To Disciple, You Must Be a Disciple
We are all familiar with the term “disciple,” and most of us would classify ourselves as disciples. Disciples of Jesus, of course, though many of us might be a bit hard put to define the term. Right off the bat, someone would probably say that disciple means a follower, which is partly true, but it goes deeper than that.
One of the greatest callings in this life is to make disciples of every nation, wherever we might find ourselves. We don't have to be missionaries; that command was for wherever we might be living at this time. The iconic disciple of Jesus, Paul, often stayed in one place for years at a time while he preached to everyone he could find in the area until the Holy Spirit told him it was time to move along.
Our job is to make disciples where we are, not necessarily to travel to do so. The distinction isn't to minimize evangelism, not at all. Rather, it's to drive home the point that making disciples isn't off in a faraway country; it's right here in our backyard.
Now, if we are going to make disciples, we have to be disciples first, and in order to be a disciple, we have to know what a disciple is. It’s important we don’t get these things out of order.
In order to disciple others, we first have to be disciples ourselves.
We can’t teach anyone else how to be something that we aren’t ourselves. So today, we are first going to look at what makes someone a disciple, and then once we have that all sorted out, we are going to look at what it looks like for us to disciple others. We’ll cover that portion in two segments because discipleship looks different for men than it does for women, so the two need to be covered separately.
What is a Disciple?
We have all heard that term bandied about, but as I said earlier, some might be hard put to define that term. It’s used quite extensively throughout the gospels and in the book of Acts, but it doesn’t really appear in any of the other New Testament writings. A point I’d like to make is that all disciples are believers, but not all believers are disciples.
What I mean by that is that the calling of a disciple is a hard row to hoe, because it requires a lot of us. It requires us to give a lot up in order to be able to walk that particular walk. A disciple isn't a higher rank than all the other believers, but it is a completely different level of commitment from just a simple convert. Remember the parable of the sowers. All those people were called, but only a few were actually true disciples. A lot is required of disciples; actually, to be completely honest, it requires everything of us, and that will help us define what a disciple is.
μαθητής
A learner, pupil, disciple
It’s a masculine word, only ever used to refer to either the seventy, John’s disciples, the twelve disciples, or the 120 disciples in the Bible. It appears 268 times in the New Testament, and again, all within the four gospels and the Book of Acts.
The word for disciple can simply mean a student, a learner, an apprentice, or even a follower of someone’s teachings, but when it’s used in relation to being a disciple of Jesus, it’s a little more than that. A student can learn at the feet of someone else and take in the information without ever using it, and the same with an apprentice. He does his job during the day, and then, when he goes home at night, he hangs up that hat and transitions into his private life.
That's certainly a part of being a disciple of Jesus.
Luke 6:40 NASB95 — “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
However, a disciple, the way Jesus uses the term, is different from that, and focuses more on the becoming like the teacher aspect of what He said there in Luke. That’s why the word isn’t translated as student or apprentice, because the requirements are so much different.
Luke 14:26 NASB95 - "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
The first requirement to be a disciple of Jesus is that you are ready and willing to give up everything, even down to your closest family, for Jesus if that is what is asked of you. You can’t hold anything back from Him if He asks it of you.
So the first thing you have to do in order to be a disciple is to be fully committed, which means you first have to take the cost of being a disciple into consideration.
Luke 14:27 NASB95 - "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:28 NASB95 - "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
Luke 14:29 NASB95 - "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
Luke 14:30 NASB95 - saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
The cost to be a disciple is quite steep, but the outcome is worth every suffering and everything you give up to follow Him. Full commitment, that’s the first step.
If you are going to be fully committed to being a disciple of Jesus, you have to be motivated to do that by something. The desire to do this doesn’t just come out of the ether. You’re not browsing through movies at your local thrift store one day, and you just go “Huh! You know what? I’m going to give up my life and go follow Jesus!”
That’s not how that works; it has to be motivated by something.
What is that motivation?
Well, it’s almost always a motivation caused by two things, not in an absolute order either. One can prompt the other.
The first is a recognition of your sinful nature, which leads to a desire for repentance and forgiveness of sins.
The second, which either follows on the heels of the first or inspires the first, depending on the situation, is an intense, deep, and preferential love for God. The greatest commandment has to be involved right at the beginning for someone to become a true disciple of Jesus.
My take on the greatest commandment might be a bit different than what you have heard in the past, and it has to do with the meaning of the Greek word for love that Jesus uses in the greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:37 NASB95 — And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
The Greek word for love He uses here is ἀγαπάω, and it has very little to do with feelings or emotions. Many use this word to describe unconditional love, but that misses the mark a little bit as well.
