Being a Disciple--Pastor Ed
What does it mean to be a disciple? For a long time in my early Christian walk, I thought that discipleship was something that happened in a Bible Study. We had discipleship training where you studied the Bible for the purpose of applying life lessons. The truth is that all Bible study is for the purpose of application and that true discipleship is an everyday commitment in our lives.
Discipleship begins in the heart of the believer. If I say that discipleship is important, then I must make a decision to discipline myself in my relationship with the Lord. I cannot have influence on others if I do not take care of my spiritual life. So, as I look at the definition of discipleship, I look at myself and the way I respond to God. Jesus poured his life into the twelve men we call his disciples. All twelve followed Jesus. Eleven were disciples, one was just there. Eleven were seeking God, one was seeking his own gain. All were called disciples, but not all were disciples.
Many today call themselves followers of Jesus, but not all are disciples. A disciple has some very important characteristics in his life. He is one who is willing to pay any price to follow Jesus. A disciple is one who has the same objective in life as we see in the scripture. A disciple must care more about what God wants and desires than what he or the world says he should desire. Then, the disciple must be willing to pay the price to live up to these standards. So often, Christians say they want to be a follower as long as it doesn’t cost them anything. A true disciple is willing to pay the cost. Bible study is essential to knowing the heart of God. If we truly care to follow Him, we should have a desire to know what He is asking of us. A disciple is a servant. He places others before himself. As we model our life after Jesus, we see that He paid the ultimate sacrifice by giving His life on the cross. He put our best interest above Himself. Often times we as Christians are only concerned with what we want or what best benefits us. A true disciple cares about what benefits others. Discipleship is not easy. It requires hard work and discipline. The last thing that a true disciple does is reproduce himself. Disciples make disciples.
Discipleship is a slow, costly, and sometimes painful. But the rewards are eternal. Adding people to the number is quick, easy and is often measured as success. A room full of people not following God looks good on the outside, but has no real effectiveness on the Kingdom of God. Taking the hard road of making disciples may take a long time and not look successful, but will last longer and have greater impact.
We need to catch the vision of investing in the lives of others and making disciples. We need to evaluate all our programs. We need to evaluate our Bible studies. The church needs to be made up of people investing in others to multiply the ministry. The church needs to be made up of disciples of Jesus.