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A Call to Discipleship
Many of us use the term "discipleship" pretty loosely. But what was a disciple in Jesus' time? Denise explores the concept and discovers that the life of a disciple meant a lot of commitment — commitment many of us don't have in our faith walks.
What On Earth Was Jesus Talking About?
As I've mentioned before, I am very interested in understanding the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Unfortunately, I think there is a lot we miss out on in our Western brand of Christianity because we do not understand the culture of the Bible.
I'm not going to lie — I never really enjoyed reading the Gospels because I usually had no clue what Jesus was talking about. His parables confused me, and much of what He said seemed irrelevant or mysterious. It wasn't until I began to do some research about biblical Israel that some of the pieces began to come together.
And let me tell you something, folks: When you begin to understand the culture and tradition of the Jews, when you learn about the meaning of the holidays mentioned in the Scripture and the importance behind the names in the Bible, it blows you away. It is exciting, and I believe, crucial, for us to better understand the world of the Bible and the mindset of those who wrote it.
One of the most interesting — and difficult — things I've learned so far is the role of discipleship in biblical Israel. (Just so you know, a lot of what I learned can be attributed to the teachings of Ray Vander Laan, Marvin R. Wilson and the ministry of First Fruits of Zion).
As I've discovered who Jesus' disciples were and what the role required of them, it has dawned on me that we who call ourselves followers of Christ have a big responsibility in front of us. And it's a responsibility we don't fully comprehend.
The Role of a Disciple
Jesus was not unique for having disciples. Every rabbi (i.e. teacher) had followers who wanted to know what he taught and who wanted to be just like him. And just so you know — disciples were hardcore.
Their entire lives were devoted to following their teacher. The most intense desire of every single disciple was to be exactly like their rabbi in every way possible. Ray Vander Laan says that in Israel, little boys follow their rabbis into the bathroom — I mean, what if he says something profound while in there? If the rabbi walks through a puddle, they walk through the puddle. If the rabbi prays, they listen to his words so that they know how to pray like him. They even memorize everything that he teaches. The book, King of the Jews sums it up nicely:
The great rabbis and Torah scholars of first-century Pharisaic Judaism did not write scrolls or compose books for their students to read and study. Not that they were illiterate; they were highly literate. But in their worldview, the Scriptures were the written works. Their own teachings were meant to be passed on orally. Their disciples studied by memorizing their words. Through constant repetition, disciples memorized their teachers' words verbatim and were able to repeat them to subsequent generations. Through constant repetition, the disciples of the Pharisees committed to memory whole books of Scripture and dizzying amounts of legal argumentation.1
Disciples also gave up the lives they knew in order to follow the rabbi wherever he went. Jesus' disciples left their family and friends and followed Him for three years — not to mention the great sacrifices they made after His ascension. Read the book of Acts — these people devoted their entire lives to spreading the message of Jesus to the rest of the world.
So deep was the passion of a disciple that they would do anything to understand and become more like their teacher. You guys, I cannot stress this enough: A disciple wanted to be exactly like his or her rabbi.
They Will Know We Are Disciples By Our … ?
So, what does this discipleship stuff mean for those of us who call ourselves Christians and live in the 21st century? Good question. To get to the answer, I think we need to take a look at the great commission:
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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV).
Notice that Jesus commanded them to go make disciples, not just converts. At a later date, I would like to revisit the article I wrote on evangelism, because I think my views on the issue have changed a bit — I now believe that our evangelism needs to be much more focused on not only helping people to believe in Jesus, but also to helping people understand the need to be like Jesus.
But before we get to the issue of evangelizing others, I think we need to correctly understand the meaning of the discipleship we have been called to. As followers of Christ, our true desire should be to do the things Jesus asked of us. But what exactly did He command? Well, if you'll bear with me, I'll point them out to you. I know this looks like a long list coming up here, but I really want to emphasize exactly what Jesus has asked us to do:
- "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40).
- "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).
- "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command" (John 15:12-14).
- "This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another" (1 John 3:11).
- "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them" (1 John 3:23-24a).
Honestly you guys, I don't know how I missed this for so long. Over and over again (especially in John's writings) we see that 1) Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we'll obey what He commanded, and 2) that what He really wants is for us to show love to one another. That, I believe, is what living the Christian life is all about.2
Hiding His Words in Our Hearts
So, according to the Scripture, if we're serious about being disciples of Christ, we must pursue loving Him and others. As James talked about, faith is not just what we believe, it is also what we do.
Now don't get me wrong. I believe with all my heart that we have been saved by grace. It's a beautiful thing. But as Dallas Willard puts it in his book about discipleship, The Great Omission, "Grace is opposed to earning, not to effort."3
But what does this "effort" require of us? Well, as I've mentioned, I think our faith requires action on our part. This means loving our neighbor, and it also means doing everything we can to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).
But where on earth do we start? So as not to overwhelm you with this huge discipleship task, I will just make one suggestion for now: Memorize His words.
Honestly, most orthodox Jews would find the faith of Christians pretty pathetic because we do not read through the Gospels once a week. "How on earth can you be following this Jesus if you don't even know what He said?" they would ask. It's a good question.
This is something I am challenging myself to, as well. I can sit here and talk about the importance of discipleship until I am blue in the face (which would be pretty impressive in itself), but unless I do something about it, my words mean nothing. If any of you are willing to work on memorization with me, come discuss it with me in the Coffee Shop. I've heard that Mark is a good book to start with (it sounds like a lot, I know, but I think we can do it). We can set up a memorization plan and get to work.
Following the Rabbi
I really don't know if I've done an adequate job of explaining this discipleship thing to you, but I hope it's at least got you thinking. I've been thinking about it for awhile now, so it's probably time for me to put it into action.
You guys, I think this is so crucial: If we really love Jesus, we'll do what He commanded and we will walk as He did. It's that simple. Now, simplicity doesn't equal "easy," but it is doable.
C O F F E E S H O PWe will not achieve perfection in this lifetime, and that is not even our goal. Our goal is to do our best each and every day to be a little bit more like our Rabbi. And because our Rabbi is so gracious, His spirit will be working in us to make that goal a reality.
So, who's ready to get started?!
- D. Thomas Lancaster, King of the Jews (Littleton: First Fruits of Zion, 2006), pp. 52-53.
On a side note, I think this helps us understand why the Gospels were written so many years after Jesus ascended. It wasn't automatically assumed that Jesus' words would be written down. It also gives credibility to the accuracy of the words of the Gospels — these disciples were experts in memorization and recitation. They knew Jesus' words, even if they hadn't written them down. It's the way things were done in that day. (Remember, just because they did things differently than we do now, does not mean the way it was done back then was wrong or ineffective. It was just different. But that's for another article. Moving on …) Back^ - I think that sometimes we Evangelicals fear this "love" because some have made it to be wishy-washy, allow-for-anything-people-feel-like-doing kind of love. That is untrue. We need to remember that Jesus was (obviously) a God-fearing Jew who followed the Law. He lived according to the strict moral standards the rest of the Jews did. He did not approve of unrighteousness. My point is that loving others does not require us to be pansies and excuse for wrong. But it does require true and sincere love. Oh man … so difficult to put into practice. Back^
- Dallas Willard, The Great Omission (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006), p. 34. Back^
Denise Morris is an Editor for TrueU.org and authors content for the Women's Hall and Student Lounge. Denise earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and Spanish from the University of St. Thomas. She has written and edited for some small and some large publications; spent time in Spain learning how to make tapas; cheers for Minnesota sports teams (especially the Timberwolves); likes to debate; and enjoys spending time with friends and/or enemies.
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