Blog

(David Hayward, www.nakedpastor.com)

The above cartoon demonstrates most Christians’ opinion about this week’s Word of the Week - disciple. If we’re truly honest, we have the desire to be a disciple but we only want the good parts of it, not when it’s difficult.

But before we talk about that more, let’s back up a bit. What is a disciple, anyway? The Greek word is mathete, which most simply means a learner. It is a person who follows their teacher and desires to be exactly like him or her. Jesus had 12 disciples we read about most often, but in actuality He had hundreds. There were hundreds of people who desired to learn from Him and learn to be like Him. A true disciple of Christ wants to be exactly like Jesus. As it says in 2 Peter 3:18, we must “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

In order to learn about Jesus and be his disciple, we must desire to be like Him; and not just on Sunday mornings at church! Dallas Willard writes in his book The Great Omission, “Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.” That’s a tough calling to live up to - not just have the belief in Jesus, but actually live it! Not just in the “churchy” part of your life, but in every aspect of life, 24/7. We need to live with the consequences, both good and bad. Ouch.

But fortunately, Jesus understands that we won’t (and can’t) be perfect disciples overnight. Becoming a disciple is a process. Once we have the desire to truly follow Jesus as His disciple, we need to intentionally and consistently learn more about Him and adjust our lives accordingly. Once we become a disciple, even a “young” one, we must help others become disciples as well. A true disciple loves our Teacher so much that we want to share it with others. Being a disciple isn’t an easy task and will likely have negative consequences here on earth, but our reward in heaven will be wonderful beyond our wildest dreams!