Examining Our Identities – Disciple

To be sure, church, church planting, and missions are much simpler than made out to be. The proof of their simplicity is found in two places, the saints in God’s written Word who never presented a doctorate degree as synonymous with success in God's kingdom and among the poor and uneducated church of our day, much of whom walks in power and success because of the Spirit of God. All objections to this come from the wealthy West who are not respectable to God; primarily because “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise…what is weak in the world to shame the strong…what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

So as I’ve argued in times past, our identities are very simply three-fold, springing from the greatest commandment, love God, love His Church, and love the unregenerate.

Any complications and complexities in the Christian life only spring forth out of one of these three identities. Therefore, where any confusion arises, we’d do well to go back to our roots [our identities] to REexamine ourselves.

But for now, let us examine for the first time, our first identity – love God, aka disciple. This is probably the hardest to examine because of so many presupposed ideas of what a disciple is. Therefore, I thought I’d start with what a disciple is not and then backtrack to what a disciple is.

A disciple is not one who does devotions, or devotionals.

A disciple is not one who reads the Bible in a year.

A disciple is not one who attends a Sunday gathering, usually called a church according to the common person.

A disciple is not one who attends a meeting where a small group of people have gathered on a weekday.

A disciple is not one who attends five meetings in a week’s time where other like-minded people have as well.

A disciple is not one who listens to white, American, contemporary, boy-band music singing love songs to a religious man named Jesus.

I could go on and on, but I think the point will suffice. So if a disciple is not this, not only do we ask what a disciple is, but what is a disciple becoming?

A disciple is becoming like his master, following in his every footsteps, doing everything he does, thinking his thoughts, on his mission, but enough with the Christianese. The hard part here is defining Jesus’ relationship with His Father because there was little consistency due to different stages of life, cultures, seasons, hearers/observers, and His Father’s will. Sure it says Jesus went out into the mountains to pray often, but still this is not proof of consistency due to the above consistency-breakers.

This leads me to my first point that discipleship must be like fluid. Not that it changes from H2O to O, but that it moves like liquid from outside influences, preeminently from our Father in heaven through many differing avenues. Therefore, as I compile this list [and it will not and will never be exhaustive], it will look different in different stages of life, in different cultures, perhaps in different seasons, before different hearers and observers, and most definitely because of our heavenly Father.

A disciple models Jesus’ life of prayer and communion with His Father. In every disciple will exist an intense longing to be with his master. You cannot follow one you do not want to be with or be like. The difference between the Christian disciple and the false religion disciple is as Jesus said, "Truth and Spirit." The Christian disciple communes with his master by the standard of truth in God's Word and by the Spirit of God who dwells inside him, which is more than the false religion disciple can say.

A disciple models Jesus’ life of obedience to the moral desires of His Father and the mission of His Father [which differentiates from the third identity of loving the lost, or being missionaries. The mission of the Father is the restoration of this world and bringing things back to the way they used to be – righteousness, or right-useness]. In every disciple will exist a great heart to follow his master’s wishes through the expansion of His kingdom. You cannot follow one you will not submit to.

A disciple models Jesus’ life of joy and love for His Father. In every disciple will exist a feeling and desire that’s matchless to all your other joys and love. In fact, all your other existing joys and love after you become a disciple will either dissipate because they would impair your discipleship or they will be redirected to give glory to your new found master because now they are done in his name and for his name, thus improving your discipleship.

What is the point of all that’s been said? ...We ought to press deeper into the joys of discipleship with every passing breath. Nothing should slow us down. We are not our own, but were bought with a price. Therefore, we will only continually grow more and more into who are master has always desired we’d become. The exhortation to the Hebrews is timely, "Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."