Discipleship is…

Discipleship is invitation.

Not the kind of invitation you send in the mail, but the kind of invitation that my coworker continued to extend to me over and over: not pushy, but tenacious and delightful, always inviting me to come and join in with her church family (Lynchburg Church of the Nazarene), despite my constant denial.

Discipleship is planting seed.

Not throwing seed but sowing. Sowing involves looking for where hearts are tender and open, like my housekeeper who found my “crying closet” and planted children’s Bible stories for my 10-year-old self to find and read when my heart was grasping for hope.

Discipleship is praying.

Not the same rote prayer over a meal, with no heartstrings, but rather prayer like rain: sometimes long and fervently pouring and sometimes a day-in and day-out sprinkling for 20 years for your lost daughter to know and love Jesus. 

Discipleship is mentorship.

Not the kind that micromanages and continuously critiques, but mentorship that speaks life wherever one goes: words of truth that stick in the darkest times, or verses of scriptures worked on together for the valleys. Mentorship is even — or maybe especially — the kind of authentic trust that can withstand the necessary accountability conversation, like a grandma suggesting an ex-boyfriend is not a confidant for a newly married girl. 

Discipleship is a journey.

Discipleship is this journey of Jesus pursuing me through His people and sometimes in spite of His people. First, He found me, when the seeds were covered in the refuse of my life, and spoke life and hope and forgiveness into me with the embrace of adoption. In response, I seek Him wherever I go, looking for ways to plant and pray and mentor and extend an invitation into God’s greenhouse. 

Discipleship is investment.

The first mentor I remember having was an 81-year-old retired holiness preacher out of New York City, who is now with Jesus. This man made it a point to talk to me after church every Sunday. It was on a Sunday like this, when I was 22 and had only been following Jesus for two years, that this servant of Christ pulled me aside and said, “Listen. For your journey, I want you to look for people who love and serve Jesus. Then you must grab ahold of their coattails and DON’T YOU LET GO!”

Thanks, Brother Thompson. I’ll see you soon, coattails in hand, held with the strength of Jesus. 

Pastor Shuff serves as the NDI field coordinator for the ENC educational region.