The Discipline of Discipleship
Our ultimate call and purpose boils down to the making of disciples. Everything we “do” and all of what we “become,” when broken down to its lowest common denominator, should be about the making of disciples. Regardless of your career, cultural background or education, the fruit of your life has to be about the “who” and not the “what.” It’s should always be about people … and us making them disciples of Christ. For that’s our ultimate purpose and call in life. The difficulty in doing this is not the communication of the message but the mode in which we impart the message.
Throughout time words lose their meaning and their implication is somewhat watered-down. The word “disciple” is one of them. It alone, when unraveled correctly, carries an abrasive connotation that clashes with the spirit of this age. A disciple is one who should follow and believe in the teaching and direction of its leader. Although at times one may disagree, the disagreement must be with honor. For to dishonor is to remove oneself from God’s divine order of authority and accountability.
We should always keep in mind that a disciple should be a pupil, an adherent, a devotee and supporter in the vision and direction of its leader. And a true disciple (of Christ) is one who should always demonstrate honor and does not allow familiarity to interfere with the value that is seen in his or her leader. For this is something that must always be kept in check…if not, the end result will end in a falling away. Tragic. Proverbs 16:18
As much as it’s our purpose to make disciples of Christ. It’s impossible to do so unless they become disciples of us. We must point to Christ those we are serving, leading and training, but the litmus test in knowing whether they are true disciples of Christ is in the approach of how they are disciples of us. Discipleship is attitude. Discipleship is discipline. Discipleship is honor. Discipleship is respect. And again, how a disciple follows a leader is how he or she follows Christ.
So, as leaders, we must not be afraid to offend, rebuke, correct, reproof, reprimand, confront, affront and hold accountable – all with love – those we are pointing to Christ. We cannot water-down the meaning of discipleship anymore.
YES SIR!! I agree with all you’ve said. All with LOVE and overlook the pains and hurts of discipleship. You cannot disciple if you do not love.
I agree, I say Amen. It’s usually flesh that gets in the way of someone not wanting to be discipled – especially from their leader (spiritual father). Even God says in Revelations 3:19 “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline.” – and there are many more references in Gods word that speaks to the same. Dueteronomy 8:5, Proverbs 3:12, 1Corinthians 11:32 and Hebrews 12:6 just to name a few.
I totally agree, in order to disciple others we must be willing to first be disciples ourselves. We must be teachable.
Well Pastor I agree with you we need to be discipline on what we do so we can become better leaders. if we don’t get discipline we will stay in the same path.
I totally Agree! The real problem is how people react when discipleship is done even with love. Only a few understand this principle the rest take it very personal. In my case I didn’t want to get disciple, however I believe God touched my life and even though change are happening I still struggle with this. To get this believe, to change this perception requires a lot of praying, a often audit of our self and to get involved in the word more. I heard someone said the more we get to know Jesus the more we will enjoy our sacrifices.
I as a diciple of Jesus Christ am sharing my love, knowledge and
personal life experences of his love for me and how he has changed
my life. It is because of my love for Him and all people that I choose
to go and witness to lost souls in this world. My purpose is to bring people out of the chaos and hopelessness of sin into the kingdom of
God.
“Father. may I faithfully represent You in a lost world.”
Discipline: doing the thing that is necessary, not the thing that is desired.
Commitment: doing something long after the initial excitement is gone.
The biggest challenge I’ve faced in my recent years as a follower of Christ is the integrity test that I take every morning when I look in the mirror. Only me and God knows the condition of my heart. Good or bad. And frankly, that’s all that matters.
Without discipleship, I am accountable only to me. How can that truly help if there are integrity issues? Further, if I am not intentional about being a disciple, how will I be able to disciple others?
And again, how a disciple follows a leader is how he or she follows Christ. How we do anything, is how we do everything.
Well as a diciple of Jesus Christ i am sharing my compasion an love to people about the power of the word of God because at school i try to find the positve in my friends live’s to show them that without God there is nothing without the love of Jesus Christ.
Disciple is someone that has entrusted his future and life to his leader. When we decided to follow Christ we left everything we had behind and we put our full trust to God. The same with our leaders, we most trust them and be accountable to them with everything that we do. Because we have put our trust on them. Our leaders will fail us, but we most honor them because God put them in our lives so that we can grow.