Theology and Character in Discipleship

 Theology and Character in Discipleship

I was sitting in a restaurant on Bloor Street with Pastor Eric Mavinga who is pastor of Parole de Verite in Kinshasa City, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has over 2,000 in his congregation and oversees the churches of his denomination in Kinshasa.  He wanted to know what I have learned about discipleship (training in Christian life/belief) in our small congregation in Toronto!  In the midst of our conversation I commented that the western church’s emphasis in discipleship has been on teaching correct theology.  I said that discipleship should be more about character than theology.  Eric said, “I have to write that down!”  At which point I thought I must have said something important!  But even as I said it, I wasn’t comfortable with what I said.  We may have emphasized theology over character, but the solution wasn’t to emphasize character over theology.  Theology is still important.

I lived with and mused about this tension until I read Richard Rohr’s book, “Falling Upward: a spirituality for the two halves of life.”  Rohr writes that the first half of life is setting up the structure: education, career, family, house…, and the second half is about how we will live in that structure. The two halves are not necessarily chronological.

 I thought that this was a great metaphor for discipleship: where theology is the structure and character is how we will live within that structure.  Our problem in the church is that we have taught people how to build a house without teaching them how to make a home.  I would also say that we have created many amateur architects who build unlivable houses.

How do we train people in the two halves of Christian life?  First, I think we need to understand that a simple structure is all that most of us need.  For most of us, introductory courses in practical Christianity like Alpha is enough structure.  As we live in the structure, we may need to learn more, or make some adjustments in our theology just as I repair and renovate our house in order to make it more livable. But early on, we need to train people to follow Jesus in his character, and do what he said to do.  I have WAY more to say about this, but that might be in books not blogs. The goal of the Christian life is to be transformed into the likeness (character) of God. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT

So all of us … can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

A few months ago I watched a Dallas Willard lecture where he said, “Don’t try to do what He says. Try to become the kind of person who would do what he says.”  He says this in the context of using the spiritual disciplines (practices) to become the kind of person who would do what he says.  I would say that we also need to do what he says, along with spiritual practices to become the kind of person who would do what he says.  We do what he says, not to just be obedient, but to become the kind of person who would do what he says.  I’ve known people who are trying their best to do what Jesus said, but they were so angry in their actions, that their actions felt more like hate than the love of Jesus.  We need to do what He says with the aim of becoming like him in his character.

Years ago, I was talking about this with my friend and former neighbour, Jeff Douglas.  Jeff said that, in acting it is best to embody the character that you are playing, but if you are unable to do that, there is a method of acting called “Fake it until you make it.”  In faith, we do the things Jesus said in order to become the kind of person who would do what he says. It might feel like we're faking it, but if it is our desire to have the same character as Jesus, we can fake it until we make it.

Henri Nouwen says it this way in a piece called “Doing Love:”

“Often we speak about love as if it is a feeling. But if we wait for a feeling of love before loving, we may never learn to love well. The feeling of love is beautiful and life-giving, but our loving cannot be based in that feeling. To love is to think, speak, and act according to the spiritual knowledge that we are infinitely loved by God and called to make that love visible in this world.”

Mostly we know what the loving thing to do is. When we "do" love, even if others are not able to respond with love, we will discover that our feelings catch up with our acts.” 

I’ve been musing on this a long time. Let me know what you think, argue with me, or tell a story in the comments!

Blessing:

May you turn to the Lord, 

    so that you can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. 

For the Lord is the Spirit, 

    and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

And the Lord—who is the Spirit—

    will make you more and more like him 

        as you are changed into his glorious image.

                                                        - adapted from 2 Corinthians 3:16-18