ἀγαπάω
To love, to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of, to take pleasure in the thing, prize it above other things, be unwilling to abandon it, or do without it.
It's not unconditional love so much as it is preference for one loved thing above another. You have an attachment to one thing, but your preference is for another thing that you love more. The verse Jesus quotes is from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and was originally written in Hebrew, so the word used is different, but it conveys the same sort of meaning.
Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB95 — “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
The Hebrew word is ahav, and it basically means to love, but it's especially in the context of preferring one loved person or thing over another. I'll share some examples of this in a moment, but just to clarify what I'm getting at, the greatest commandment is about preferring God above everything else with your whole heart, soul, and mind. The command to love your neighbor is the same word, so it also means to prefer your neighbor above yourself.
Genesis 25:28 NASB95 — Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Genesis 29:30 NASB95 — So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.
Genesis 37:3 NASB95 — Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.
The love being spoken of is a preferential love, which is really a good definition of what love truly is in the first place. It's a preference for someone or something above other persons or things based on many different reasons, including emotion, but you can choose whether or not to express it.
You can choose to show preference, while you can't really choose to have a certain emotion toward someone else in the same way, especially if they are your enemy. You’re not likely to get all warm and fuzzy inside when the guy trying to kill you comes around, but you can show him preference.
Okay, so the motivation to become a disciple, and the thought process necessary to stick to it, are a preference for God above everything else. That's the first part of becoming a true disciple: that you are ready to give up everything because you prefer God above everything and everyone else around you.
The second requirement to become a disciple of Jesus is closely tied to the first requirement, and it is that you must take up your cross daily and follow Him.
Luke 9:23 NASB95 — And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Not only pick up your cross, but seemingly in order to do so, you have to deny yourself. Love God, deny yourself.
That’s pretty backward of how the world around us sees things, where it’s usually that you have to love yourself first and take care of number one first before you can love anyone else properly. The psychologists' answer as to why everything in your life is going badly or it’s unfulfilling is to tell you that you aren’t loving yourself enough. You need to learn to love yourself more.
What does Jesus say?
Deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, and follow me!
“Lord? You mean I don’t need to love myself more?”
No! Deny yourself, pick up your cross every day, and follow me!
Luke 9:23 NASB95 - And He was saying to [them] all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Luke 9:24 NASB95 - "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
Luke 9:25 NASB95 - "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
Wow!
That’s totally opposite to the humanistic, self-centered, godless way of thinking of the world!
If you are going to be a disciple of Jesus, however, that’s the sort of thinking you have to adopt. You have to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him, wherever that might lead! If you seek to save your life because you have learned to love yourself and put yourself first, you’ll lose it!
The one who is a disciple of Jesus and loses his life will find eternal life!
I tend to think this is talking about the life we have to give up, our way of life, rather than literally dying, not that literally dying isn’t a possibility, but not many of us will be martyrs. All of us, however, have something in our way of life that we had to give up in order to follow Jesus when we started out, and that is the part of the cost of being His disciple. In doing so, we find true life living in Him.
Taking up our cross daily means what?
What was a cross used for?
Crucifixion, right?
Our flesh, our old self, is supposed to be crucified with Christ. It is no longer supposed to be we who live, but Him who lives in us if we are truly following Him. Part of that is listening to the teaching He gives to us through His word. A disciple is a student of the Master, and much of that is through the hearing of the word and the practice of it.
John 8:31 NASB95 — So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
μένω
to remain, abide, not to depart, not to leave, to continue to be present, sojourn, tarry, endure, persevere
Kind of like God saying if you dwell in my word, camp out in my word, keep your nose in the Bible, and actually live by My word, then you are truly My disciples. What is the result of this?
John 8:32 NASB95 - and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
The truth will set us free! Being His disciple means being truly free, and part of that freedom comes from dwelling in His word and truly living by it! Not just being part-time tenants on the weekend who only get into their Bibles once a week, okay.
That’s not dwelling in His word.
Get into it!
Read it!
It will set you free to know the truth.
If we don’t want to pick up our cross, deny ourselves, die to self, and live in His word, well, that takes us back to our first scripture.
Luke 14:27 NASB95 - "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
We cannot be His disciples without it.
Okay, the third requirement to be His disciple is bearing fruit, and this comes about because we are walking as He walked. That is really the definition of a true disciple, one who seeks to become exactly like the Master in every aspect of his life. Not just studying His ways, but actually living them day in and day out. That is a true disciple.
