Discipleship: What Jesus Said

For new readers: The Compass is a newsletter on spiritual formation, and “The Word“ is one of its recurring series. It’s built on a simple conviction: The Bible has something to say that we need to receive. No seminary background required. Just bring your Bible, some curiosity, and an open heart and mind.

I’ve been wondering lately what the Bible tells us about discipleship. Exactly how does scripture go about defining this important topic. The reason I’m wondering is I think most of us who have been around church and Christian faith at least some of our life are familiar with the word. We know it’s important. But most of what we know about discipleship comes from secondary sources, not scripture.

Here is a fairly normal scenario today when it comes to church and discipleship: we were given a workbook, a book, a membership class, a new believer’s class, or a program with the word “discipleship” on it. We filled out the notebook. We read the book. We listened to the presentation at the classes and programs by people who loved Jesus. We have an idea what discipleship means based on the information we were given by people who love Jesus. But maybe, like me, you start to realize you never had a chance to open up the Bible and see for yourself what the Bible says discipleship is. That is what I want to do here today. I’m asking for a fairly simple thing: close the workbook. Open the Bible. See what it says about discipleship.

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Let’s start with the most basic think: a single word. Our English word disciple occurs at least 261 times in the four Gospels and in Acts. It never occurs in Paul’s letters or in any other letter in the New Testament. It is found only in the Gospels and Acts.

A few things about this word seem really important. Rather than asking you to take my word for it, I’m going to list the scriptures and ask you to take the time to read them yourself. First, Jesus had disciples.

Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. Mark 8:27)

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1)

Second, disciple, not Christian, is the go-to word in the Bible to identify the followers of Jesus. Luke uses it 28 times in the book of Acts, and each time, it is a way of talking about the whole group of followers, not a special class of followers.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing… (Acts 6:1)

The twelve [apostles] summoned the full number of the disciples… (Acts 6:2)

The number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. (Acts 6:7)

Later, in Acts 11, the word “Christian” shows up. It is used two more times in the New Testament. When it shows up the first time, it is a title given by outsiders in a particular city to name all those who were disciples.

In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (Acts 11:26)

But three verses later, Luke returns to the normal term for those who followed Jesus:

So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. (Acts 11:29)

Finally, Jesus had some very specific instructions for his disciples at the beginning and end of his time with them.

First, the beginning. At the beginning of how Matthew tells the story of Jesus, Matthew tells us that Jesus gave his disciples a roadmap of what it mean to follow him. Today, we call that roadmap the Sermon on the Mount. We know Jesus intended this teaching for all his disciples, for those who considered themselves his followers:

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them. (Matthew 5:1-2)

At the end of this first, long teaching, Jesus drives to the takeaway:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 5:24)

You have to ask yourself a couple of questions. Softball questions, really, given how obvious this is.

• Question: Who is Jesus talking to? Answer: The answer is crystal clear: his disciples.

• Question: What does a disciple do? Answer: The answer is crystal clear: a disciple does (obeys) what Jesus says.

Matthew isn’t done. He wants to make sure we get this. So, he revisits this idea one more time at the very end of his story about Jesus. Jesus has gathered his disciples together one last time before the ascension. Matthew remembers every word Jesus said in that final appearance:

Go and make disciples everywhere. Matthew 28:19

To make sure they know what to do when they begin to do this, Jesus reminds them what he said at the very beginning, in Matthew 7:24:

Teach them to obey (do) all I have said. (Matthew 28:20)

Let’s add all this up.

A disciple is not a special breed of Christian. A disciple is the English word for the entire community of Christians. The expectation, then, is that discipleship in every church is for every person who is part of that church. No exceptions. No exclusions. Pastors. Elders. Seasoned veterans of faith. New converts. Everyone who follows Jesus.

A disciple is an ordinary human being who, because he or she has become a follower of Jesus, is asked to do an unordinary thing: hear and do whatever Jesus says. When Jesus says we must love others, a disciple hears that, knows that Jesus himself does this, and the disciple begins to love others. When Jesus says we must forgive others, a disciple hears that, knows Jesus himself forgave those who harmed him, and begins to do that. Discipleship, then, is the tool given to every disciple to help them become able to do what Jesus said. Healing of wounds that keep us from loving and forgiving will be needed. Encouragement will be needed.

The last thing to say today is this: a disciple is an ordinary person who has begun to do an unordinary thing of doing in the 21st century wherever he or she lives whatever Jesus said to do. And that process, as it takes root within us, changes us and we find ourselves becoming more and more like Jesus. Discipleship, then, is the process that helps all the followers in every church become capable of becoming more and more like Jesus.

Gratefully,

— Gene