Friday, March 16, 2007

'night-time' disciples

In chapter 3 of Power and Passion, Sam Wells asks
Can one be a Christian on the quiet? Can one be a ruler by day and worshipper by night? The story of Jesus' passion presents two figures who sought to do just that: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (p.90).
Our culture wants to mould all belief into a private matter, not to be displayed in public. We've removed the political implications of Jesus' call to discipleship and embraced the western gospel, which celebrates the market and the rights of the individual. We've become 'night-time' disciples, who either don't know how to live lives shaped by the Christian gospel, or who are afraid we will be branded a fundamentalist in the vein of Stephen Green of Christian Voice or some Islamic extremist.

It is my desire to become less of a 'night-time' disciple, and to find ways of embodying the Christian faith in which I believe, in the full exposure of the day. I am becoming more convinced that the way of discipleship is in discovering and often re-discovering habits and practices that shape my life in ways that speak of good news. My desire is to find a community of people who want to take that journey with me. In this I am grateful for those who are blogging with me at hopeful imagination, who help me imagine what this looks like.

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