Preface: Disciples or Christians?

Let me explain and justify the title of this book, The Radical Disciple.

First, why ‘disciple’?

It comes as a surprise to many people to discover that the followers of Jesus Christ are called ‘Christian’ only three times in the New Testament.

The most significant occurrence is Luke’s comment that it was in Syrian Antioch that Jesus’ disciples were first called ‘Christians’ (Acts 11:26). Antioch was known to be an international community. Consequently its church was an international community too, and it was appropriate that its members were called ‘Christians’ in order to indicate that their ethnic differences were overcome by their common allegiance to Christ.

The other two occurrences of the word ‘Christian’ supply evidence that it was beginning to come into common currency. So when Paul was on trial before King Agrippa and challenged him directly, Agrippa cried out to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ (Acts 26:28).

Then the apostle Peter, whose first letter was written against the background of growing persecution, found it necessary to distinguish between those who suffered ‘as a criminal’ and those who suffered ‘as a Christian’ (1 Peter 4:16); that is, because they belonged to Christ. Both words (Christian and disciple) imply a relationship with Jesus, although perhaps ‘disciple’ is the stronger of the two because it inevitably implies the relationship of pupil to teacher. During his three years of public ministry the Twelve were disciples before they were apostles, and as disciples they were under the instruction of their teacher and lord.

One wishes in some ways that the word ‘disciple’ had continued into the following centuries, so that Christians were self-consciously disciples of Jesus, and took seriously their responsibility to be ‘under discipline’.

My concern in this book is that we who claim to be disciples of the Lord Jesus will not provoke him to say again: ‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?’ (Luke 6:46). For genuine discipleship is wholehearted discipleship, and this is where my next word comes in.

So, secondly, why ‘radical’? Since this is the adjective I am using to describe our discipleship, it is important to indicate the sense in which I am using it.

The English word ‘radical’ is derived from the Latin word radix, a root. Originally it seems to have been applied as a political label to people like the nineteenth-century politician William Cobbett and their extreme, liberal and reformist views. But from this it came to be applied generally to those whose opinions went to the roots and who were thoroughgoing in their commitment.

We are now ready to put the noun and the adjective together and to ask our third question, namely why ‘radical disciple’? The answer is obvious. There are different levels of commitment in the Christian community. Jesus himself illustrated this in what happened to the seeds he describes in the Parable of the Sower. The difference between the seeds lay in the kind of soil which received them. Of the seed sown on rocky soil Jesus said, ‘It had no root.’

Our common way of avoiding radical discipleship is to be selective; choosing those areas in which commitment suits us and staying away from those areas in which it will be costly. But because Jesus is Lord, we have no right to pick and choose the areas in which we will submit to his authority.

Jesus is worthy to receive

Honour and power divine.

And blessings more than we can give

Be Lord for ever thine.

CONTENTS

Preface: Disciples or Christians?

1. Non-conformity

2. Christlikeness

3. Maturity

4. Creation-care

5. Simplicity

6. Balance

7. Dependence

8. Death

Conclusion

Postscript: Farewell!

For over twenty-five years John Piper has trumpeted the truth that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." He calls it Christian Hedonism. The problem is that many people, after being persuaded, find that this truth is both liberating and devastating.

It's liberating because it endorses our inborn desire for joy. And it's devastating because it reveals that we don't desire God the way we should. What do you do when you discover the good news that God wants you to be content in him, but then find that you aren't?

If joy in God were merely the icing on the cake of Christian commitment, this book would be insignificant. But Piper argues that joy is so much more. Our being satisfied in God is necessary to show God's worthiness and to sustain sacrifices of love.

Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. He tasted it. It sustained him through the deepest suffering. His Father was glorified. His people were saved. That is what joy in God does.

The absolutely urgent question becomes: What can I do if I don't have it? With a pastor's heart and with radical passion for the glory of Christ, John Piper helps you answer that question.

