John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:4-8, CEB translation)
Books cannot be unlimited in their length. Some material cannot make it in the final edits. Also, in the case of Gospel Discipleship, the work with individuals and churches has continued since the manuscript was turned in. With both of those realities in mind, there are stories I wish I could have added that did not make the cut. For these last 4 of the kick-off blogs for Gospel Discipleship, I will share some bonus material for each type. I will go in the same order the types fall in the books, so we start here with a couple of Markan stories.
I open with a passage about John the Baptist because he reminds me of Markans: rough and wild and not conforming to usual societal expectations, and insistent that we should be focused on the Holy Spirit. True Markans neither wield, nor hog the power of the Holy Spirit. Markans recognize that the Spirit lands where the Spirit will. But they see the Spirit coming. They know when the Spirit is near. They know what the Spirit calls them to, and what the Spirit does not. These two stories illustrate those Markan tendencies.
Markans Love Messy… and Urgency
One of the churches I worked with early on invited me to preach and then stay and teach Sunday school. It was a large church, and there were multiple services, so during the teaching time, I drew some people who went to other services as well. Mostly these were people who had found out about the assessment and wanted to take it.
During the course of such teaching, people were coming and going. Choir members had to leave early to get ready for the next service, parents had children to maneuver, and of course some people just always show up late for things. One such woman came in while I was teaching on Mattheans. She came up afterwards and said, “I really enjoyed your teaching, but none of those descriptions sound like me.”
“Well, let me check your test results. Oh, you are pretty strongly Markan. You came in after I had already talked about them.” So, I quickly started running through the characteristics of Markans. She was nodding along until I said, “And Markans love messy.”
She grabbed my arms and exclaimed, “Oh my God! That is my house! It is a disaster! I mean, I can make my way around in it, but there is just stuff everywhere! But here’s the thing. It is filled with all these ideas I have to do God’s work. There are so many things we can do for God, and there is only so much time to get them going! That has to be my focus! I can’t waste time cleaning my house!” Then she hugged me and thanked me.
I love that story because it shows so much of the Markan identity. Markans all define messy in different ways. Sometimes it is defined as a willingness to stand in the messiness of life, to walk in it and recognize that the bringing of God’s reign to earth is never a clean proposition. Sometimes it is defined as being comfortable with an unclear path, acknowledging that the Spirit will lead us in the ways we should go. And sometimes it does manifest in chaotic physical space, like this woman described. Her reaction, grabbing me by my arms suddenly, but also explaining that time was of the essence, is the Markan drive to respond immediately. And, as an added bonus, the fact that she described so many things that she was trying to get off the ground illustrated the Spiritual ADD that both inspires and plagues Markans as they seek to unleash the Holy Spirit in their lives and the lives of others.
Markans Stay True to their Calling…Mostly
Gospel Discipleship came up with a church that was actually at a crossroads. They were trying to decide if the faithful thing to do was to stay open and change how they are doing things, or close and deed their property over to fund other ministries. They decided to give it at least one more good year, but they knew they needed more clarity about how to live as disciples. Someone had heard about Gospel Discipleship, so I gave a brief synopsis and talked about how it could be integrated into the work ahead of them.
Two of the leaders caught me afterwards. They were fascinated and wanted more details. Then they started to conjecture about what type they were. One of the women was clearly Markan. The other was likely either Matthean or Lukan. The Matthean/Lukan talked about how much she loved to go serve at a local soup kitchen. Her reasons reflected that double identity she had (it turns out, she was tied when she took the assessment): she loved feeding hungry people, and she loved sitting and hearing their stories.
The other woman leaned over and, almost with a little guilt in her voice said, “I hate going there.”
“You are Markan,” I said. “I would lay money on it.”
“Really?” she questioned. “Why?”
“Because you don’t feel called into that space. Let me ask you this. Are you glad that hungry people are being fed?”
“Yeah, of course!”
“But you don’t know what you add to that space besides being a body who can spoon out food?”
“Yes!”
“And you are also pretty sure there are other people in the church who should be doing that work because it would be very fulfilling for them, and you are frustrated that they won’t step forward and do it, so you get stuck with it every month?”
“Exactly! That’s exactly how I feel!” she exclaimed.
“You are Markan. You can take the assessment if you want, but I will go ahead and tell you that you are Markan. You know that work is good and has purpose, but you also know some people are called to that work and some aren’t. And if the ones who aren’t keep stepping into that role, the others will not fully live into their discipleship. But you are also Markan, so you know who should be stepping up. Start encouraging them to do it. Help them understand they are gifted in that way. And let them take your place. But from time to time, be part of that community. Stretch yourself and continue to serve. The Spirit may one day call you back into that space, and checking in from time to time is helpful. Plus, your Lukan best friend over here needs you to go sometimes too.”
She did take the assessment. She was firmly, strongly Markan.
That is the joy of watching people understand their discipleship. People are set free to step into the people they are called to be. They are given purpose, even if that purpose is to get out of the way so someone else lives their purpose. And they no longer have to feel like they are a weird Christian because they do not think or act like some other Christians do. If there is any type that can lead us into that reality, it is the Markans. They see giftedness for what and who it is. May we all be the disciples Jesus calls us to be, and may we all encourage others to do the same.
Want to know who you are called to be? Take the assessment at www.ministrymatters.com/gospeldiscipleship.
Want to hear some more stories? Download the video content that goes with the books soon here at Cokesbury.com.
Photo by Alfred Kenneally on Unsplash