Christian Discipleship

". . . Christlikeness is the goal of life, not happiness. The current philosophy around us is that all is well if only people are happy. The great aim of education, science, and government is to give the most temporal happiness to the most people. And even as Christians we have been infected by the spirit of the age so that we bargain with God for happiness. If cross-bearing is Christ's condition of discipleship, happiness is ours. But it cannot be so . . . Paul was not always happy, nor was Luther, nor Wesley. But discipleship for them was not happiness; it was faithfulness and usefulness. This philosophy will hold missionaries steady when they are lonely and homesick. This will keep pastors from resigning and seeking greener pastures when problems become complicated and the burdens are almost too heavy to be borne. This will keep husbands and wives true to each other when incompatibilities seem to make ideal happiness beyond their reach. This will keep students grinding toward the goal of God's call whether they like studying or not. This will keep laymen faithfully tithing and working and worshiping even when caught by contrary winds of adversity or emotional depression . . . Let us once for all drum the truth into our heads that there can be no room in the Christian life for hedonism . . . There will be many pleasures along the way which will be enjoyed gratefully; but the Christian must never become preoccupied with the frantic quest for pleasure for its own sake . . . For the Christian life is serious and challenging and demanding. It is not seen as either a glorified picnic or a dress parade, but a field of battle. Our Captain is the world's Redeemer, who 'pleased not Himself.' Let us be His disciples. Without this spirit of earnestness and commitment, this passion for the cause of the Kingdom, our efforts to become disciplined persons will be abortive and vain. But with this spirit our discipline will find its Christian purpose and fulfillment."

-from The Disciplined Life by Dr. Richard S. Taylor