Sequels usually don't fare well with the public. There are exceptions, of course. One thinks of The Godfather II and the seemingly endless installments in the Harry Potter series of books.

But John Piper has produced a "sequel" of sorts that is sure to become a classic of the Christian life. I have often said that Piper's Desiring God (Multnomah) is the most influential and life-changing book I've ever read outside of Scripture itself. I still stand by that judgment. It's a book that promotes what has come to be known as "Christian Hedonism." Joy, says Piper, is not a peripheral element in the Christian life nor a mere after-effect or fruit of obedience. Rather, it is essential to every act of moral and spiritual virtue, for God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied (i.e., find maximum, optimum joy) in Him.

Not everyone has responded as positively as I to Desiring God. There are a number of reasons for this, one of which is that joy does not come easily. Piper himself acknowledges that over the years many have come to him complaining or lamenting the absence of joy and their repeated failure to cultivate a passion and desire for God and all that he is for us in Jesus. So what does one do when he or she doesn't desire God? Are there specific ways and spiritual strategies, based in Scripture, that help us "fight for joy"? On the one hand, "when all is said and done, only God can create joy in God". But on the other hand, says Piper, "if I didn't believe God uses means to awaken joy in himself, I would not have written this book".

This book is all about getting a desire you don't have and can't create. Piper addresses the question, "How can I obtain or recover a joy in Christ that is so deep and so strong that it will free me from bondage to Western comforts and security, and will impel me into sacrifices of mercy and missions, and will sustain me in the face of martyrdom?" Make no mistake. Piper wants nothing to do with promoting middle-class comforts and conveniences that lull people into a spiritual slumber and apathy. His concept of "joy" has nothing to do with the mindless, flabby, enervating giddiness of so much western "Christianity". He's talking about a joy that consists in a deep, abiding, substantive delight and satisfaction in Jesus Christ that ruins us for anything else and impels us to willingly and joyfully(!) embrace whatever material loss or persecution the pursuit of God's glory may bring.

"Loving Christ involves delight in his Person. Without this love no one goes to heaven. Therefore there is no more important struggle in the universe than the struggle to see and savor Christ above all things - the struggle for joy" (p35).

"God ordained that spiritual seeing should happen mainly through hearing. Christ is not visually present for us to see. He is presented today in the Word of God, especially the gospel. . . . Therefore we can say that seeing the glory of Christ is what happens in the heart when the hearing of the gospel is made effective by the Spirit' (emphasis mine; p65).

'I would challenge you to throw off the notion that weighty books of doctrine are joy-squelching, while light devotional books are joy-producing. It's true that the joy of serious reading and the thinking that goes with it (sometimes called study) may not be as immediate as the joy of singing in church, or seeing a sunset, or talking with a friend, or hearing a preacher with lots of stories. But the payload for joy may be greater. Raking is easier than digging, but you only get leaves. If you dig you may get diamonds' (125-26).

The most challenging chapter in the book is entitled, 'How to Wield the World in the Fight for Joy.' Piper is at his best when he explains the role of the natural creation in the stimulation and sustaining of joy. For example,

'All of God's creation becomes a beam to be 'looked along' or a sound to be 'heard along' or a fragrance to be 'smelled along' or a flavor to be "tasted along" or a touch to be 'felt along.' All our senses become partners with the eyes of the heart in perceiving the glory of God through the physical world' (185).

Some of you will be especially blessed by the concluding chapter, "When the Darkness Does Not Lift." Here is Piper's analysis of and practical advice for conquering, through the grace of God, depression, or what the Puritans called "melancholy". His perspective is respectful of those suffering, but no less hopeful. He addresses the influence of Satan and the demonic, the relationship between the physical and spiritual, as well as the role of medication in alleviating the horror of depression.

I could go on seemingly without end in giving you reasons why this book is a must read. Let me simply say, you must read it. If at all possible, start with Desiring God and then move on to its sequel. You will be immensely blessed and, dare I say, filled with joy in Jesus as you do.