Two Distorted Versions of Discipleship: Part Two

A few weeks ago we explored the first of two distorted versions of discipleship: the idea that all we need to grow in Christ is the right intellectual content. When we reduce Christian discipleship to intellectual formation, we create an ugly caricature of what spiritual maturity looks like, mistaking mere knowledge for genuine spiritual growth.

This week we’ll look at another popular distortion of discipleship: my spiritual journey as the hero’s quest.

The hero’s quest is a popular motif in literature. We see it in stories as varied as The Odyssey, Pilgrim’s Progress, Huckleberry Finn, and Lord of the Rings. In a plot shaped by the hero’s quest, the hero is challenged to leave his familiar surroundings and go on a quest for some great cause (fame, redemption, rescue, justice, wisdom, etc.). In his journey he meets with resistance, is transformed in some way to overcome that resistance, and then returns home in triumph as a changed man or woman.

Many people view discipleship through the lens of the hero’s quest: we are each on our own solitary journey to God. The emphasis is on my own strengths and weaknesses, my own personal relationship with God… just “Jesus and me” on the lonely sojourn to the Promised Land.

We in the West are more easily deceived by this error than our brothers and sisters in Asian and traditional societies.

Why? Our individualistic approach to spiritual formation is baked-in; it is our cultural bias. This is part of James KA Smith’s “brains-on-a-stick” version of human personhood that I mentioned before: I interact with my environment as an independent entity. I need others only insofar as they help me meet my personal objectives.

It’s easy to see how this individualistic mindset does nothing to foster community. And because that mindset is so prevalent, our culture is experiencing a wide-spread abandonment of community institutions. This is especially alarming when we see the decline in church attendance and membership. While interest in spirituality is as high as ever, interest in spiritual community is on the wane. A whole generation has given itself to a “spiritual but not religious” mindset that caters to the notion of an individualistic quest.

Why don’t people want to belong to a fellowship of believers?

They don’t see the point. They know they can meet God in nature, they can read the Bible on their own, they can pray all by themselves, and if they want good teaching and preaching, the internet is a treasure-house of high-quality content.

In other words, people know they can pursue their spiritual goals as a solitary hero’s quest.

So what is the problem with seeing our spiritual sojourn as a hero’s quest? Like all dangerous ideas, this perspective is partly true. There is something individual and solitary about my experience with God: I am His unique creation, my discipleship pathway is unique, and I am solely accountable to God for my life. I live for Him as my Audience of One.

But in the hero’s quest mentality, we have the same problem as we have in a purely intellectual approach to faith: it reduces spiritual formation to a withered caricature. The hero’s quest vision of spiritual formation robs me and my spiritual family of something rich and deep that God has given to us in His Church.

When I was born again, I became part of a family, and I moved into a community of interdependence: I need what the family of God offers me, and the family of God needs me. 

Why “IADOM” Is All Wrong

When I was a teen, I was on a quiz team at church. Our coach noticed that several of the quizzers had figured out that a few smart team members could carry the team. These less talented quizzers were less engaged, less likely to contribute. After all, they didn’t think they had much to offer.

To counter that mindset, the coach printed out the five letters “IADOM” and mounted that sign in a prominent place where we would all see it every time we practiced and every time we competed. He wanted each of us to know that “It All Depends On Me.”

But while “IADOM” works in team sports, it doesn’t work in spiritual formation. While I have an active role to play in my spiritual formation, it doesn’t all depend on me. I am not a lone sojourner.

I am part of God’s family. And my brothers and sisters in Christ play an active and significant role in my spiritual growth.

I remember a pastor at another church telling us about a time in his life when he was so low and so discouraged that he couldn’t even pray for himself. He told us that’s when his friends came in and prayed for him; they didn’t just offer up intercessory prayers on his behalf, they stood in his place to offer prayers he was unable to offer for himself.

My spiritual journey is never solitary, and neither is yours.

We all travel – we trudge, we suffer, we triumph, we grow weary, we persevere – together.

No, I’m not alone on this journey, and it doesn’t all depend on me.

We depend on one another.

We need one another.  

Persevere, Paul Pyle Discipleship Pastor