Discipleship Should Fuel Fascination

Beholding beauty produces fascination, and fascination is the best way to transform a person. Consider a young man in love. Parents, professors, mentors, and friends can plead with a young man to change certain habits and embrace certain disciplines for years with little effect. However, when a young man is captured by the beauty of a young woman, suddenly everything changes. He becomes focused on his future. He eagerly embraces certain disciplines. His lifestyle radically shifts. His entire life takes on a new intentionality. In a moment, he makes changes his parents and mentors asked him to make for years. Fascination produces transformation.

Fascination also produces imitation. A young man in love suddenly becomes interested in things he never considered before. He begins attending new events and having new conversations. Fascination with a woman produces imitation in him because part of loving a person is enjoying what the person enjoys. His delight in her changes his appetites and his lifestyle. If love continues, he will willingly and joyfully make the ultimate sacrifice of marriage.

Marriage will require him to eliminate many options, cut off certain relationships, and reorient his entire lifestyle. He will not have the free time he used to. He will probably lose several friends. He will take on new responsibilities and lose his freedom. Why would a young man willingly and gladly surrender his liberty and take on a narrow life of commitment that will make permanent demands on his schedule, his money, and his strength? One word describes it: fascination.

Fascination is the key to willing and lasting sacrifice, and this is not limited to romance. When people take up a new hobby or activity, they respond in a similar way. They spend money intentionally. They find friends who share their interest. They spend hours investing into their new pastime. Others find their fascination odd, but they do not mind because their heart is captivated. The same thing happens when someone is engrossed in sports or any other thing.

This is the way the human heart is made, and it is the model for biblical discipleship. We “see” Someone who is beautiful. We become fascinated by Him. And then we joyfully and gladly reorient our lives to behold more of that Person and desire to be a part of His people.