As we’ve seen, that requires us to deny ourselves every day, so it’s not easy!
John 15:7 NASB95 - "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Most people want the second part without the first part, like God is just some Genie in a bottle. No, the condition of being able to ask whatever we wish has the prerequisite of us abiding in Him.
John 15:8 NASB95 - "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and [so] prove to be My disciples.
John 15:9 NASB95 - "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:10 NASB95 - "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
John 15:11 NASB95 - "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and [that] your joy may be made full.
The fruit we bear comes about from abiding in Him and keeping His commandments. If we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit.
John 15:1 NASB95 - "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:2 NASB95 - "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every [branch] that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:3 NASB95 - "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
That word for clean, here, isn’t talking about sanctification; it’s in relation to being pruned, which my Bible has in the footnotes. It’s pretty easy to get that from the context of what Jesus is saying; basically, His disciples are already pruned because of the word He has spoken, which means they are ready to bear much fruit.
John 15:4 NASB95 - "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither [can] you unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5 NASB95 - "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
We can’t bear any fruit on our own, and only by abiding in Him can we bear any fruit at all. It’s natural human nature to get out there and try to bear fruit out of our own resources, but we simply cannot bear any at all unless we are connected to the vine.
That is our purpose as disciples: to bear fruit; to do this, staying connected to the vine is essential.
One of the fruits we bear is love for each other. This one can sometimes be the most difficult one to do, ironically, and Christians are famous for this one. We have fought wars, had Church splits, been nasty, held grudges for years, and allowed differences of opinion or slights to come between us and our duty to Jesus as His disciples.
Christians are more famous for hating each other than they are for loving each other.
John 13:34 NASB95 - "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:35 NASB95 - "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Now, was this really a new command?
No, of course not, so what did Jesus actually mean when He said this?
Καινός
Recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn, uncommon
That's the word used in this verse, but Greek has a different word that means brand new, recently created, or new in time, and that word is νέος.
What Jesus is saying, then, is that this is a different sort of command than what they are used to, not that it’s a brand new command. We find this type of command throughout the Old Testament, but this is basically a fresh take on love your neighbor as yourself.
The word for love here is again that word agapeo, though it is in the present active form agapate, which makes it a command. It is covenantal, selfless, and preferential rather than emotional and affectionate or friendship love.
It’s not brotherly love, in other words, like the word phileo would be.
Esteeming the brothers as better than ourselves, putting the brothers first, is the core of what Jesus is saying. The same way He loved us, which goes far beyond an emotional and affectionate love.
We let petty differences get in the way of doing this, and it’s easier to do that than it is to put in the work required to actually show preference and the sort of covenantal love for one another that Jesus requires of His disciples.
Why is it so important that we agapeo each other?
For the Unity of the body of Christ, for one thing, but also as a witness to the world outside.
Matthew 5:16 NASB95 - "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Why would it matter what our example to the world around us is?
It comes back to our purpose as disciples of Jesus. A disciple makes more disciples.
Matthew 28:18 NASB95 - And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Matthew 28:19 NASB95 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:20 NASB95 - teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Wherever we go, we should be making disciples. That is our job and our mission as disciples of Jesus; we are passing on what we have received from Him to others. Being a disciple is learning from Jesus with the purpose of actively working to become exactly like Him, and discipleship is providing that same instruction, guidance, and example to others so that they grow to be like Him as well. Not just seeing them here and there, but actively taking an interest in them and who they are in Jesus.
Encouraging them to grow to become the man or woman they are supposed to be in Him. Ensuring they are walking the walk and talking the walk.
Now, you can't force anyone to learn from you or listen to what you have to say, unless, of course, they are still your children, so the way we pass these things on, and the way we disciple, is not going to be some formal classroom experience.
That's education, not discipleship.
Discipleship means we are abiding in Jesus, and from that place of strength, we can offer help and a good example to those who are being called into the faith, as well as those who are already in the faith.
Discipling Others: The Women
As I mentioned earlier, discipleship looks different for men than it does for women, and the reason for this is different roles, both in the family and in the Church. Out of the 200-plus times the word for disciple is used in the Bible, only one time is in reference to women.
Naturally, it is going to look different, then, so I will approach it with that in mind. Women’s discipleship doesn’t get much attention, so I’m going to spend a bit of time on this topic to really iron out what the Bible has to say on the topic.
Women aren't out preaching the gospel and making disciples in that manner; they aren't discipling men (since a major part of discipleship is teaching), so what does discipleship look like for them?
Since discipleship involves teaching, should women even be discipling others?
