Pilgrim Soldier

I’ve managed to get hold of an pdf copy of Søren Kierkegaard’s Provocations and have been reading through. I am amazed about how this man who died over 150 years ago seems to be speaking to those who are searching for a deeper meaning within their Christian faith today!

So as I flicked through I came across the article by the same name as this post which was originally published in his book Practice in Christianity.

It is well known that Christ consistently used the expression “follower.” He never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is looking for.¹

This goes to the same thoughts I have that being a Christian should really be like being an apprentice to a master craftsman. Admiring a craftsman work is a very different proposition to being apprenticed to them, gradually learning to produce work that becomes like that of the craftsman. There in lies the problem!

For too many of those who attend a church on a Sunday, and call themselves Christians (even born-again), research suggests that there is very little to differentiate between them and those who do not profess a faith in Christ. It seems that far too many of us admire the wonder of Jesus and his teaching, but not enough for it really make us strive to become more like him. Too many are unprepared for the sacrifices that following Jesus actually entail.

Kierkegaard goes on to say:

The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires. Not so for the follower. No, no. The follower aspires with all his strength, with all his will to be what he admires.²

So are you an admirer or a follower?