Every day when I go out on the bus, I am forced by the words of Jesus to ask, “Who and how will I make disciples today as I am going about my daily business?”
This is not about flashy campaigns or buttons. Slogans fail me. But there is a compulsion coming from the command of Jesus: I must make disciples. I have made few, if any, converts in my lifetime, but I have discipled quite a few. If not all of them were baptized by me, I have taken them one step closer (or more) to Jesus. It almost routinely requires that I go. Teaching to obey Jesus is the stuff of life.
The most dangerous aspect of this is that I must obey Jesus. I must take up my cross daily. I must choose the path that is despised by the world. I must choose the hard road rather than the easy road. I must embrace suffering now as the means to later reward.
Yet the suffering I face is not all that hard: occassional misunderstanding, risking rejection and snubs initially, being despised by those I love, poverty, long hours, etc.
These are the kinds of suffering that are not absolute. They are accompanied by joy, even laughter and singing. With this suffering and joy a comradery is built with others who have taken the hard road. It is the bond of brotherhood (sisters are welcome too) that is shared by the saints, of whom I am the least.
And so continues the story of the international fellowship of everyday saints.
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