{"id":8887,"date":"2024-04-16T14:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=8887"},"modified":"2024-04-17T14:07:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T14:07:01","slug":"from-membership-to-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/04\/16\/from-membership-to-discipleship\/","title":{"rendered":"From Membership to Discipleship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Then he said to them all, \u201cIf any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.\u201d \u2013Luke 9:23-24<\/em><\/p>\n

We should not be surprised that Jesus\u2019 call to discipleship is challenging\u2014our biblical counterparts also struggled to follow this life-changing, world-altering summons.<\/p>\n

In recent months, I\u2019ve been sharing my thoughts about the key \u201cpivots\u201d Luther Seminary is living into this year and beyond. Our third pivot is one of focus, from the idea that we simply need more members in our Christian congregations to the idea that thriving communities of faith are those that develop a culture of practices and relationships that connect people with the living God and faith to daily life.<\/p>\n

Our inherited patterns of congregational life have often focused on membership as a measure of success. The problem is not with membership itself but rather when we assume that members know how to be disciples and that membership is a sign of vitality in the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, we ought to assume that all Christians are struggling to be disciples, that we all experience challenges in our faith journeys, and that Christian communities are already empowered by the Holy Spirit to intentionally cultivate discipleship.<\/p>\n

We trust in the Spirit to give us strength and wisdom as we find ourselves on this road of Christian faith. Our faith is strengthened when we receive God\u2019s promises in Word and Sacrament. We also know that Christ calls and claims followers outside of traditional contexts all the time.<\/p>\n

As we approach our spring commencement ceremony and prepare to send out many disciples to serve the gospel, we are thinking too about cultivating new classes of students. For a long time, Luther did not have to pay attention to demand for theological education because of our size and because flourishing congregations across the ELCA lifted up leaders who would find their way to this seminary.<\/p>\n

In a changing landscape, we now have to think differently about how we invite and accompany students into leadership for the sake of the gospel. We are well equipped and well staffed for this changing work. Similarly, in membership-based church models, we often think we alone have to find the money to keep the doors open, to maintain whatever it is we have done before. But the continuity of Christ\u2019s church isn\u2019t up to us\u2014it\u2019s up to the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

We need to tell each other this story of discipleship: That it\u2019s not about us but about Jesus. That we will lose our lives for the sake of the gospel and in losing our lives will gain everything we hope for. That the hope of the gospel is that we have a God who will not abandon us.<\/p>\n

Our congregational life, the church doors we do or do not walk through each Sunday, are changing. But what it means to be a flawed, forgiven, faithful disciple set into community has not changed since Jesus first called Simon, James, and John.<\/p>\n

Peace and blessings,
\nRobin Steinke
\nPresident<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then he said to them all, \u201cIf any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.\u201d \u2013Luke 9:23-24 We should not be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newsletter","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Membership to Discipleship - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/04\/16\/from-membership-to-discipleship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Membership to Discipleship - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Then he said to them all, \u201cIf any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 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