• Have you read other people's comments and understood them? Do you need to do some more research on the subject?
• What is your point of view, or that of your fellowship group? Submit your argument for or against. We will add it as soon as possible to the listings here.
• What is your decision in the debate? Vote for or against.

For

Jesus is an incredibly tough act to follow! Discipleship is easy in theory, the old phrase “Let go and let God” trips off the tongue so lightly and in theory it is easy to let go. For an instant. Then I find myself trusting in my own strength again, caring about my pride and independence. (Proverbs: 5) It is easy to be a disciple in theory because Jesus has spelt out for us in so many ways how to follow him. It is only easy to have a life of discipleship if we aim to follow him and accept our occasional failures as part of being human and vulnerable. As imperfect people we can be disciples who stumble and sometimes fall as long as we pick ourselves up quickly and move on. Discipleship is about following Christ to the best of our ability. It is easy to be a follower. What is more difficult is to get back on the path when we have wandered away and to continue when we feel we are poor imitations of Christ.
Alaine Sheppard, Stourport-on-Severn

Discipleship is easy if we believe the words of Matthew 11: 30: ’29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ Loving one another is easy and knowing what is right is easy. It becomes un-easy when our conscience – God’s voice within – tells us we are not doing enough. The type of discipleship we can offer might be limited by physical ability or circumstances, by a variety of commitments that we might not see as discipleship but which could be God’s way of working in our lives, and our way of following Christ’s example.
Jane, North London

Often in challenging people we have implied that the best way to be committed is to take up some church office, or teach in the Junior Church, or, if you’re really committed, become a presbyter or deacon. This is nonsense. Christ calls all his people to serve him with the whole of their lives. Discipleship is about how you live at work, in your family, in your community; it’s about your politics, your shopping habits and your use of resources; it’s about your understanding of human relationships in a personal, community and global setting. For God’s rule (what we call the kingdom) is not about the Church, but the whole of life in this world.
Graham Carter, President of the Methodist Conference 2006, from his address to Conference

Discipleship is about welcoming people into your community and making them feel welcome continually. You have to love yourself to be able to love someone else and as a disciple you have to deal with a lot of rejection. Because of this we feel that certain religious groups are very brave going and knocking on doors, or giving out tracts, as this can be difficult at times when you get a lot of things thrown in your face and lose your confidence.
St Andrews Church New Brighton Discussion Group

Against

Discipleship – easy? What about Jesus’ statement that if anyone wanted to follow him (ie be his disciples) they must deny themselves and take up the cross every day? That’s not ‘easy love’. That’s ‘tough love’ – and tough love is hard. It puts us not in the soft, easy places but in the jungles of life. And like the celebrities we’d eventually give anything to get out – but his kind of love wants us right in there, no matter what it costs us.
Patricia Batstone, Matlock

Discipleship is not easy, because it calls us to love as Jesus loved; ie as in the parable of the Good Samaritan – with no boundaries. To be a true disciple of Christ is to realise our own worth in the sight of God and to see every other person in the same way. Loving our neighbour, as Jesus did, challenges us to step out of our comfort zone, confront our prejudices and do something about what we find.
Kathleen

Discipleship means accepting the responsibility of travelling today’s path on our own – not without guidance or support, the basis of Christ’s way is clear, but the detail is ours to work on…

The call to discipleship is a call to walk with strangers, tread unfamiliar paths and risk doing new things. It’s about putting Christ first. Even the Gerasene demoniac, the man who had evil spirits driven out of him and into a herd of pigs had to face new risks. Yes, Jesus told him to stay at home and live out his discipleship rather than come with him, but that can’t have been easy. He had no other supportive structures - no wonder he wanted to go with Jesus. He had to live and share the good news with people who had always regarded him as a madman!

…It’s a daunting prospect, like launching out on a sea without knowing where the further shore might be, or treading a path when we can’t see anything over the horizon more than a merest hint of what might be there.
Graham Carter, President of Methodist Conference 2006, from his address to Conference

Loving your neighbour as yourself is all very well but it’s very difficult to love everybody especially if they are not nice people. We pray to be very kind and nice to everyone but it is not easy when they really ‘get your goat’. Sometimes it’s difficult to control yourself and pray that no unkind words come out of your mouth. When they do it’s too late, even if you are sorry. It’s hard to love everyone as you have to be a friend to have a friend.
St Andrews Church New Brighton Discussion Group

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Your comments:

Our next issue’s debate is on the motion: ‘Christians should be prepared to go against the laws of the land in order to support those who see their country as ‘The Promised Land’. Do you agree or disagree?

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