Well, the answer is yes, yes, they should. Just because women aren’t supposed to be teaching or holding positions of authority over men doesn’t mean that they can’t teach at all.
Not even close.
Someone has to model the way a godly woman should act and behave, and the example is one of the most important parts of discipleship, because that is what demonstrates we are abiding in Jesus.
1 Peter 3:1 NASB95 — In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,
1 Peter 3:2 NASB95 — as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
The example set by a godly wife is so powerful that Peter says a quiet example by a believing wife even has the power to turn an unbelieving husband's heart to the Lord. Not a single word is required; simply the godly behavior of the wife is enough to demonstrate the qualities of Jesus, with the effect of drawing the husband to Jesus.
A wife doesn’t need to nag or preach to her husband; quite the opposite, in fact.
Simply her godly example is enough to turn his heart, especially if it is the example that Peter goes on to lay out.
ἁγνός
Exciting reverence, venerable, sacred, modest, pure, innocent
φόβος
fear, dread, terror, reverence
The behavior Peter describes is quite interesting, actually. The word for purity or innocence actually carries with it a sense of passion, not just a person dragging their heels, eyes downcast, and without emotion, like we might associate with the word chaste. It’s a passionate purity, a passionate innocence for living the Way of God. An inner glow, if you will.
The last one, as we see in other places, also applies to her husband as much as it does God. This is the word used in other places to describe the attitude of wives toward their husbands, but it is also the word used to describe the attitude we should all have toward God. One of dread reverence toward Him and His authority as our Creator, Redeemer, and spiritual husband.
Peter says this attitude and behavior is what will turn an unbelieving husband’s heart toward God.
This behavior specifically!
I’m serious!
It’s a passionate, reverential purity and modesty for God, coupled with reverence for her husband, even though he isn’t a believer, that will make him sit up and take notice. Talk about a powerful example!
1 Peter 3:3 NASB95 — Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;
1 Peter 3:4 NASB95 — but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
Peter goes on to elaborate that the conduct of a godly wife, her true beauty, comes out of her heart because of her faithfulness and passion for God. Silent discipleship at its finest!
Ἡσύχιος
Quiet, tranquil
Πραΰς
Humble, gentle
The imperishable quality of a tranquil and humble or gentle spirit is far better adornment than the outward appearance. Gentleness, as we’ve covered in the past, isn’t about weakness; it’s about self-control in strength.
Women aren’t supposed to be weak in their spirits.
They are to be self-controlled, however, which is what gentleness (and quietness) implies. We see this sort of example throughout the Bible, and Peter will give us an example in just a moment.
First, notice Peter says that this attitude is precious in the sight of God, and the word he uses really puts the top piece on what he has said up to this point.
Πολυτελής
Requiring great outlay, very costly, of surpassing value
God doesn’t value women and their role in the congregation?
Well, according to what Peter said, everything just described is of surpassing value in the eyes of God, incredibly precious and irreplaceable to Him!
It’s true!
Moving on, Peter is about to give us an example of those who have done it in the past, discipling through their recorded example, which is pretty amazing. We have recorded for us in the Bible the examples of many men and women throughout Biblical history, and if we listen to their example, we can be discipled by them even though they have been dead for thousands of years.
How awesome is that?!
1 Peter 3:5 NASB95 — For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands;
1 Peter 3:6 NASB95 — just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
Peter states that these things were the adornment of the Holy women of the past, some of whom had their example recorded, and states that this example was through their submission to their own husbands, just as we covered a little earlier when we were talking about reverence. He then gives an example through Sarah, who lays out that all this was accomplished, apparently, through her obedience to her husband and calling him lord.
We don’t have time to get into that today, but the language surrounding marriage in the Bible is fascinating, to say the least. The word is the same kyrios as is used to refer to Jesus, however, and in the Hebrew language, it is Adonai.
Ἀγαθοποιοῦσαι
Doing what is good (specifically in summary of what has been laid out beforehand. See 1 Peter 2:15)
In other words, Peter is saying that if you follow this pattern, you will be doing good. What’s really interesting is he says to do it without being put to flight by any terror, which is a slightly more literal rendering of that last section.
Basically, don’t let anything scare you away from performing these things.
So, that is the example Peter lays out, and the example that is precious in the sight of God. Having covered the example side of women’s discipleship, let’s move into the teaching side of it. We’re going to look at Titus chapter 2 for this, and I'm going to read through this next section first, and then we'll break it down and examine it.
