DISCIPLESHIP

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”- Matthew 28:19.

What is Discipleship?

The Greek word means pupil or student. It is a word frequently used in the New Testament, and it describes a conscious decision to follow a teacher or a group. Basically, in ancient times a disciple was like an apprentice. John 8:31- “if you abide in My Word, you are my disciples indeed”. 

What is Biblical Discipleship?

Biblical discipleship is the act of one person intentionally impacting the lives of some other person in the direction of Christlikeness (2 Timothy 2:2).

So biblical discipleship is:

1. Intentional --Discipleship is not simply someone learning about Christ. It is not accidental. It’s intentional. It is not a function of the learning of the learner but of the teaching of the teacher. Someone must intend to do it.

2. Impacting --Discipleship has not happened because a student is excited about or impressed by a teacher. Discipleship brings about a change in virtues, values, beliefs, and lifestyle.

3. Personal --Discipleship is not covering material. Neither is it being part of a group (a class, congregation, family, etc.). Discipleship is one person dealing with another person personally.

4. Christlike --Discipleship is not just a mentee modelling a mentor. The modelling must be moving in the direction of Christlikeness.

Four elements of Christian Discipleship:

1. Accept Jesus as our Master.

2. Attachment to the person of Jesus

3. Commitment to the person of Jesus.

4. Life long relationship with Jesus.

The Goals of Discipleship:

1. Loving God with our whole being (Matthew 22:37)

2. Loving our families and neighbours (Matthew 22:39)

3. Being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)

4. Being holy and pure (Ephesians 1:4)

5. Bearing spiritual fruit (John 15:16)

6. Hungering and thirsting after God (Matthew 5:6)

7. Being righteous (1 Corinthians 15:34)

8. Being obedient (James 1:25)

9. Being unified with the brethren (1 Corinthians 1:10)

10. Being prepared for spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:10-20)

11. Having the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-8)

12. Being wise and understanding (Ephesians 5:17)

13. Being set apart (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

14. Being thankful (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

15. Walking worthy (Colossians 1:9-12)

16. Being steadfast (Philippians 1:27)

17. Being rooted and built up in Christ (Colossians 2:6-7)

The character of True Disciples:

1. Love the Son of God. John 15.8: We prove to be true disciples by bearing fruit, and that by abiding in Him. More than knowing Christ as Saviour. Captivated with Him. Draw life from Him. Communion. John 1.39: (Andrew, John). Where dwellest thou? Come and see. Abode with Him that day. Desire for His presence.

2. Love the children of God. John 13.34-35. High standard. As I have loved you. Unconditional self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. Received one another (socially). Greeted one another. Edified one another. Serve one another. Carry one another's burdens. Endured and forgive one another. Did not bite and devour one another.

3. Love the word of God. John 8.31: Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue (abide, remain, persevere) in my word; then are ye my disciples indeed. True disciples love, value and obey Scripture.

4. Martha: distracted with serving. Beware of the barrenness of a busy life. Mary: Sat at His feet

Cost of True Discipleship

1. Sacrifice. Luke 9.23. ‘let him (at once) deny himself’ = dethrone self, enthrone Christ. No seeking of personal ambitions, but His glory. Not self-denial. But foregoing what is legitimate for the sake of Christ. Moses: offered position, pleasure and prosperity in Egypt. Heb. 11.25-26: Choosing rather to suffer affliction.

2. Suffering. ‘take up his (own) cross’ = hundreds of insurrectionists crucified in Galilee. Under sentence of death. Shame. Condemnation. Take a daily place of association (shame) with a rejected (despised) Lord and Saviour. 

3.Cost = everything. Christ is not interested in superficial, self-seeking, half-hearted (committed) disciples. He demands all. All a man has and is. Anything less is good for nothing. Did Christ give less?

What Discipleship look today:

Today, discipleship takes on many different forms in essence. However, it is not all that different from what Jesus did in the first century. We befriend people and help them to become committed in their faith that we should seek to be friends with people who may not know Jesus or who have a nominal or weak commitment to Him. We intentionally have conversations centred around Christ, intentionally bringing up topics regarding theology and philosophy.

In Matthew 28, Jesus tells us to teach people all that he commanded. So, in our friendships, we should be intentionally trying to help people learn and grow in all that is commanded. We seek to expose their beliefs that are theologically flawed. We verbalize the things we see that are not in line with what the Bible teaches so that they know the truth. We are helping them become more obedient to Christ.

Too Often, people are nominal in their commitment to Jesus; they live to gratify. their flesh and run after their own desires. They live in line with how they think their life ought to be. But the goal of discipleship is to help people live in line with God’s opinions and commands, according to what the Bible teaches. At the heart of discipleship, we are befriending people and leading to exemplify the life of Christ and to be obedient to the commands of Jesus.

Article by: Jhumpa Saha



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MINISTRY

Image
Introduction The term Ministry comes from Latin ‘ministerium’ which means ‘activity of a servant, service, duty’. In Middle English ‘ministere’. Later it became Minstri. Our Lord Jesus Christ talks about ministry, “My Father will honor the one who serves me”. John 12:25. If we want to get honor from Almighty, we should do the ministry with sincerely. The word ministry appeared in the bible 22 times. Healing Ministry The Bible talks about Jesus, the Son of God who went about doing good and healing all kinds of diseases – bringing wholeness and healing to people in their body and mind. When Jesus had risen from the dead, he gave the authority and power to his disciples to drive out demons and heal all kinds of diseases. Since then, the church has been engaged in the ministry of healing. Biblical Understanding of Healing: We must clearly understand the fact that Jesus never attempted to heal people without any relevance nor benefit to the Kingdom of God. When Jesus began his minis...
Read more

HELL

Image
  INTRODUCTION What happens when we die? The 2019 Pew Research poll shows that 72% of Americans believe in literal heaven while 58% believe in a literal hell. Most of the people who hold these beliefs are Christians. It is general that for most of us, the term “Hell” reminds us of a raging fire beneath the heavens, maybe earth, which is the abode of evildoers where they are tortured and tormented on account of the punishment for their sins. Whenever we hear the word “Hell” there will be an image that is composed of chaos, irregularity, wailing, pain surrounded by torments, etc. This image - which most of us are reminded of through this word - is a constructed image of the teachings, stories, myths, and traditions we live and are brought up. On the other hand, theologians view hell as the logical consequence of rejecting God’s relationship. The contradiction to such views is that scripture nowhere portrays God as an eternal torturer. Which father wants to fry his child in oil? How m...
Read more

BIBLE

Image
 “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  From this passage we can clearly understand that the Bible is divinely influenced by God. The authors of the Scripture wrote in such a way that it was the very Word of God. Therefore scriptures are authoritative when it comes to doctrine and it is sufficient enough to teach man how to be in a right relationship with God. The Bible is a compilation of sacred books of the Christian religion and is believed to be 3400-1900 years old. It is said to be a covenant between God and His people for special help or blessings. The authors of Scripture wrote exactly what God wanted them to write, and the result was the perfect and Holy Word of God. It is considered as a spoken word. The Bible is divided into two parts- Old Testament and New Testament. The Old...
Read more