Disciples should be world changers.
Then why isn't the world being changed?
Let's start from the beginning.
Let's talk about what a disciple is.
Back in Jesus' day, disciples would follow their rabbi (teacher) wherever he went. They would learn from him and be trained to do exactly what it was that their rabbi did.
So to put it bluntly, a disciple is a follower, but only if we take the term follower literally. Because becoming a disciple of Jesus is as simple as obeying His call to follow Him. That's the first step.
It makes me sad to think that many Christians and members of the Church don't take this call literally. Jesus is our teacher and we are following Him just as the disciples did, but in a different age. The disciples didn't know the kind of impact that following Jesus would have on their lives, but they knew what it meant to follow. They took His call literally and went EVERYWHERE He went and doing EVERYTHING that He did.
The disciples were with Jesus all of the time. Listening to His teaching, talking with Him, etc. They were close friends alongside of Him being their teacher. It's like having a really good friend that you hang out with all the time. It could be a friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, family member or a spouse. The more that you hang out with them and the closer you get to them, the more you become like that person. You pick up the same habits and start saying the same things.
It is impossible to be a disciple or a follower of someone and not end up like that person.
That's what happened to the disciples. And that's what should be happening to us.
In Luke 6:40 Jesus said, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher."
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.
I feel like somewhere along the way, this specific idea got lost in translation. I say this because many have come to believe that a person can be a "Christian" without being like Christ. Basically, a follower who doesn't follow.
That doesn't make sense, does it?
Unfortunately, many have decided to take on the name of Christ and nothing else.
That's not okay (someone had to say it).
It seems unlikely that people would honestly believe that this is what it means to be a Christian, right?
Then why do so many people live this way?
You see, the concept of being a disciple isn't that hard to understand, but it changes everything.
This post is the beginning of a series on discipleship, where we will dive into what it truly means to be a disciple. I would encourage you to stop by next week for the second part.
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