A Vast Minority by Murray Stuart;

Author:Murray, Stuart;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Authentic Media

Communities of Discernment and Resistance

American theologian Walter Wink concluded his exhaustive study of the language of power in the New Testament with a book subtitled ‘Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination’.18 Interpreting the ‘principalities and powers’ as a ‘domination system’ that oppresses humanity and hinders the mission of God, he calls the Christian community to develop skills of discernment and resistance. This is not something a majority community with vested interests in the status quo can easily do, but it comes much more naturally to a minority community – once it has accepted this status. And this double task of discerning and resisting is for communities, rather than individuals.

The approaches to discipleship we have explored all emphasize the role of the community. It is in the community, not in isolation, that we become more fully human. It is the community, not just individuals, that participates in the multifaceted mission of God. And the community is the context within which stories are rehearsed and reflexes are developed. The struggle to be faithful disciples in a society that promotes a very different vision and champions values and practices that are contrary to the gospel is not one that we are meant to engage in alone.

We live in a culture that yearns for authentic community but insists on the rights and liberties of individuals and resists any significant intrusion into our personal space and any challenges to our beliefs and commitments. And this individualism is evident in our churches, with our seating arrangements that hinder interaction, monologue sermons that preclude participation, the practice of tithing that needs no conversations about lifestyle, and our instinctive distaste for any kind of accountability processes.

This is not new. John Bunyan’s classic tale, The Pilgrim’s Progress, describes an individual journey of discipleship. Pilgrim has companions from time to time, but this is the journey of a heroic individual and his struggle to be faithful and keep his eyes fixed on the heavenly city to which he is travelling. Many other spiritual classics similarly encourage personal growth and development with little or no reference to the role of companions or the community.19

Not that this is entirely wrong. An important aspect of becoming disciples is taking personal responsibility for the way we live and not placing undue reliance on others – ‘self-propelling disciples’, as Church Army researcher George Lings memorably designates this. Some of us are unhealthily dependent on church services, sermons from our favourite preachers, pastoral counselling, conferences and support groups. And some congregations and organizations encourage this, failing to discern the powerful influence of the therapeutic culture within contemporary society and creating dependency instead of resourcing responsible discipleship. In 2007, the Willow Creek Community Church, which has influenced so many churches, acknowledged this and lamented that they had not helped people to ‘take responsibility to become self-feeders’.20

But independence is no healthier than dependence. The New Testament frequently uses ‘one another’ phrases to encourage interdependence and mutuality. We need each other’s support but we also have gifts and insights to offer each other as fellow-pilgrims, companions on the journey of discipleship.

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