This past weekend we had water baptism, and I spoke on this topic there but wanted to recap and expand on a few more thoughts. In Matthew 28:19-20, we read the final words of Jesus in the flesh: "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." Early believers did not call themselves Christians (just yet), but they referred to one another as disciples. Jesus calls us to be His disciples and then to go and make more disciples. "Disciple" is not really used today outside of the Christian context, but back in the day, reputable teachers had followers who were called disciples. In the Greek context especially, philosophers like Aristotle and Socrates had disciples. A student in today's context is not what a disciple was back then. Today a student's responsibilities are limited to merely learning and attaining information from a teacher. A disciple's responsibilities went even further– they learned, practiced, acted like the teacher, believed, defended, and in every way, strived to become like that teacher.
I want to make two important points regarding discipleship. First, discipleship means embodying your teacher. Understanding this concept, Paul said, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is imitating His life. Seek to know what He taught, live like He lived, care for the things He cared for, love like He loved, act like He acted, and so on. Secondly, Jesus expected His disciples to be recognizable. In John 13 He says "...by this all will know that you are my disciples." A few chapters later we read, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." Connecting these verses and many more like it, we see that Jesus desires for those who carry His name to be recognizable to the world. There ought to be something different! Yes, you should stand out and not always fit in!
So, what keeps Christians from becoming disciples? Two arguments I come across often work to either destroy this concept or merely excuse people from their responsibility as disciples.
1. Discounting any criticism because "I'm not perfect"
By "criticism" I don't necessarily mean from others. Criticism can come from your own conscience, the scripture, or anything else that points out you are not being a good representation of Jesus Christ. Here's the thing, no one expects you to be perfect, but if you are a believer, your life must resemble Jesus Christ– at least in an elementary way. My boy could draw a car since he was like 2 or 3 years old. Here's what it looked like: it had two somewhat round objects and some sort of rectangular shape on top. Was it perfect? No. But could anyone looking at the picture see he was trying to draw a car? Yes. When we are saved, we become His disciples from day one, and from day one, we should start to resemble Christ. The rest of our life we work toward perfection, and that car starts to look more and more like the real thing.
2. Indifferent about what anyone says or thinks about you, as long as you know you're a Christian inside (God sees my heart)
I see the intrigue here, especially in today's free and individualist culture, but this is anti-gospel. Jesus calls us to be the Light and Salt of the world. Living a worldly life but claiming a "Christian on the inside" isn't doing you, or this decaying world, any good. Yes, you actually should care what people think of you; it can be a bit of a reality check. We are very susceptible to think higher of ourselves than we ought to, but many times it's the people around us who see what we represent much better than we see ourselves.
Recent data says that there are over 200 million Christians in America today– the most populous Christian country in the world. Are there 200 million people that resemble Jesus Christ? At least in an elementary way? Does 200 million "Christians" mean there are 200 million disciples of Jesus in America? If not, then we have a problem. The ratio of Christians to disciples should be 1:1. To simplify things further, we can use the Duck Test (if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, then it's probably a duck!) If we look, act, talk, walk, and portray this world, we might be of this world. If we act, walk, talk, and strive to be like Christ, then we are probably His disciples! God bless!
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