Discipleship

What is a Disciple

Today I want to begin a series on discipleship. We often read and talk about Jesus and his disciples. I want for us to make the connection of what it means to be a disciple. It was not just for those that Jesus called when he was here on earth, it is for us today as well.

First let us define disciple. If we use it as a noun, it is a person. One who is being taught or trained for a particular job or purpose. If we use it as a verb, to disciple, it would mean to teach or train someone to be able to perform a task. We could also refer to that person as a disciple r or teacher.

Many of us are familiar with the concept of an apprentice. Many people have learned a trade by working as an apprentice. working along side of one who has mastered a trade. I remember learning in school about how young men would be indentured to a tradesman to learn a skill in order to be a productive member of society. This is still practiced today in a different fashion. I am thinking of plumbing for instance. A person would begin as an apprentice, progress to a journeyman, Then with experience can advance to be a master plumber.

In the Christian faith we can look at a new believer as a disciple. The act of learning about the Christian faith is referred to as discipleship. First learning ones self then also discipling others. When a person accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is not the end, but the beginning of a faith walk with Jesus. Learning about him by scripture reading and prayer, Attending worship services, listening to Bible based sermons. Participating in a Sunday School class or bible study. The interaction between believers (iron sharpening iron) helps us to learn and in learning we reach the point where we can share our experiences and what we have learned with others and advance from being a disciple to being a disciple r ourselves. We may think that we are not disciples because Jesus is not with us as he was with disciples here on earth, but we have the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us as we are discipled here and now.

We have seen remarkable success in the crusades that Martha has been conducting in Africa. A concern is that many people coming to Christ don’t have sufficient leaders to train them. We don’t want them to fall away from their faith for lack of pastors. that is why we as a church have invested in the building of a school to train pastors in Gorongosa , Mozambique. When we were considering this investment as a church at one of our Elder meeting when we were considering the cost. Elmer Arment did some quick calculations and determined that the number of people who had accepted Christ at that time came to an investment of $.17 a person. He said “I think we can afford that.”

Can you think of someone who might have discipled you. Many people will remember a Sunday School teacher, perhaps a pastor or maybe a camp counselor. In the book “How they learned their “ABC” by Leona Baker. Many of the people who commented about their days in a one room school was the day that the Bible teacher came to the school, led the children in songs, encouraged everyone to learn a Bible verse, and presented a Bible story by placing the figures of the story on a flannel graph. Everyone remember Mrs. Brennamen but know one remembered her first name. I am sure that she did not care about remembering her name as long as you remembered the stories and songs.

Have you had the privilege of discipling someone? You may have influenced someone and not realized the impact that you made on their life.

There are many examples of people being discipled in the Bible. I plan on having us look at some of those people in the coming weeks. the first example that I want us to look at is Moses and Joshua.