What is a Disciple?

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Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

That short verse contains a pretty good definition of what a disciple really is. What’s our part? Follow Jesus. What’s Jesus’ part? Leading us to become fishers of other people. “Fishers” mean looking for others who will believe the gospel and respond to the call to discipleship. There is of course a lot more to say about that and a lot of other Bible verses that flesh that out. But for a basic definition of a disciple, and for a litmus test you can give yourself to know whether you are faithfully being a disciple. you can start here. Are you a believer in Jesus? Are you following Him? And is He asking you to do things that show you, teach you, and help you lead new people to faith in Jesus?

So, are you a disciple? Or are you just a convert, or just a believer? A convert is a new believer, like a butterfly the moment it comes out of the cocoon. That’s God’s gift of transformation. Once you’re converted, now you’re a believer. But continuing on as a true disciple only happens when the new believer engages in the life he or she has been given and follows and obeys Jesus, to be part of the “fishers of men group.” That’s a lot like saying that a butterfly is only a true butterfly when it flies, and finds other butterflies, and engages in the process that makes more butterflies!!

Analysts of the church have come to the conclusion that most of our congregations today have a pile of converts and believers, but precious few active disciples. Pastor Bill Hybels, who successfully grew a church to a very large membership, decided to do a study of his congregation and found that their evangelism program had grown a church that he called “a mile wide and an inch deep.” That was his way of saying that many were believers, but few were actively leading others to Jesus, other than inviting them to church.

I also remember the testimony of a baseball player, whose name I can’t remember, who always questioned the other players about their faith in Jesus, especially the ones who invited him to Bible study. He deliberately challenged them and found that they did not have good and thoughtful answers for his questions. Then he finally found someone who could answer his questions.

He eventually became a Christian and went back to his fellow players to rebuke them for not knowing more about the faith. He said, “These were not really hard questions. And you guys say you’re studying the Bible. You guys should have known these answers!” Well, I don’t think any of us could know everything. But I bet most of us could know more than we currently do. That would be helpful to seekers. A true disciple is devoted to the Word of God and learning all he or she can.

The author of Hebrews agrees. This was even a problem early in in the life of the whole Church when he wrote, in Hebrews 5:11-14, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

Notice the general terms. Those words are not addressed to pastors, teachers, or elders, but to everybody! Yet, one of my friends tells the story of the Adult Sunday School student, a middle aged man, who didn’t like the pastor’s new expectation that the class was supposed to read the text and do their homework, answering questions about the passage to be prepared for deep discussion in the next class. His memorable objection was stated as follows, “I don’t come here to think. I come here to be told what to think!”

More recently, and more personally, after I had invited leaders to discuss theology with me, I received this response, “I believe the theological answer to your questions should be explained by the clergy and reported to us! I feel that this is part of your responsibility as head of the church and you should take care of the answer! At this point in time I feel it is more pertinent to fill the pews on Sunday morning and keep the church viable than it is to be concerned about theology!”

Now it’s not all your fault personally. The prevalence of that attitude is the result of long ages during which the Church attempted to keep the doctrines pure by keeping the Bible out of the hands of the general population. And even after the Reformation, responsibility for “rightly dividing the Word” was left in the hands of official, or ordained, pastors and elders. So there came to be this false and unbiblical distinction between clergy and laity.

The Bible seems to support it where we read that Paul appointed elders over the church. But the biblical understanding of what elders were supposed to do was to train the youngers so that they could become elders too! True disciples make new disciples. Listen to Pastor Paul speaking to Pastor Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2. “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Paul did not want to keep all the biblical authority to himself. He passed it on to Timothy. Next Timothy was supposed to entrust the same gospel to other reliable people, and those reliable people were then supposed to become qualified to pass on the faith to still others! That’s discipleship. No one is supposed to stagnate as a believer, thinking, “I’m saved and that’s all I need.” Every believer, in the Bible at least, is expected to strive to grow in the faith so they know what they’re talking about when they pass it on. That’s how you fish for other folks to become believers.

Fishing is an interesting illustration for this. Nobody is born automatically knowing how to fish. It’s a skill to be developed over time. I’ve learned enough to put a worm on a hook and hope for any old fish. But I understand that there’s a whole lot more knowledge out there about lures and habitats, so that you can be more successful at fishing, and even know where and how to fish for specific kinds, and catch the ones you want!

To me it’s really funny that I’m talking about this and this turns out to be free fishing weekend and I, unlicensed for fishing, got invited to go out with Ron and Lee this afternoon. They wanted to fish for trout, but apparently that requires staying out too late for my schedule, so it’s bluegills. They know a lot more than me on that topic.

