Doing Life Together: a new focus on discipleship
by Donnell Wyche


In order to make sense of the call to discipleship, we need community. To stay on the path of discipleship, we need to form new habits that allow us to draw life from God. We need to shift the focus off of ourselves and place it on others by serving. We also need to revisit our assumptions we’ve learned about Jesus and his vocation and mission.
In Mark’s gospel, Jesus is urgently calling those around him to surrender their worldview and to see the kingdom at work. He starts off by challenging the role of the Temple by both forgiving sins and healing. He continues by challenging basic assumption about life and death by raising people from the dead, while the disciples are right there with him watching, marveling, doubting, laughing, questioning, asking, and learning.
When we really engage in discipleship, we must understand that discipleship is held in tension. It’s a tension between learning and doing. As Jesus heals people and demonstrates the kingdom, he is teaching them (and us) that we need to realign our thinking and understanding of what it means to be the people of God.
Into his kingdom proclamation, he invites his disciples to do what he has been doing: to announce repentance, to demonstrate the presence, and to proclaim the power of the Kingdom:
Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. … They went out and preached that people should repent.  They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.  (Mark 6:7-13)
There’s a trap with this idea that our discipleship is only about learning and becoming experts before we do anything. However, Jesus is challenging that assumption and is calling us to understand our call to discipleship in tension: doing and learning, learning and doing.
In order for us to be on, we must learn how to be down…Jesus is teaching his disciples that this is how we serve others; it’s by drawing life from God.
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. (Mark 6:31-32)
Jesus didn’t just make the right decisions; he knew how to draw life from the Life Giver. Discipleship isn’t just about learning, it’s also about forming new habits that help us draw new life from God.
By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place and it’s already very late.  Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” (Mark 6:35-37)
Jesus switches back into teaching mode: “You give them something to eat.” They were surprised by his response, and they responded in the way that we all do. We try to do it on our own.
They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five — and two fish.” Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.  The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. (Mark 6:38-44)
When we see a need, we tend to hope someone else around will serve the need. However, Jesus has a higher calling for us. He’s calling us to trust God – to be dependent on him for everything we need, including serving the needs of others.
Some helpful tips…

Serve others in love:

Sign up to serve in Children’s Ministry this fall

Visit our ministries listing to find a ministry to join and serve in:
<http://www.annarborvineyard.org/ministries/ministries.cfm>

Habits that draw life:

Try this out for a month: Each morning offer your day to God by praying this simple prayer: Lord help me be aware of your presence, open to your work, and willing to join you.

Helpful Books:
The Original Jesus by Tom Wright
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard