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A few weeks back, we talked about the 'why' of Disciples Making Disciples. Today, we are going to look into the question, "What is a disciple?" This question is vital for a variety of reasons - here are a few.
1. If we don't know what a disciple is, it's probably very hard to become one ourselves.
2. If we don't know what a disciple is, it's probably very hard to go out and help others become disciples.
3. If Jesus didn't tell us what a disciple is or how to make them, then we are left in a pretty tough spot, and we were left there by our Lord. This doesn't seem like something Jesus would do.
And He didn't...
A few years ago, I started to look more deeply into this idea of defining a disciple.
To start off, I looked at all the times the word 'disciple' appeared in the Bible. Around 250 times the word 'disciple' is used. The vast majority (over 95%) of these occurrences are found in the New Testament.
Interestingly, the word 'disciple' is the most common word used to describe followers of Jesus and not until the 11th chapter of the Book of Acts is the word 'Christian' used. Another way to look at it is this: of the 250+ times the word disciple is used, it's not until around the 240th time that the word Christian is also used to describe a follower of Jesus.
So we see the word appear a great deal in the Bible.
Secondly, let's talk about the actual word. In the Greek, the word 'disciple' means pupil, student, or follower (in Greek mathetes). To be fair, it seems that there were different ways that the Gospel writers used it - sometimes referring to people who came to listen and engage, other times to people who were deeply committed to following Jesus. Jesus most often used the word 'disciple' to describe a person who was giving his all to following Jesus. He would say things like this:
"Anyone who would come after Me and be My disciple must deny himself and take up his cross daily to follow Me." - Luke 9;23
"Then a scribe came to Jesus and said, 'Teacher, I will follow You where ever You go.' And Jesus replied, 'Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head.' Another of the disciples said to Him, 'Lord permit me first to go and bury my father.' But Jesus told him, 'Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'" - Matthew 8:19-22
These are just a few examples of what Jesus called His disciples to.
As I continued to research the verses that talked about being a disciple of Jesus, I ended up summarizing it like this:
A disciple of Jesus is consistently following Him, committed to learning from Him, doing as He did, and being in character like Jesus.
Jesus gave His life completely for us, and so He asks us to do the same for Him.
To say it another way, Jesus wants us to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
1 John 2:6 says that "Whoever claims to be in Him must live as He lived."
Being a disciple is not a half-hearted commitment.
Being a disciple is being all-in.
- tC
1. If we don't know what a disciple is, it's probably very hard to become one ourselves.
2. If we don't know what a disciple is, it's probably very hard to go out and help others become disciples.
3. If Jesus didn't tell us what a disciple is or how to make them, then we are left in a pretty tough spot, and we were left there by our Lord. This doesn't seem like something Jesus would do.
And He didn't...
A few years ago, I started to look more deeply into this idea of defining a disciple.
To start off, I looked at all the times the word 'disciple' appeared in the Bible. Around 250 times the word 'disciple' is used. The vast majority (over 95%) of these occurrences are found in the New Testament.
Interestingly, the word 'disciple' is the most common word used to describe followers of Jesus and not until the 11th chapter of the Book of Acts is the word 'Christian' used. Another way to look at it is this: of the 250+ times the word disciple is used, it's not until around the 240th time that the word Christian is also used to describe a follower of Jesus.
So we see the word appear a great deal in the Bible.
Secondly, let's talk about the actual word. In the Greek, the word 'disciple' means pupil, student, or follower (in Greek mathetes). To be fair, it seems that there were different ways that the Gospel writers used it - sometimes referring to people who came to listen and engage, other times to people who were deeply committed to following Jesus. Jesus most often used the word 'disciple' to describe a person who was giving his all to following Jesus. He would say things like this:
"Anyone who would come after Me and be My disciple must deny himself and take up his cross daily to follow Me." - Luke 9;23
"Then a scribe came to Jesus and said, 'Teacher, I will follow You where ever You go.' And Jesus replied, 'Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head.' Another of the disciples said to Him, 'Lord permit me first to go and bury my father.' But Jesus told him, 'Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'" - Matthew 8:19-22
These are just a few examples of what Jesus called His disciples to.
As I continued to research the verses that talked about being a disciple of Jesus, I ended up summarizing it like this:
A disciple of Jesus is consistently following Him, committed to learning from Him, doing as He did, and being in character like Jesus.
Jesus gave His life completely for us, and so He asks us to do the same for Him.
To say it another way, Jesus wants us to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
1 John 2:6 says that "Whoever claims to be in Him must live as He lived."
Being a disciple is not a half-hearted commitment.
Being a disciple is being all-in.
- tC
