"Trail Rated Disciples"
This week I borrow a term from Jeep to describe the Christian Walk. Trail rated 4x4 Jeeps range in size from their smallest Compass to their largest Grand Cherokee. To earn the trail-rated badge, the vehicle is tested on some of the most difficult off-road circuits in the US. Two testing sites are Moab, Utah and the Rubicon trail in the Sierra Nevada 80 miles west of Sacramento. The vehicles are tested for traction, water fording, maneuverability, articulation, and ground clearance. If they finish the course without being impeded by any of the obstacles, they earn the Trail Rated badge.

Enough of my promoting the Jeep brand, one of which I have driven now for well over a quarter million miles. Less expensive brands have proven themselves trail worthy on the same difficult courses, as have more expensive brands. They all have in common a proven ability to travel through rough terrain that would prove impassable for less capable vehicles. They are not race cars or luxury vehicles (OK, the more expensive ones are), but vehicles that show what they are made of after the road ends.

The late Eugene Peterson, Bible translator extraordinaire, defined discipleship as “a long obedience in the same direction.” His definition sets disciples apart in ways that can be described using the same categories as trail rated vehicles. Consider these analogies:

• traction: disciples are more than Sunday Christians--you get no traction as a one-day-a-week Christian. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
• water fording: disciples are not fair-weather Christians. The children of Israel forded the Red Sea and the Jordan River. Floods of troubles and trials like those of the last six months are no match for disciples who trust in Jesus.
• maneuverability: “…the road is easy that leads to destruction… the way is narrow, and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mt. 7:13-14).
• articulation: Jesus’ began his preaching ministry declaring, “Turn to God from your sins and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15, The Complete Jewish Bible). To repent is to make a 180 degree turn from sin and self to serve God and others.
• ground clearance: Jesus said: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me” (John 12:32). Paul calls us to also take the high road: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Amid the current health crisis, be trail rated disciples of Jesus who go out of your way to protect and care for others. Amid acrimonious partisan political divisions, be trail rated disciples of Jesus who traverse the chasm and cross the aisle to find and accentuate what you have in common with people on the other side.  Amid the racial tension created by real and perceived acts of injustice toward minorities and a backlash seeking to silence their protests, be trail rated disciples who make a way where there was none rather than yielding to the obstacles intended to prevent real change toward a more just society.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference” (Robert Frost).
Yours in Christ,
Hughey