The nature of discipleship

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The nature of discipleship
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"what sort of community would we have to be in
order to be the sort of people who live by our
convictions?"
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Alasdair MacIntyres After Virtue
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We would like a church that again asserts that
God, not nations, rules the world, that the
boundaries of Gods kingdom transcend those of
Caesar, and that the main political task of the
church is the formation of people who see clearly
the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay
the price
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Christianity is unintelligible without
witnesses, that is, without people whose
practices exhibit their committed assent to a
particular way of structuring the whole
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Its about doing
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Failing at creating Christian character, the
pastoral ministry is doomed to the petty concerns
of helping people feel a bit better rather than
inviting them to dramatic conversion. The pastor
becomes nothing more than the court chaplain,
presiding over ceremonies of the culture 
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. . . Or else the pastor feels like a cult
prostitute, selling his or her love for the
approval of an upwardly mobile, bored middle
class, who, more than anything else, want some
relief from the anxiety brought on by their
materialism
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"If you ask one of the crucial theological
questions--why was Jesus killed?--the answer
isn't because God wants us to love one another.'
Why in the hell would anyone kill Jesus for that?
That's stupid. It's not even interesting. Why did
he get killed? Because he challenged the powers
that be. The church is a political institution
calling people to be an alternative to the world.
That's what the cross is about."
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Unable through our preaching, baptism, and
witness to form a visible community of faith, we
content ourselves with ersatz Christian ethical
activity--lobbying Congress to support
progressive strategies, asking the culture at
large to be a little less racist, a little less
promiscuous, a little less violent
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Our claim is not that this tradition will make
sense to anyone or will enable the world to run
more smoothly. Our claim is that it just happens
to be
true