Costly discipleship

 ‘…Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.. (Matthew 10:32)

Matthew 10:26-33 (Year A: Trinity+1)

Standing up for what we believe in can take courage.  References to witness in the face of opposition as the early friends of Jesus went forth can bring out images of a major showdown in public as someone is forced to deny their faith and refuses to do so.  Sometimes, however, religious zealots confuse witness with making a public show of their opinions or piety and that in the context of showing others that they are ‘wrong’ because ‘I am right’.

The challenges of discipleship vary and can, in a great many cases, demand small daily examples of kindness, self-denial and courage rather than the mighty gestures of someone about to be condemned, hung, drawn and quartered (although that scenario is not unknown for followers of Jesus in many parts of the world even today).

We live in challenging times and many of us are called on to undergo much suffering for what we believe in and the values we live from (even if the two are not always in harmony). In many parts of the world to be a person of faith – faithful to the social gospel of true freedom may demand martyrdom (to which the root word in Greek is linked to witness). It is idle fantasy to try to imagine what we might do in this situation or that. It is enough to embrace the small trials and tribulations of each day. The most credible witness is to be true to ourselves even to the point of exclusion, ridicule and condemnation.  The one we follow met such and we cannot expect less. Discipleship costs and following the Risen Lord is costly as Dietrich Bonhoeffer experienced and wrote about.