words, they get a taste of his heart—the winsome, compelling side of his nature by which all human beings can know and grow closer to him.

{Father, may I never stop learning your Word and doing it. But add to my mind and will the fullness of your feelings and attitudes. Put your heartbeat within me, and let it shape my passions daily. Amen.