"What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? As you will discover, the answer is fairly simple, but it changes your life completely.
The word disciple refers to a student or apprentice. Disciples in Jesus's day would follow their rabbi (which means teacher) wherever he went, learning from the rabbi's teaching and being trained to do as the rabbi did. Basically, a disciple is a follower, but only if we take the term follower literally. Becoming a disciple of Jesus is as simple as obeying His call to follow.
When Jesus called His first disciples, they may not have understood where Jesus would take them or the impact it would have on their lives, but they knew what it meant to follow. They took Jesus's call literally and began going everywhere He went and doing everything He did.
It's impossible to be a disciple or a follower of someone and not end up like that person. Jesus said, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40). That's the whole point of being a disciple of Jesus: we imitate Him, carry on His ministry, and become like Him in the process.
Yet somehow many have come to believe that a person can be a "Christian" without being like Christ. A "follower" who doesn't follow. How does that make any sense? Many people in the church have decided to tak on the name of Christ and nothing else. This would be like Jesus walking up to those first disciples and saying, "Hey, would you guys mind identifying yourselves with Me in some way? Don't worry, I don't actually care if you do anything I do or change your lifestyle at all. I'm just looking for people who are willing to say they believe in Me and call themselves Christians. "Seriously?"
No one can really believe that this is all it means to be a Christian. But then why do so many people live this way? It appears that we've lost sight of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The concept of being a disciple isn't difficult to understand, but it affects everything.
Up to this point in your life, would you call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you see evidence of your faith as described in Luke 6:40?" -taken from Mark Beuving and Francis Chan's book Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. www.davidccook.com
I have always said to the WWJD bracelets that they should read WWJHMD (What Would Jesus Have Me Do) as we can never hope to be like Jesus, but only to be His light in this dark world. He did not just command us to disciple. In addition to that, He
paved the way in showing His followers how to make disciples
themselves.
Here is His examples:
-Jesus was and is a trustworthy teacher,so be a trustworthy teacher.
-Jesus was with his disciples all day, so be in contact with your disciples throughout the day as well.
-Jesus constantly taught the Bible, and demonstrated how to live & glorify God, so should we.
-Jesus chief goal was to make followers of Christ, and that should be our goal
So instead of worrying about things that don't matter, focus on what Jesus did: making disciples!
If you haven't recieved Jesus' gift of salvation, its as simple as ABC:
Admit that you are a sinner.
Believe that Jesus is God's son.
Confess your sins.
That is the first step to becoming a Disciple of Jesus. Next, get into a local church body and start your training. God has a plan for you. It's amazing what He has done in my life and is still doing, and I would love to hear your story. Leave it on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pastor.rob.lawler?ref=tn_tnmn and let me know if there is anything we can pray about together!
Enjoy the Journey!
Pastor Rob.
