Go Make Learners:
A New Model for Discipleship in the Church
by Robert Brow
THE WORD "MODEL" SUGGESTS something more than a two-dimensional, flat
diagram. Models are used to represent exterior form, such as model planes or
cars, but they can also be made to exhibit internal systems such as those of
the human body. In the natural sciences, models are teaching aids but they may
also serve to suggest new directions for advanced research. For example, the
discovery of the double helix model for the DNA molecule by Watson and Crick
triggered major developments in modern biochemistry and genetics. [1]
In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas S. Kuhn has used
the term "paradigm" to describe a way of "seeing the world and of practicing
science in it."[2] I would like my use of the word "model" to include not only the
functions of Kuhn's "paradigms," but also the moral factors which science
excludes from its purview. If this book succeeds it will provide an
illustration of the importance of theological models both for Biblical study
and for the practical life of a local church.[3]
My hope is to demonstrate a discipleship model of the church. As an
Anglican minister, my church model affects the way I baptize, welcome people to
Communion, lead worship, and expect the church to grow. In preaching and
teaching I find that my model flavors all the words that Christians use,
including words such as faith, repentance, church, new birth, even the
word Christian. One result of this is that those who attend St. James'
Church, (or read this book) with another model of the church in mind, may find
my terminology strange, if not upsetting. Each model of the church will mark
off believers, or the Christian community, or church members, in a different
way which will affect the practice of baptism and admission to Holy
Communion.
What then do I mean by a model of the church? The philosopher Wittgenstein
commented on the difficulty of giving a clear-cut definition of "a game."[4] And
like games, models must be looked at, and preferably be engaged in, to be
understood. After you have played a diversity of games such as field sports,
card games, and children's games, you come to knew more or less what a game is.
So it is with models in physics, biology, economics, sociology, and with what I
call church models. As you grasp one model of church life, experience it in
practice, and compare it with others, you will learn how the model works and
how it differs from others. Its use defines it. Every theological model is, to
some degree, a caricature, something far less than the whole truth, yet it may
be effective enough to unmask inconsistencies, and to evoke responses such as
anger, scorn, or the desire to act according to the model adopted. As long as
we realize the purpose of the model or caricature, it can help us to see
clearly what we must do, how we must change, and the moral implications of our
behavior. Here, for example, are some quick caricature models of the
church:
- The Probationary model holds that baptism is appropriate only for
people who have seriously considered the claims of Jesus, have understood the
principles of the Kingdom of God, and have proved their sincerity and
commitment over a period of time. Candidates for baptism are therefore enrolled
as catechumens at the beginning of a probationary period of several weeks. At
the end of the probationary period, the candidate's baptism is a sign or seal
that he had understood the foundational principles of the Christian faith, is
now making a clean break with the past, and intends to live hereafter as a
soldier of Jesus Christ.[5] Since babies can neither understand, nor make, such a commitment, it usually follows that they are not baptized.
- The Cleansing model is based on the belief that children come into
the world already depraved and 'contaminated" by original sin. Baptism in the
name of the Trinity washes away all their sin.[6] After baptism the heart is in a
state of innocency until deliberate sin occurs to defile it. Sin subsequent to
baptism needs to be removed by the sacrament of penance. When sin is confessed
to a properly ordained priest in the apostolic succession he can give
absolution, which removes the sin stain. At death, unconfessed and uncorrected
sin must be purged away in purgatory. Faith is therefore defined as a belief
that membership in the true church is God's means of cleansing and salvation, and
that includes submission to the ministrations of its priesthood. People who
have faith in this sense are Christians.
- The Judgment model posits that God is a Judge who keeps account of
our good and bad deeds. On the day of judgment we are sent to hell or heaven
depending on our performance. The church exists to tell us what is good and
bad, and to encourage us to avoid sin and perform the good works necessary for
our salvation. Baptism enrolls us in the Christian church, but it is those who
sincerely try to do good and avoid evil who are Christians.
- The Baptist model holds that all of us deserve to go to hell because
of original sin. Sin can be forgiven only upon our decision to accept Jesus
Christ as personal Savior. If we admit our sin, believe he died for us, and
accept him as Savior, we are saved from our sins and born again. Baptism is the
sign that we have done this and so have become Christians. Only adults can make
such a crucial decision, therefore babies should not be baptized.
- The Liberation model understands the church to be a force that
motivates us in the direction of social justice. Our present economic and
social structures make justice impossible, and without justice there can be no
freedom and therefore no love. The task of Christians is to build the kingdom
of God by denouncing injustice, and by organizing themselves and others to
overthrow the existing structures, by means of violence if necessary, and so
bring in freedom for a better world where love can flourish. Baptism commits us
to such a struggle, which we share with all others who care about justice and
freedom.
It is to be hoped that no responsible theologian would subscribe to any of
these caricature models without many qualifications. But the very fact that
such caricatures exist suggests that the models they represent are
recognizable. We all know Christians whose beliefs follow one or other of these
paths. I suspect that most ordinary church members have been taught to view
themselves in relation to their church in terms of some such simple model. To
theologians the caricatures may seem gross, but the fact is that such
caricatures motivate action, and provide a framework for persuading others to
function as the model requires. Once adopted, the model in some sense grips and
molds us.
