Discipleship is a word that is thrown around a lot, and can be very confusing for many people, as there is no clear definition given in the text of Scripture. Jesus never says, “Discipleship is…”, nor does the Apostle Paul write, “My dearest Timothy, here is how you disciple someone in your church”. However, as Jesus was ascending to heaven, He commanded His followers, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20a, ESV) Being commanded to do discipleship, to create disciples without a clear road map, or even a definition is difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, we must be diligent to create a definition that would be in line with the cultural, and semantic context in which Jesus would have used the word itself.
Firstly, we ought to look at the word that Jesus was saying itself. The word that is translated in the New Testament as disciple is, “mathētēs”, which is a word that is derived from the word which means, “to learn; to increase one’s knowledge; to hear or be informed; to learn by use and practice”. This root word can be used in a number of different ways, however when the word is changed from learning to being a disciple, there is a connotation of learning not about someTHING, but rather someone. Conceptually, this is not extremely difficult to understand, as we all learn about people on a daily basis. If we are not learning new things about people, whether that be aspects of their personality, favorite foods, stories about their past, or current thoughts, our relationships become stagnant. When our relationship with Jesus Christ is not a relationship of learning about Him, and imitating Him every day, our relationship is no longer a relationship of being discipled by Him, but rather a relationship of a scholar about Him. Therefore, when we are being called to make disciples, we are being called to tell people about Jesus Christ, but we are also called to cultivate a relationship with Jesus that includes imitation. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (ESV). This shows that Paul imitated Christ, but also called other people to imitate Christ as well. A large part of his discipleship was a daily living with the people who he was discipling. He was not only there on a Sabbath day to teach them what the Scripture says about Jesus, but rather he was living with the people he was discipling. He was showing them by what he did when situations got difficult what it meant to be a Christian. The apostle Paul set forth an example of what it means to be a discipler by living with those whom he was teaching. He not only taught them, but he showed them practically how to live it out. Jesus’ command to disciple clearly includes teaching, but that teaching MUST NOT be devoid of practical help for those who are seeking to be Disciples of Christ through their daily actions. In order to disciple people, especially those whom are close to us physically, there must be a level of transparency about life. There must be times in which you are not only teaching what OUGHT to happen, but showing those who you disciple how to make that happen. Whether that is by not cussing when frustrated, by following rules you do not personally agree withbut are given from above, or by any other number of examples that can be given. Discipleship, without modeling the teaching for another person is not true discipleship, but rather is merely teaching. Teaching has its place, but CANNOT be the same as discipleship.
In addition to the word itself that is used, and the context by which Paul adds to the word, there is also the rest of the commandment that Jesus gave in Matthew 28:19. He doesn’t say to His followers, “Yo, just make disciples or something…”. He rather gives more complex instructions for the discipleship process. He says, “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”. Jesus’ commandment is not merely to make disciples, but He gives a road map to discipleship, with the first step of making a disciple baptism. Baptism, in the New Testament, was always seen as nearly immediately after repentance and belief in Jesus. In Acts 8, there is an Ethiopian, who, while traveling was approached by Phillip and led to repentance. Immediately upon repentance the eunuch said, “‘See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?'” (Acts 8:36b, ESV) Phillip baptized him, without membership classes, without baptism and without a prolonged period of belief and evident fruit beforehand. Baptism was always seen as immediate, or very soon after upon repentance. Jesus’ first step in the discipleship pipeline was essentially, “Great! They believe and have repented of their sins. Wash them away, and lead them in a life that imitates me!”. With this in mind, His second part of the command makes a lot of sense, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”. This step is vital, but it is not by itself discipleship. Teaching, as we saw earlier, is a root of discipleship, but is not the end goal. Observance is the real goal. Jesus wants us to teach those who are seeking what He says, but He does not only want us to teach them, but also to show them. How will someone know what it truly looks like to live a life in imitation of Christ, without seeing it. Discipleship involves discipline, showing others what it means by your actions, and correcting them when they are doing something wrong, all of which requires doing life with that person. Not only on a once-a-week basis after church, but on the regular. Getting lunch or dinner with your families, going hiking, watching a movie or TV show together, or sometimes just having a coffee and catching up. Discipleship doesn’t have to be anything specific, but it must have Jesus at the center, and be often. It doesn’t always even have to involve a Bible Study, but must be centered around Jesus. Whether that is just getting together to pray, or to ask how somebody is doing, or going to see Jesus’ beauty in nature, it must be a way of drawing each other closer to Christ.
Overall, discipleship is not something that we are capable of doing once a week in a large group setting. Discipleship requires intimacy enough to call people out when they are living in sin, and to correct them, as well as vulnerability enough to show disciples what it means to struggle, while remaining faithful and imitating God. Discipleship must be often enough, and deep enough that you are able to teach, and model that teaching for the student. Discipleship must be, “doing life together”. While that is an overused catchphrase, it is appropriate to describe Jesus’ call to His followers to disciple others.
