Describing Discipleship to Jesus

Discipleship to Jesus is a whole life enterprise, involving all of our thoughts, affections, actions and relationships.  It will be, I believe, extraordinarily valuable to summarize and categorize the various spheres of discipleship, to bring us out of the general and abstract into the actual and particulars of life.  Point granted that this exercise is abstract, yet it should move us from the general to the particular without losing sight of the big picture.  In other words, to help us think comprehensively about life as a disciple of Jesus.

Here are some of my initial thoughts.  Recognizing that these spheres are in many ways interrelated, it is nonetheless beneficial to look at the Christian life from these various viewpoints.  I invite your contribution to this discussion!  Help me in the process of categorization, if you will!

Discipleship to Jesus is:

1.  Personal: devotional life with God, personal habits/disciplines, self-care/self-management

2.  Filial: relationships with nuclear family (spouse, parent/child)

3.  Ecclesial: relationships with local church family

4.  Occupational: economic relationships and culture-shaping (work, compensation, stewardship of time/talent/treasure)

5.  Local: relationships and roles within one’s geographically local community

6.  Societal: relationships and roles within one’s region, nation, and/or sociological niche/co-culture

7.  Global: relationships and roles within the global community

Discipleship is an integration of spirituality (disposition & relationship to God; prayer, worship, contemplation, engagement w/ Scripture), ethics/morality (disposition & relationship to self and others; justice/righteousness orientation), and stewardship (economic relationship toward self, others, and culture/society at large).

Thanks in advance...

Matt