Realising and Discipleship

And so we come to the third stage of the U model, from bottom to top right, the stage Presence calls 'realising'.  Through the last two posts I have laid the stages alongside theological and Wesleyan concepts.  So we have had sensing, incarnation and prevenient grace.  Presencing, metanoia and justification.  Today, I line up realising with discipleship and sanctification.

For Wesley, justification was the stage at which a person knows their sins are forgiven and makes the decision to join the church, people are discipled together.  This decision is made as a result of their change of orientation from self to living for others.  For Wesley, they know they are saved but at the start of life as a Christian.  They will fall back many times but they are now a part of a People of the Way.

For Presence, realising

suggests a different stance of "cocreation" between the individual or collective and the larger world.  The self and the world are inescapably interconnected.  The self doesn't react to a reality outside, nor does it create something new in isolation - rather, like the seed of a tree, it becomes the gateway for the coming into being of a new world.  (Page 92)

So, what is this state of realising?  I see in it a parallel to the model of sanctification I have already described.  The individual is able to set aside their personal interests and live for others.  It also normally implies a commitment to working with others.  This is the thinking behind various types of intentional community in Christian praxis.

Is it legitimate to make these comparisons?  I must again emphasise I'm placing two models side by side, not attempting to combine them into one model.  It is interesting though to see the ways in which the U model mirrors the Christian model, and indeed we find this model appearing time and again in Christian history.  It is present for example in the practice of baptism, especially baptism by immersion, where the Christian descends symbolically into the water, where they die and then emerge to a new life.

I will in future posts examine in more detail what this model means for Christians and how the U model might help us understand our own traditions.  But first I need to take stock by considering exactly what the relationship of Presence is to the Christian faith and its ecumenical implications.