What is a Disciple?

This semester we are going to be studying what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

To accomplish this we are going to first give some definitions of discipleship.

Definition:

A disciple of Jesus who so looks at Jesus that he or she begins to reflect his beauty in everyday life.

A disciple is a life long learner who is following and growing in relationship with Jesus Christ.

Priorities of Discipleship:

Love of Jesus

Do you love the real Jesus?

Is He Lord of your life?

Love of Others

Do you understand your need for others?

Do you have a church family your invested in?

Love of Mission

Do you love serving others and telling them about Jesus?

Are you making disciples in your school and home?

Cost of Discipleship

Mark 8:34-38

V. 34 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Three demands

Deny Yourself- This isn’t just denying yourself something, but instead it is taking yourself off of the pedestal and making God the lead.

Discipleship is not part-time volunteer work that one does as an extracurricular activity. God refuses to accept a minor role in one’s life; he requires a controlling place. Those who deny themselves have learned to say, “Not my will but thine be done.”

Take up your cross- Join ranks with the despised and doomed. Is Jesus worth your life?

Follow Him- You are to follow Jesus’s example, not simply marvel at His deeds.

V. 35-37

35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?

The Rationale:

Jesus provides a counter-cultural way of thinking about life.

If you worry more about success in this world, you’ll lose your life.

The only way to truly “live” is to lose your life.

For, there is nothing in this life that is worth more than knowing God, and there is no accomplishment that we can bring to God to plead for our life.

Denying myself, and following in Jesus’s example in suffering grants me a life that counts.

V. 38

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The Warning

If you value the world more than Jesus, forsaking Him, then He will deny you when judgement comes.

“To win the favor of the world and its despots means to lose the favor of heaven. To win the favor of heaven means to lose the favor of the world.”

It is better to follow Jesus, dealing with earthly humiliation and suffering, than to lose one’s soul.

For the path of Jesus leads to life, while the path of the world leads to death.

So what is the cost of discipleship?

The cost is everything, but as you lay down your life and follow Jesus, He grants you infinitely more than this world could ever give you.

Discussion Questions:

How would you define discipleship?

What are some ways we are tempted to choose the world over Jesus? How can you guard yourself from these temptations?

Does the cost of discipleship intimidate you? How should verse 35 give us confidence?