Photo by Tajmia Loiacono on Unsplash
Aside from Jesus Christ, who else would you choose if you could spend time with someone famous? I do enjoy listening to interviews or watching documentaries on the life of famous people, diving deep into their childhood and youth, recalling people and experiences that shaped them, and how they overcame challenges and obstacles to become who they became proving that greatness almost always rises from very humble beginnings. Needless to say, these shows are typically only about famous people. But in the same breath, they will attempt to show how famous people are ordinary too, that they face the everyday challenges and responsibilities of people like us, except they just happen to make more money, live in bigger houses, and go on fancier vacations.
I am intrigued by towering figures of history, emperors, presidents, generals, world explorers, women and men of power and ambition. I know I would be awed by their stature, their presence, their demeanor. Imagine the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the emperors of Assyria and Persia, ancient Greece, India and China. Imagine meeting the likes of Tutankhamen, Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Charlemagne, Catherine the Great, Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte, or Henry VIII. Or would you prefer the radicals, the artists and musicians, the philosophers and social reformers, the scientists, the authors and poets? Imagine conversing with the likes of Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Confucius, Galileo, Copernicus, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Newton, Pasteur, Mozart, Beethoven, da Vinci, Dickens, Twain, Austen, Poe, Frost, Lewis, Tolkein, Hemmingway. How about the great women and men of faith, religious reformers, prophets, preachers, martyrs, and saints? What must it be like to witness firsthand the fire of their passion, to listen at their feet as they enlightened the hearts and minds of many, to be awakened by their energy? Imagine sitting with Moses, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Augustine, Aquinas, Thomas More, Albert the Great, Ignatius of Loyola, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa.
I know I missed many other names. But that’s what happens when you name names or we’re here all day. And I even had to look up some of the ones I mentioned. Forgive me for not being a better student of history. Each of these names is a person of proven importance and stature, unlike many we consider celebrities in our day. And when we stop to think of why we admire them, we might also point out qualities they possess that we ourselves may not. But admiration for any famous person challenges us only so far. Who do we admire that we can genuinely call role models, their inspiration and vision capturing our imagination, their heroism and holiness demanding we rise above mediocrity, their spirit driving us to be better people ourselves? When we recognize greatness in someone and desire only to bask in their light, we are nothing more than admirers and fans. But when we embrace in our own lives the challenges and resulting transformation that helped them achieve greatness, we become disciples.
When a couple of Greek pilgrims came to Philip and Andrew asking to see Jesus, it was because Jesus was a local celebrity. His wisdom and insight, his personal style, his miraculous healings, aroused the passions of his listeners, the suspicions of the local authorities, the interest of skeptics, and the worries of his family and friends. To these Greek visitors, he was still just a curiosity. Surely others had told them about him. Now they had to see for themselves. They would then be able to judge whether he was a fraud or truly a prophet. Then Jesus spoke of his life’s mission, of his coming suffering and glorification, and what it means to truly be his disciple. We need to consider our discipleship as well. We who claim to follow Jesus for a variety of reasons must ask the question: Are we indeed his disciples or are we nothing more than admirers and fans?
Can we tell the difference between an admirer and a disciple? When we look at greatness, do we recognize real genius or pure luck, passion or good genes, hard work or privilege. Some people are just given a greater portion of beauty, goodness, or truth than the average bear. That we naturally find attractive. We might know our own lack of a particular quality and that simply hanging with a person of greatness lends us some measure of confidence or purpose. But the similarity ends there. An admirer is content to simply catch what is extraordinary about a person of greatness, imitate the look, certain key mannerisms and patterns of speech, to spout interesting details of a person’s life, even to have visited places important to them, to possess significant relics, artifacts or heirlooms. In contrast, the disciple seeks to understand what makes a great person unique and extraordinary so as to absorb more deeply the passion, purpose, and consequences of their life. It might happen sometimes, but it is not as important that a disciple imitate external qualities of a person of greatness. Instead, it matters more that they live a life of conviction in the values, principles, teachings, and patterns of thought of this person of greatness. Without this conviction, a disciple is really just a super fan.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God tried to explain to Israel what a covenant relationship entailed. The Law which God handed down to Moses at Mt. Sinai was not to be regarded simply as a set of rules. It was meant as the foundation of a covenant relationship, to be lived sincerely and cheerfully in a living breathing partnership. But it can easily turn into a charade, a life-draining code of behavior written on stone tablets, received without appreciation, imposed without compassion, and practiced with such legalism as to stifle the spirit it is meant to nourish. God then chose to renew his people by establishing a new covenant with Israel, a covenant written on hearts of flesh, driven by a deep abiding love, guided by genuine compassion. It would encourage faithfulness that wasn’t motivated by reward or punishment, and it would instead demand a deeper appreciation and understanding of the heart and mind of the Divine Lawgiver.
The discipleship Jesus speaks of is embodied in a trusting openness to mystery like we see in the grain of wheat that must die so that it can bear fruit. Discipleship is more than admiration for what Jesus said and did. Discipleship is the joyful, sincere, and willing embrace of Jesus’ call to take up our cross each day, and put to death our own selfishness and disobedience, so we can bear the fruits of patience, compassion, justice, joy, and service. If we mean to be true disciples of Jesus, we will strive to live as Jesus taught and imitate his example in the manner we treat our neighbor. Discipleship is less about having all the right answers, less about the slavish observance of rules, less about being admired by others. Discipleship is about grasping and implementing in our lives the substance of Jesus’ life and teaching, following after him, rejecting sin and selfishness, and bearing fruit that lasts: patience, compassion, justice, joy, and service.
Rolo B Castillo © 2024