From Asian Access via Out of Ur comes this list of seven questions you need to ask anyone who wants to be discipled (including yourself):
Are you willing to leave home and lose the blessing of your father?
Are you willing to lose your job?
Are you willing to go to the village of those who persecute you, forgive them, and share the love of Christ with them?
Are you willing to give an offering to the Lord?
Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith?
Are you willing to go to prison?
Are you willing to die for Jesus?
I love the list but would recommend adding the same follow-up question to each of the seven noted above:
And how would doing this affect your discipleship today?
Absent that additional follow-up, the first seven questions can regrettably become an exercise in rah-rah, as the Apostle Peter discovered:
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
All Christians are called to martyrdom. And all Christians are called to sell all they have, give it to the poor, and come and follow Jesus. The only question is whether God intends it to happen for you in a moment or across a lifetime.
As you disciple others, help them develop a credible plan for either possibility. It will help them (and us as disciplers) move quickly beyond the rah-rah.
