To be  completely honest, I have been struggling for a long time with awareness of the gap between conventional discipleship beliefs and practices and how the Bible characterizes true discipleship.  "If you remain in my word," Jesus says, "then you are truly disciples of mine."  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father," (Matthew 7:21).  We might very well tense up reading these verses.  How are we to take them?

It helps, I think, to start with exploring the nature of learning, since discipleship and learning refer to the same experience.  To understand how learning happens pushes us further back to the need for an adequate understanding of our human nature.  Learning always involves our taking the form of our environment.  I could illustrate this truth countless ways, but, instead, I'll ask you to imagine how, though you certainly are a moral agent with some...