Discipleship is like that. Anyone can say what they know about the gospel, most know that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, but there’s a whole lot more information in the Bible that you can learn about so you can answer people’s legitimate doubts and questions. You can even specialize in what kind of doubter or seeker you’re best at catching.

For example, it takes special skills and training to reach out to muslims. But you don’t need to have that training in place before you go. No, you go out with people who are already doing it and you learn how to do it by watching them. Then you try copying the ways they do it and let them help you and correct you until you’re doing it right. A true disciple is an eager learner who is trying to get better at it all the time.

That leads me to another simple description of discipleship. The process happens when they elder says, “Walk with me and watch what I’m doing. Ask me questions about what and why I’m doing what I do. I’ll ask you what you think of what you see.” That’s the first step. The next step is when the elder says, “Help me do this. And then we’ll talk about it.” The third step is when the elder says, “This time I’m going to watch you. Then we’ll talk about how it went.” And the final step is when the elder says, “You’re good to go. Go find some other folks who want to watch you and help you.”

Simply put, discipleship is this process: 1) Watch, 2) Help, 3) Take over, and 4) Invite someone to watch you. Trouble is most congregations are not set up so that this happens, or even could happen. If all you do is attend a lecture or a sermon on Sunday mornings, just listening and not putting it into practice, that’s like trying to learn how to become an auto mechanic just by listening to a pro talk about it. You’ll never really get good at being a mechanic unless you actually get under the hood and turn some wrenches to see what happens. Funny thing is, here I am doing all the talking and still not much action! It’s got to change!

I do appreciate that the EPC recognizes this issue and is set up so that each congregation is composed of ruling elders and teaching elders. In the Book of Government of the EPC, it is specified that Ruling Elders should study and learn the Word. They should become equipped to teach the Word, lead worship and prayer, and may be invited or commissioned to supply the ministry of the Word. It is also assumed that new ruling elders and teaching elders are discerned in each congregation as the current elders recognize gifts for leadership in the other members, new members, younger members etc. That’s why I keep asking your session members if they’re working on a sermon. That’s discipleship work.

Now let’s add another layer. A true disciple is committed to following Jesus no matter how hard it gets. How would you have responded to the gospel if the preacher also warned you that if you decide to follow Jesus life will get harder for you? Your friends and family may disown you, kick you out of the house and even try to kill you! You could lose your job and might have to go into hiding to protect yourself. Is following Jesus worth all that trouble?

Even Jesus himself said to his disciples, in Matthew 16:24, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” He also added, in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” He laid it all on the line and told us we have to do the same.

In theory, you might agree. But in practice, that doesn’t sound like a very appealing way to present the gospel does it? In some American churches the pastor wants to present the gospel without even talking about sin, let alone persecution! And then, you may breathe a sigh of relief that we live in nice, safe, and comfortable USA. Only, maybe it’s not be as nice and safe and comfortable as it used to be.

On the other hand, we see the church growing fastest under extreme levels of suffering and deprivation in places where the persecution of the church is severe. Do you realize that in countries where Christians are severely persecuted the church grows because the unbelievers are amazed to see their neighbors and friends and family act out the conviction that believing in Jesus really is worth losing everything else!

Now, if it was that hard, would you still want to be or become someone who can fish for other people and lead them to faith in Jesus? Well, want to or not that’s your job Christian. Matthew 28 says so. This is a couple of weeks after Jesus’ resurrection. Now they undeniably know that He is God. Because only God could rise from the dead as Jesus did.

I’m reading Matthew 28:16-20. “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”

Folks, that’s a command. Now it’s okay to be scared by that. But it is not okay to excuse yourself from obeying it. So, let me end on the good news. The reason we want to follow Jesus and then get sent out to fish for people is because there is nothing more amazing than watching a forgiven sinner rejoice in God’s love for Him. There is no better thing for us to spend our lives trying to do.

And the easiest place to begin that is when you talk to people and share with them where you get your peace and joy that helps you through the tough times, the trials and tribulations that may be bothering you, but can’t keep you down because you know that Jesus is with you. One definition is discipleship is, one beggar showing another beggar where to get some good food.

From Dr. Timothy Keller: If you read the Bible and think that it's all about how YOU should live and what YOU must do to earn his blessing, then you're reading the Bible wrong. The Bible is all about Jesus and what He has done for you. Jesus said, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” In a way, He’s really the fisherman. Each of us is just the bait or the lure. But as Jesus invites us into partnership with Him, we get have some responsibility to learn how to become better bait.

What Christ has done for us is what is so exciting! Forgiven! Alive! Filled with the Holy Spirit! Assured of eternal life! That’s something to get excited about! That’s what lights us on fire for Jesus and turns us into the light of the world that draws all men unto Him.  It’s really good news, such good news that if you really understood it you could barely contain yourself with joy! Madeleine L'Engle said this about it: “We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”