Missionary Discipleship as the Innovation of the Church in Pope Francis’Evangelii Gaudium

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Abstract Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium talks about discipleship in a framework of mission and evangelization. Rather than concentrating on the discipleship as such, it uses as a lens the spiritual commitment of conversion to discipleship, challenging all Christians and the whole Church, including institutional structures, to this conversion. In common with the World Coundl of Churches' document Together towards Life, Evangelii Gaudium emphasizes a need for Christians to focus on the heart of the Gospel, the love of the trinitarian God, in order to find trusful, dynamic, and transformative mission for the changing landscapes of today's global and local phenomena. This article deals with the concept of disdpleship in Evangelii Gaudium. To this end it discusses discipleship and its underlying structure of continual conversion as it is represented in both Evangelii Gaudium and the WCC's mission document Together towards Life. Evangelii Gaudium and Missionary Discipleship Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis' 2013 apostolic exhortation, emphasizes the missionary that enlivens the community of (2) Rather than talking about discipleship alone, however, Evangelii Gaudium concentrates on the concept of discipleship (3) which is seen as the fundamental essence and task of all Christians in the light of contemporary global and local phenomena: particularly the rapid changes of this epochal period which, while producing great advances, are also escalating inequality by decreasing human dignity. (4) It is as a result of this insight that Pope Francis emphasizes the need for conversion to discipleship, a model that could challenge conditions in the contemporary world. In order to understand what is meant by the concept in Evangelii Gaudium, the following sections present a brief summary of some of its underlying elements. Missionary discipleship as a communal state of being Evangelii Gaudium advocates discipleship as a personal state of being for all Christians, one that is not reliant on one's position in the Church, nor personal ambitions or gifts, nor even the measure of one's faith. Rather, it derives from the sacrament of baptism: In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God's saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love. Every Christian is a to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are disciples and missionaries, but rather that we are always missionary disciples. (5) As this extract makes very clear, discipleship calls for personal involvement through which the joy of the Gospel may spread from person to person in the form of goodness moving respectfully and gently from heart to heart. (6) The document emphasizes that every single Christian is an agent, a concept which embraces active and subjective commitment. (7) However, discipleship, which clearly includes personal commitment, is not an individual state of being. Rather, it assumes engagement with others: Genuine spiritual accompaniment always begins and flourishes in the context of service to the mission of evangelization. [...] This is clearly distinct from every kind of intrusive accompaniment or isolated self-realization. …