{"id":608,"date":"2012-01-05T11:10:53","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T17:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/clauson\/?p=608"},"modified":"2012-02-29T10:27:03","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T16:27:03","slug":"reflecting-on-christian-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/clauson\/2012\/01\/05\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflecting on Christian discipleship"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve really enjoyed reading Eugene Peterson’s “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society” and\"\"<\/a> meditating on the Psalms. \u00a0If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. \u00a0Peterson looks at the old Hebrew Songbook, the Songs of Ascent in Psalms 120-134, which he describes as our best background for understanding life as faith-journey. \u00a0It has helped me reflect on my own journey. \u00a0The last chapter that I just read called “Perseverance” spoke strongly to me, especially when Peterson says, “The reason my childhood was one enthusiasm after another was that I hadn’t yet found an organizing center for my life and a goal that would demand my all and my best”. \u00a0I don’t know much about Peterson’s childhood, but as I reflect on mine and my teenage years especially, I can really relate to this.<\/p>\n

I believe I’ve always been in relationship with Christ, having grown up in a strong Christian home and inviting Jesus to come into my heart at the age of six. \u00a0However, I believe my understanding of what it meant to be a Christian wasn’t really complete. \u00a0I would go to God whenever I had a problem I couldn’t handle on my own, and God often would answer my prayers, even as\u00a0unimportant\u00a0as they would be, like, “Lord, please help me find my car keys somewhere in my messy room because I’m already late for work.” \u00a0I found them and I felt God’s care and presence, but this doesn’t exactly demonstrate a deep prayer life.<\/p>\n

God was definitely a part of my life, but I’m not really sure he was the center of my life. Peterson says, “The Christian faith is the discovery of that center in the God who sticks with us, the righteous God”. \u00a0I can’t say when this happened for me exactly, and maybe this is true for many Christians, since at first it’s really hard for us to recognize that God really is at the center of all things.<\/p>\n

Peterson continues, “Christian discipleship is a decision to walk in his ways, steadily and firmly and then finding the way integrates all our interests, passions and gifts, our human needs and eternal aspirations. \u00a0It is the way of life we were created for.” \u00a0This last part brought tears to my eyes because it genuinely describes what I have found in Christ, the joy of becoming who I fully am – the true person God created me to be! \u00a0God has given me, and you, particular interests, passions and gifts and is uniting them and opening doors to use them as a blessing, for me and others. \u00a0What greater joy in life is there? \u00a0Of course, I am still on the journey of really discovering and living freely into who I am in Christ, but my hope isn’t in my own ability to accomplish this in myself, but rather, as Paul says in Philippians 1:5, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” \u00a0Hallelujah! \u00a0Amen! \u00a0Isn’t this good news? \u00a0Isn’t this the life worth living?<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve really enjoyed reading Eugene Peterson’s “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society” and meditating on the Psalms. \u00a0If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. \u00a0Peterson looks at the old Hebrew Songbook, the Songs of Ascent in Psalms 120-134, which he describes as our best background for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3977],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-reflection"],"yoast_head":"\nReflecting on Christian discipleship - Clausons in Mexico<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/clauson\/2012\/01\/05\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reflecting on Christian discipleship - Clausons in Mexico\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve really enjoyed reading Eugene Peterson’s “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society” and meditating on the Psalms. \u00a0If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. \u00a0Peterson looks at the old Hebrew Songbook, the Songs of Ascent in Psalms 120-134, which he describes as our best background for […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/clauson\/2012\/01\/05\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Clausons in Mexico\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-05T17:10:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-02-29T16:27:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2012\/01\/long-obedience.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"erika\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"erika\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/clauson\\\/2012\\\/01\\\/05\\\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/clauson\\\/2012\\\/01\\\/05\\\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"erika\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/clauson\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/21067f02bf5ca12409bb363b92fd2ab9\"},\"headline\":\"Reflecting on Christian discipleship\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-05T17:10:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-29T16:27:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/clauson\\\/2012\\\/01\\\/05\\\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"personal reflection\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/clauson\\\/2012\\\/01\\\/05\\\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/clauson\\\/2012\\\/01\\\/05\\\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/clauson\\\/2012\\\/01\\\/05\\\/reflecting-on-christian-discipleship\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflecting on Christian discipleship - 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