We know that when Jesus called His followers to discipleship then, it primarily meant to go with him, to observe, study, and imitate. They were in a very real sense apprentices learning to be little Christ's in the school of "on-the-job" training. His disciples knew what to do and what it would cost. Discipleship had a very clear and straightforward meaning. Today we cannot be "with Him" in the same sense that the disciples were with Him. But we can have the same priorities, intentions, and heart attitudes. Williard suggests that "the disciple is one who, intent upon becoming like Christ and so dwelling in His faith and practice, systematically and progressively rearranges his affairs to that end."
Too many in today's church have other priorities such as security, reputation, fame, power, sensual indulgence, "personal peace and affluence"...you get the picture. "A mind cluttered by excuses may make a mystery of discipleship, or it may see it as something to be dreaded." I often times do not see a significant difference between the lives and priorities of Christians and non-Christians. I do not see Christians living lives that indicate their citizenship resides in the Kingdom of God - who live in the world but are not of the world. I am too often guilty of the very same problem. I hold too tightly to the things of this world and that is counter-productive to living the kind of life that leads to Christ-likeness.
"Examination of our ultimate desires and intentions, reflected in the specific responses and choices that make up our lives, can show whether there are things we hold more important than being like Him." Idolatry then seems to be the biggest hindrance to Biblical discipleship.
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