Covenant Sunday 2025: What does radical discipleship look like?

Commissioner Jenine Main encourages us to be bold and courageous as followers of Jesus.

Do you like to stand out from the crowd, or do you prefer to blend in? If I’m honest, I much prefer to blend in, particularly in the way I dress or look – I’m certainly no Lady Gaga or Harry Styles! Unless I’m in my uniform, of course, and then I have no qualms about standing out. And if it comes to stepping up to a cause, or to standing up for someone, I’m quite up for that!

People such as Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai have gained recognition for their passionate advocacy on important global issues. Their dedication and courage make their voices stand out. These individuals often combine creativity, authenticity and a willingness to be different, which help them leave a lasting impact. More recently, gymnast Simone Biles stepped up and stood out during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, making headlines not just for her athletic prowess, but for her courageous decision to step back from competition to focus on her mental health. Simone’s choice wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t popular with everyone, but it was a bold stand for her wellbeing and sent a powerful message to the world.

The theme for Covenant Sunday 2025 is Step Up and Stand Out. It encourages us to consider how we step up and stand out in radical discipleship – something that can truly transform our lives and the lives of those around us.

Radical discipleship is about fully committing to following Jesus in every aspect of our lives. It’s about seeing God in everything, knowing him deeply and showing his love to the world.

It’s what we all want, isn’t it? The problem is that, so often, life gets in the way! As disciples of Jesus, we know that there is not a secular life and a sacred life – our whole lives are offered to him and so all we do, whether it’s connected to our church, work, leisure or family, is part of our discipleship. But so many of us can be easily distracted – and we can find that we have gone through part of a day, a whole day or even a few days with little or no thought about how God has been in all we have been doing!

The people I mentioned who stepped up and stood out are so passionate about what they believe in that it becomes part of who they are. The hope of Territorial Leader Commissioner Paul and I for The Salvation Army in 2025, and the challenge this Covenant Sunday, is that we are all so passionate about Jesus that we will be radical disciples.

What practical ways can you implement to ensure that you engage with God? We ask you to make them a pattern for your days, weeks and months that will ensure you are making time to see, know and show God in all your life. This can be known as a ‘rule of life’.

In our busy lives, it’s easy to miss the presence of God around us. But God is always there, in the beauty of creation, in the kindness of a stranger, and in the quiet moments of our day. For all of us, it wouldn’t hurt to slow down a little – to pause and look for God’s hand in our lives. Whether it’s a beautiful sunrise, a comforting word from a friend, or a moment of peace in the chaos, God is there. What might you have to put in place to see God more in the everyday?

To know God means spending time with him, getting to know his character and his will for our lives. Of course, we all do this through prayer, reading the Bible and spending time in worship. So again, we encourage you to create habits, rules of life, to ensure these are also part of your everyday. You may already have good rhythms of prayer and Bible reading, but it could be possible these need sharpening. Or perhaps you could add an extended time once a week for Bible study, or an hour of solitude and silence to listen for God’s voice. Some of you will laugh at the thought – if you are a parent with children around you all the time, I am sure you long for a bit of solitude and silence, but it’s obviously not realistic in this season of your life.

The challenge is to consider the small steps we can take to know God better within the parameters we live in. A spiritual discipline is practising what you can do to enable what you can’t do now by direct effort. It’s doing something now that will prepare us all indirectly for something more. We do not practise the piano to practise the piano well, but to play it well. Spiritual disciplines form us now so that we can be who God wants us to be when it counts.

Perhaps it will be the simple habit of starting your day with God before you get out of bed and ending your day with God as you get into bed. Or praying before you press send on an email. Or praying for a moment every time you put the kettle on or open the car door. Create habits that help you to talk to God throughout your day and listen for his voice. The more time you spend with God, the more you will know him and his incredible love for you.

In this kind of spiritual formation, we are aiming at a character and life that is so shaped that the deeds of Christ routinely and easily come from what is inside. When this happens, we start to show God to the world. Radical discipleship is not just about what we believe, but how we live.

When following Jesus transforms who we are, we find ourselves stepping up and standing out: serving others without discrimination; showing love, kindness and forgiveness that stands out from the norm; seeing God in the world around us and those we see on a daily basis; standing out and stepping up for justice and those who have no voice. This radical discipleship is what sets us apart from so many things and people in our world.

On this Covenant Sunday, our prayer is that you will review and renew your covenant with God, with a deep desire to step up and stand out, as we become the disciples that God has called us all to be in our world.

May God bless and strengthen you, and make you bold and courageous in all you do.