Corresponding to each model of the church there is a community of adherents
who live by the set of traditions that the model requires. The tradition of
each model is developed and expressed in popular books, magazines, Sunday
School materials, in worship, in preaching, and in a host of unstated ways by
the behavior, body language, and accepted norms of ministers and laymen in
church and in social and family situations. The traditions connected with a
particular religious model correspond to what Kuhn called "normal
science."[7]
I propose to set out a discipleship model of the church which we could
caricature as follows:
The Discipleship model holds that Jesus imparted his teaching to
disciples. Disciples were enrolled by baptism. Before leaving his disciples,
Jesus told his chosen leaders to go into all the world and enroll other
disciples from all nations by baptizing them. The baptized were to be taught
all that Jesus had imparted to his disciples. In place of his personal presence
among them, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to superintend, direct, and apply his
teaching among the baptized. The definition of a Christian is therefore a
learner, a disciple under instruction by the Holy Spirit. A local church
consists of the group of disciples gathered for teaching by the Holy Spirit in
that place.
As I proceed, this caricature will be developed, given depth and inner
structure. The first objective is to picture this model, in contrast to other
models, as a possible form of church life by showing that the Discipleship
model fits much of the New Testament evidence, is a practical way to picture
the life of a parish, and dissolves many of the bothersome problems of other
models. This does not prove that the discipleship model is the correct or
ultimate model. It merely proposes one possible way of picturing the
Biblical data.
How then do we know when a model is correct? As Kuhn shows, this is
a wrong formulation of the question.[8] What we need to ask is, which model solves
the most problems? It is on this basis that we should decide to use one model
in preference to others. If a large number of church congregations begin to
look at their work in terms of the discipleship model, obviously there will be
revolutionary changes in the way Christians view themselves, and in the way
others, in the world, view them. Whether or not that happens, this book will be
worthwhile if it helps parish ministers and thinking members of their
congregations to clarify the model they intend to use in the work of Jesus
Christ.
In the discussions of baptism and Christian initiation over the past few years there have been scholarly arguments for many
different models. Baptismal regeneration has been opposed by those who argue
salvation by faith alone. Infant baptism has been widely attacked by those who
are convinced that the Bible teaches "believers'" baptism. Some have
recommended a more or less lengthy catechumenate. Many ministers who practice
infant baptism have become rigorous in rejecting parents who do not believe or
behave or otherwise shape up. It should be obvious that radically new thinking
about baptism is needed to move us beyond the present impasse.[9]
- Try to identify at least one active Christian, whom you know personally,
whose belief and behavior fits each of the models described in the
Introduction. Next time you meet him or her, check your impression by friendly questioning (the purpose is not to win arguments, but to understand the viewpoints of others).
- Attempt to identify the models used by some of the churches of various
denominations in your area. Later you may be able to correct your caricatures
by asking their members how they view themselves.
- Does your own local church have a clear model that explains its work?
Describe it.
- Are their strong-minded individuals in your church who are motivated by
other models?
- See if you can propose a rough model of how you would like your local
church to function. Though you may not agree with the Discipleship model as set out in this book, as you react with it, pray that you will clarify your own position as a Christian.
"Jesus Christ, Lord of the worldwide church, help me to see your plan.
Give me a vision of what I have to do, and renew my faith to do it."
Chapter 2...
- James Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Structure
of DNA, (New York: Atheneum, 1968).
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- Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd.
Edition, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), p.4. Kuhn has been
attacked in various ways, and has had to qualify his use of the term
"paradigm," but the importance of paradigms and models has profoundly affected the philosophy of science.
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- In his book, Models of the Church, (New York: Doubleday &
Co., 1974), Avery Dulles worked with five models of the Church: as Institution,
as Mystical Communion, as Sacrament, as Herald, as Servant. Where his models
illustrate the nature of the church as a whole, I have concentrated on churches
more at the point of taking in and teaching new members.
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- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, (Oxford: Basil
Blackwell), part I, sections 23-27, 31-38, 65-71. The best introductions to the
implications of this mode of thinking is Donald Hudson's Ludwig
Wittgenstein: The Bearing of his Philosophy upon Religious Belief, (London:
Lutterworth Press, 1968). Peter Winch was the first to note the importance of
Wittgenstein's thinking for the social sciences: The Idea of a Social
Science and its Relation to Philosophy, (New York: Humanities Press,
1963).
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- A form of the probationary model had been adopted in some churches by
the end of the second century, as, for example, that of Hippolytus (c. AD
170-236), see Apostolic Tradition, Gregory Dix ed., (London: SPCK,
1937). I will be arguing that there is no trace of a period of probation to be
seen in the New Testament baptisms. Many modern discussions of Christian
initiation are flawed by the careless assumption that Hippolytus' model of
baptism is a continuation of what the early churches practiced. It is in fact a serious perversion.
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- Although huge numbers of Christians in the Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, and Anglican churches have for long periods of time maintained
variants of these models, modern theologians in all these churches would prefer an ex opere operato view of the sacrament. As we will see, the
Discipleship model enables us to give force to the instrumental nature of the
baptismal texts without the magical connotation which we find so
difficult.
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- Kuhn, op cit., pp. 10-11, 24,47.
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- Kuhn, op cit., pp. 17-18, 81.
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- The progress of the debate in the last forty years is outlined in the
chronological bibliography at the back of this book. A cursory glance at this
will indicate the incredible lack of unanimity among scholars. I have failed to find a good presentation of baptism from the eschatological point of view,
which, with its variants, further complicates the modern theological scene.
This is taught in Canada, for example, by Dr. Oliver O'Donovan at Wycliffe
College of the University of Toronto.
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Chapter 2...