A Disciple or an Admirer? (Luke 11)

Clarence Johnson was convicted. As he looked around at the church, he realized the irony of singing “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” In a segregated world, he witnessed almost no people community of faith embodying that kind of love, love that breaks down the division between the races.

After completing a Ph.D. in Greek NT in 1942, Clarence and his wife set out to establish Koinonia, an interracial community designed to embody the radical discipleship found in the Sermon on the Mount. The response in the greater Christian community was far from positive. Churches completely boycott Koinonia, to the point that it threatened the very existence of the little community.

“In the early fifties, so it is told, Clarence approached his brother Robert Jordan and asked him to serve as legal representative of the Koinonia community. Robert responded:

‘Clarence, I can’t do that. You know my political aspirations. Why, if I represented you, I might lose my job, my house, everything I’ve got.’

‘We might lose everything too, Bob.’

‘It’s different for you.’

‘Why is it different? I remember, it seems to me, that you and I joined the church the same Sunday, as boys. I expect when we came forward the preacher asked me about the same question he did you. He asked me, “Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” And I said, “Yes.” What did you say?’

‘I follow Jesus, Clarence, up to a point.’

‘Could that point by any chance be – the cross?’

‘That’s right. I follow him to the cross, but not on the cross. I’m not getting myself crucified.’

‘Then I don’t believe you’re a disciple. You’re an admirer of Jesus, but not a disciple of his. I think you ought to go back to the church you belong to, and tell them you’re an admirer, not a disciple.’

‘Well now, if everyone who felt like I do did that, we wouldn’t have a church, would we?’

‘The question,’ Clarence said, “is, Do you have a church?’” (Camp, Mere Discipleship, 103)

Our text this week forces us to struggle with the question of whether we are admirers of Jesus or his disciples. The text challenges us to grapple with the question of which kingdom we are serving. As we have discovered over the last few weeks, to be disciple of Jesus requires the continual commitment to hear and obey, to join the way of self-denial, to take up our crosses and follow him. To many people, to the Robert Jordans of the world, ‘church’ is primarily about having sound doctrine or worshipping in the right way, that the church is primarily a distributor of religious goods and services. Our texts this week challenge us to rethink that idea. In Luke, Jesus calls us to a life of radical discipleship, to open ourselves up to the inbreaking kingdom of God. We must not just follow Jesus up to the cross, but be willing to follow him upon the cross. May God grant us all the strength and the grace to become disciples, not admirers.