A DECLARATION OF FAITH (1977)
CHAPTER NINE --CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
1 (1) Christ calls us to be disciples.
2 In forming his
people and sending them into the world
3 Jesus called
individuals to be disciples.
4 They were to share
the joy of his companionship,
5
to understand and obey his teachings,
6
and to follow him in life and death.
7 We confess that
Christians today are called to discipleship.
8 Life shared with
Christ and shaped by Christ
9
is God's undeserved; gift to each of us.
10 It is also God's demand upon
every one of us,
11 never
perfectly fulfilled by any of us.
12 Forgiven by God and supported
by brothers and sisters,
13 we
strive to become more faithful and effective
14 in our
daily practice of the Christian life.
15 (2) Christ calls us to live in disciplined
freedom.
16 Jesus came to set
people free
17 by the
power of the gospel.
18 In so
doing he did not abolish,
19 but
fulfilled the law and the prophets.
20 Through his teaching and the
teaching of the apostles
21 he
showed what it is to be free and obedient.
22 We declare that Christ has freed
us
23 from
trying to save ourselves by obeying the law.
24 He restores to us God's law as
a gift and delight.
25 The law
describes concretely the shape of our freedom.
26 When we accept its discipline,
27 it
keeps our personal lives from being chaotic
28 and
increases our effectiveness in the church's mission.
29 (3) Christ calls us to live in the presence of
God.
30 Jesus lived with a
constant sense of his Father's presence.
31 He put God's claim on his life
above all else.
32 He joined
others in God's worship and praise.
33 He drew strength from the
Scriptures.
34 He prayed and
taught his disciples to pray.
35 We believe Christ gives us and
demands of us
36
personal lives that are centered in God
37 and
open to God's reality and rule.
38
Christ teaches us
39 to put
obedience to God
40 above
the interests of self, family, race or nation;
41 to
offer God joyously
42 our
money, ability and time.
43 It is
part of our discipline
44 to
observe a day of worship and rest,
45 setting
aside our own working to enjoy God's work,
46
celebrating with sisters and brothers the Lord's goodness.
47 We need constantly to search
out God's way in Scripture,
48 not
expecting detailed directions for every decision,
49 but
relying on the Word to tell us who God is,
50 to
press God's present claim on us,
51 and to
assure us of God's grace and comfort.
52 We are charged to pray for
ourselves and others
53 with
gratitude, boldness, and persistence,
54
confident that God hears and answers our prayers
55 in ways
best for us all.
56 Life in God's
presence issues in life for others,
57 for if
we do not love sisters and brothers whom we see,
58 we
cannot love God whom we do not see.
59 (4) Christ calls us to live for our neighbors
60 Jesus broadened the definition
of neighbor
61 to
include those ordinarily despised and excluded.
62 His life in behalf of others
63 led to
persecution and death.
64 He
commanded his disciples to live the same way.
65 We believe
Christ gives us and demands of us
66 lives
that recognize all people in all cultures
67 as our
neighbors on this planet.
68
Christ teaches us
69 to go
beyond legal requirements
70 in
serving and helping our neighbor,
71 to
treat our neighbor's needs as our own,
72 to care
passionately for the other's good,
73 to
share what we have.
74 It is part
of our discipline
75 to live
in simplicity,
76
avoiding greed and luxury
77 that
threaten our neighbor's survival.
78 We are obligated to speak the
truth in love,
79 to
listen with patience and openness,
80 to love
our enemies,
81 to
accept the risk and pain
82 which
love involves.
83 (5) Christ calls us to pilgrimage toward the
kingdom.
84 Jesus announced
the coming of God's kingdom
85 and its
hidden presence in the midst of the world's kingdoms.
86 He taught his disciples to seek
God's Kingdom first.
87 We believe Christ
gives us and demands of us
88
lives in pilgrimage toward God's kingdom.
89 Like Christ we may
enjoy on our journey
90
all that sustains life and makes it pleasant and beautiful.
91 No more than Christ
are we spared
92
the darkness, ambiguity, and threat of life in the world.
93 We are in the world, but
not of the world.
94
Our confidence and hope for ourselves and other people
95
do not rest in the powers and achievements of this world,
96
but in the coming and hidden presence of God's kingdom.
97 Christ calls each
of us to a life appropriate to that kingdom:
98
to serve as he has served us;
99
to take up our cross,
100
risking the consequences of faithful discipleship;
101 to
walk by faith, not by sight,
102 to
hope for what we have not seen.