Discipleship for the remnant Church

by Michael Wakelin.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.

Job 38: 1-4

The past five years have been some of the toughest since the war. The wrong people seem to hold sway in the world, the pandemic and cost of living crisis have sucked the confidence out of many of us, and we may wonder what God is doing! As Sydney Carter put it, ‘And God is up in heaven and never does a thing, with a million angels watching and they never move a wing’.

On the other hand, these words from Dr Who remind us that God’s time is not linear and human freewill enables terrible people to do terrible things. ‘People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly … timey-wimey … Stuff’.

This is the setting of our call to be disciples in a remnant Church. We are called to:

Spend time with Jesus

In the first chapter of John’s gospel two of the Baptist’s disciples respond to the invitation to ‘come and see’ where Jesus is staying and when they found out they ‘spent the rest of the day with him’ (John 1: 39). In all probability they will have said very little, but they will have listened.

Be expectant

Rowan Williams compares discipleship with bird-watching! Sitting still for hours and nothing happens, but the expectation that something will keeps the twitcher watching. Ann Lewin’s poem The Kingfisher makes the same point about prayer. God is always active, and signs of the kingdom are there, like dark matter – and discipleship requires attentiveness.

Be faithful in adversity

As disciples we are called to be faithful; whatever is happening – we are called to love our enemies not just when it is convenient to do so, we are called to trust in him not just when things are going well, we are called to be loving even when love seems to have abandoned us.

Have robust theology

I wonder why the rabbis included the book of Job in the canon. It has some unpleasant characters and a hero who suffers countless indignities.

As a philosophy, the Japanese art of Kintsugi treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. We are described in the Bible as clay – not made of cast iron and burnished steel – we are designed to be fragile and being broken is part of life. But when we break it’s not a signal to give up or be thrown away, rather it’s time to get repaired and start again.

We are fixed by giving and receiving love – and our brokenness is then transformed into the rich and lovely human beings we are – scarred but so beautifully restored.

Take committed action

We are called to be observant and then to do something. The disciples were with Jesus but were so stupid they didn’t notice half the time what was required of them. It is easy to be the Levite, passing on the other side, and the Priest keeping his distance. There is a difference between noticing and seeing.

There are great examples of people making a response which leads to projects and change, far larger than the original vision. The City of Sanctuary project which Inderjit Bhogal began in Sheffield almost 20 years ago has now spawned over 120 cities of sanctuary as well as many other things.

Conclusion: God works with those who, like Mary, say ‘yes’. The gospels tell us of the bewildered and broken fishermen who chose faith and became the most potent force in religious history. Throughout the centuries Christian disciples who have said ‘yes’ have toppled governments and transformed societies fighting against seemingly hopeless odds to end oppression and bring about justice.

For reflection:

• Look at the words of Job 38. Do they offer any answer to Sydney Carter’s lament?

• What is your understanding of being a disciple? What do you need to do to change or improve your discipleship?

• How might we practise attentiveness to what God is doing?

This year’s SPECTRUM Conference, What role for the Remnant Church? was held at Swanwick in mid-May and was led by Michael Wakelin and Elaine Lindridge, two speakers who have both written publicly of their growing conviction that some long-held beliefs and practices of Christians and the churches are in urgent need of close scrutiny and critique. Articles are in the form of discussion papers based on their session notes, with editing by Keith Albans – we are sharing them periodically on Theology Everywhere. Also see Time for a New Reformation , Reimagining Faith, What are trying to say to the world? and Should I stay or should I go?