Can you retire from discipleship?  After years in ministry, I’ve seen a phenomenon of active parents disappearing from the church after their kids go to college.  I’ve seen older adults whose primary involvement in the church is to take field trips and bring in speakers to talk about special interests that have nothing to do with spiritual development.  There’s a mentality of we’ve heard it all, we’ve done it all, now it’s time to kick back and enjoy ourselves.  In Christian theology, the Antinomian (Auntie Gnomey-Anne) is the one who puts so much emphasis on freedom in Christ that they throw out the call to follow Christ in obedient discipleship.  It’s important to take Sabbath, it’s important to allow others to love and care for you, but the Christian faith has never allowed for a permanent retreat from works of piety (loving God) and works of mercy (loving others).

In the 1730’s, John and Charles Wesley found that some of their Methodists were becoming still.  The Stillness Movement was an antinomian idea that we should not worship, pray, read scripture, or even do good works to others because we would think that our good deeds saved us instead of God’s grace.  It’s pretty counter-intuitive to the scripture that asks, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!” (Rom. 6:1).  This is not the exact attitude of those who would retire from discipleship today, but the effect is the same…good works of discipleship are seen as a burden to be freed from instead of a gift from God we are set free to enjoy.

Charles said of these people, “Many here insist that a part of their Christian calling is liberty from obeying, not liberty to obey.  The justified, say they, are to be still; that is, not to search the scriptures, not to pray, not to [take communion], not to do good, not to endeavor, not to desire; for it is impossible to use the means [of grace] without trusting them.  Their practice is agreeable to their principles.  Lazy and proud themselves, bitter and censorious towards others, they trample upon the ordinances and despise the commands of Christ.  I see no middle ground whereupon we can meet.”

So, if you find doing good works and seeking God through worship to be a burden, what needs to change in your church culture, or in your own heart?  What would it take for you to find discipleship a great freedom to follow God instead of a chore to be rescued from?