The Cost of Discipleship: Luke 14:25-35 Discipleship is one of the highest aspirations of many of the different followers and sections of Christianity, but as Luke 14:25-35 shows, it is not something that is handed to each and every follower as it must be earned and truly worked towards in order to be allowed to experience the full effect and ownership of being a disciple. The idea of discipleship is something that is not necessarily tangible as is more of a state of belief rather than something that you can go and take or purchase. Discipleship is found best described as, “a ‘follower’, ‘adherent’ or ‘student’ of a great master, religious leader or teacher.” This definition shows the basic nature of a disciple during the time that Jesus walked the earth, yet this barely scratches the surface of the true requirements needed to be a true follower of Christ and not a person that simply follows because they are being led to do so. This section of verses found in chapter 14 of Luke show that there are stringent requirements needed to be a true disciple of Christ and as he demonstrates in the text through example and shortened parables, there is no way to become a true follower if it is being done halfheartedly and with a lax nature. The first verse in this section sets the nature of this following speech and teaching as one to a large audience as opposed to an enclosed group of listeners. Jesus was on his way to a dinner with a leader of the Pharisees and gathering along him
Discipleship is about engaging in the Word, following and obeying Jesus and going out to make disciples. An essential element in being a disciple is to be open to learning, to be teachable. It is a mindset to be continuously adopted and cultivated. For us to disciple others, we must be a better disciple ourselves. When making disciples, we are instructing others to be willing to be a discoverer. It applies to both spiritual growth as well as personal development, openness to new techniques, ideas and methods in all aspects of life. Our spiritual learning comes from delving into His
This passage is situated at the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. Jesus has returned from Nazareth after several days in the wilderness where the power of the Holy Spirit assisted him in fighting the temptations of the devil. In this story, Jesus goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath and is now said to be reading from the Torah as was customary. This means that Jesus regularly does this which shows that he is a devout Jew. It was important for him to rest on the Sabbath and go to the synagogue for scripture and teaching on this day. Luke has followed this account with miracle and healing stories depicting Jesus as a compassionate saviour and prophet. Luke arranges the passages in this way in order to ‘write an orderly account’ (1:3) of
A second way is when someone starts the process of becoming a disciple or being a disciple, such as in Matthew 27:57 or Luke 14:26-27. Lastly, there are those who are referred to as disciples that only occasionally followed Jesus, such as those in Matthew 8:21. Samra summarizes discipleship succinctly by saying that it is the “process of becoming like Christ.”
The parent or mature Christian is fully engaged in the mission of Jesus Christ. People who are in this stage are those who are witnessing and discipling others, in the same manner that he or she was discipled. They are looking out for the immature Christians, and taking them “under their wing” to encourage, listen to, and strengthen them to maturity in Christ.
According to Early & Dempsey, “a disciple is a person, while discipleship is a process. A disciple is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ who is intimately involved in the mission of Christ. On the other hand, discipleship is the process of moving the disciple towards spiritual maturity and the mission of Christ. Being a disciple is God’s perfect will for every individual life; however, discipleship is God’s will for every individual church” [1]
Disciples are true followers of Jesus Christ to share and spread the message of the almighty God. We don’t just get point out by fingers on who is going to be the disciples however, it’s someone’s faith, courage and devotion that what matters. I’ll say that being a disciple is hard and challenging because you have to be committed and devoted your life and understand the word of God. Jesus often stated that his goal was to teach his disciples about his father. Anyway, in order for us to understand God’s message we have to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. Although there are two types of followers, casual followers and committed followers and they both can be found here in Pohnpei. I mention the complains above. Here in Pohnpei I mostly heard
Beare, Francis Wright. "Mission of the Disciples and the Mission Charge: Matthew 10 and Parallels." Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 89, no. 1, Mar. 1970, pp. 1-13.
The Nature of Discipleship According to Mark's Gospel Discipleship is usually thought of as following Jesus, being a preacher and a teacher. Somebody who believes in something, or who believes in someone, and leaves everything behind them to try to make others believe the same is my personal belief of a disciple. In actual fact, the Old Testament word 'Talmid' is a 'learner', and more obviously in the New Testament, a 'Diskipolos' is a 'follower'. The other important area of discipleship is serving others. When a disciple is healing a person, they are serving them, as he serving Jesus and God.
The principles of discipleship can be found throughout the Bible. One of the ultimate goals of discipleship is to become more Christ like which makes Jesus's life and grace an excellent basis for discipleship. Jesus invested in twelve men, the first Disciples, and entrusted them to continue the process. Peter, James, and John were a part of Christ's inner circle and he fostered and encouraged an exalted spiritual life and growth in these three. Paul was a Pharisee who was murdering Christians and then his life was transformed and he became an apostle. He gave his life over to God's purpose not only in a broad perspective, bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles, but also personal. Timothy was a disciple of Paul; Paul was personally involved in Timothy's life. The Great Commission commands the Disciples, in Matthew 28:19, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". The Disciples followed the Great Commission and Christianity spread. Believers are meant to follow the
The church is in need of major renovation when it comes to making disciples. The concept of making disciples to follow the Lord Jesus Christ seems completely foreign to the church today. In order to achieve the desired goal of making disciples for Christ, training others to go out and proclaim gospel, and helping others to train people to disciple one another, one needs to go back to foundation of the Word of God. It is in God’s Word where multiple examples are found of how to make disciples to follow Jesus Christ. It is my desire to see more people in the church have a passion for discipleship. Therefore, this paper will examine in detail how to make disciples in a ministry context. This will be accomplished by examining the 5 V’s of discipleship—vision, values, views, vehicles, and verifiers. It is my purpose to examine each area in order to have a detailed plan of discipleship that will be used in my own ministry context to make disciples for Christ. I hope that this plan can and will be used to train others in the church to make disciples, and disciple one another, for the glory of God.
In order to be a true disciple of Jesus, Christians must commit the same lifestyle as Jesus.
Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV) reads, Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Through the lens of this text God reveals to us the heart He has for His people in a lost and suffering world. Jesus points out to his disciples what we should find significant today, and that is
This five-step process begins by creating a definition for what it is we are addressing as disciples. It’s important to ask the question “what is…” because it helps us distinguish from other topics that are closely related. For example, if we are talking about what discipline is, we would want to distinguish if we are speaking about the punishment of a child, the act of training in a habitual manner, or a branch of knowledge. Our world is a very complicated, intricate, and interwoven place. Though people often want things to be straightforward, they’re not always that simple. It’s important to define exactly what we’re talking about in order to understand the topic as clearly as possible.
was owed a great sum of money by one of his servants. The king let the
Each of the four Gospels contains points in ecclesiology. In the Great Commission, Jesus’ last instruction to the Apostles is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people (Matthew 28:19-20). For Jesus’ mission to continue and for his Church to grow, discipleship is necessary. Discipleship is a prominent theme in all four Gospels, for purposes of this essay, only the Gospels of John and Luke-Acts will be analyzed. The similarities regarding discipleship in these Gospels include images of the net and fishing, and the sheep/shepherd/sheepfold. The differences include the preparing of the Twelve to carry on Jesus' ministry in Luke, and service to the community and passing of authority in John's Gospel.