Titus 2:3 NASB95 — Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,
Titus 2:4 NASB95 — so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
Titus 2:5 NASB95 — to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
Again, we see the reverence that Peter described, then he talks about refraining from being a gossip, abstaining from drunkenness, and then he says teaching what is good. This is where we find the teaching aspects of women’s discipleship, and notice who he says they are supposed to be teaching. The word in Greek, translated as encouragement here, is not quite correct. It’s directly related to training and counsel, and it means exhortation or rebuke.
σωφρονίζω
Restore one to his senses; to moderate, control, curb, discipline; to hold one to his duty, admonish, exhort earnestly
So, not only are the older women supposed to be teaching the younger women how to do these things, they are supposed to be holding them to the set standard and admonishing them when they are not behaving as they should in these areas! Wise counsel, in other words.
What are the areas?
Titus 2:4 NASB95 — so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
Titus 2:5 NASB95 — to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
Love their husbands, love their children, be sensible, work at home, or keepers of the house, be kind, and subject themselves to their own husbands.
None of that needs much of an explanation; in fact, a lot of it was covered quite in depth by what Peter said in his letter. The older women are supposed to not just teach the younger women to do these things, but admonish them when they don’t, and the center of their teaching is the home!
Why?
Βλασφημέω
To speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, to utter blasphemy, be spoken evil of
So that the word of God will not be blasphemed or lied about.
For the protection of the reputation of the Word of God, in other words. These actions, this sort of discipleship, mean the word of God will be well spoken of. It is a guarding of the Words of God, a living them out in a sort of faithfulness to Him that will bring honor to His name. Not doing these things, then, would bring scorn to His word.
Is this something we are practicing?
If my wife or my mother or anyone else is not submitting to their husbands, even if we disagree with what the husband is doing, will they be admonished to submit and follow them anyway?
These are hard questions!
As we covered earlier, in order to disciple others, we have to first be disciples ourselves, and it is not an easy road to walk. Discipleship for women has become almost non-existent in the modern church, and instead, the focus is placed entirely upon becoming the same as men at one end of the spectrum, and on the other, as having no role at all.
There is almost no one in the middle ground, or teaching the middle ground as it is taught in scripture.
We have lost this vital aspect of life in the congregation, and as we’ll see, the same is true for men’s discipleship.
To summarize what women’s discipleship looks like, I’ll break it into the aspects of discipleship we covered earlier.
Learning to walk in the Way, from Jesus, and through their husbands, and from the older women.
Obedience to His teachings, living out the knowledge, in other words.
Self-denial and cost, which often takes the form of submission to their husbands
Setting a good example
Bearing fruit as a result of living out His Ways.
Loving others
Making disciples through their example and teaching the younger women
Discipling Others: The Men
As we’ve already discussed, discipleship for men looks different from what it does for women, and just like the women’s discipleship, this role has been sadly neglected in the modern church. You walk into most congregations, and there are one, maybe two guys out of the bunch who even recognize this as a role they should be filling, let alone practicing it.
It takes time and energy to disciple others, and most of us don’t take the time to do so. Mentorship is one major aspect of men’s discipleship, and in our modern day, that really gets to the heart of what discipleship looks like, but it’s not the whole picture. I’ve been blessed to have several great mentors in my life, though not all of them were Christian men, but they were good men nonetheless.
I’d like to revisit a passage in Luke to get us going here. Luke 14.
Luke 14:26 NASB95 - "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:27 NASB95 - "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
This is the attitude of a disciple, and this is the attitude to be passed on the those we disciple as men. The very core of a disciple is one who does not love anything more than God, and is willing to give up whatever he has to in order to follow God and abide in His word.
1 Corinthians 16:13 NASB95 - Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:14 NASB95 - Let all that you do be done in love.
I have to say, this is one of my favorite verses and one of the most important ones to pass on through discipleship. Spiritual alertness, standing firm in the faith, acting like manly men (which is what it literally means), and strength are some of the most vital things men need to be taught when they enter the faith and as they are growing in the faith. It takes strength to stay in the faith and to be a good leader.
Titus 2:6 NASB95 - Likewise urge the young men to be sensible;
Titus 2:7 NASB95 - in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, [with] purity in doctrine, dignified,
Titus 2:8 NASB95 - sound [in] speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
Σωφρονέω
To exercise self-control, especially of the mind
Again, we see an example as one of the defining aspects and traits of discipleship. From these two sections of scripture we get courage, maturity, sound doctrine, self-control, strength under control, sound teaching beyond reproach, and just as with the women, it is so that the word of God and those in the way will not give the enemy any true accusations he can bring against us.
These things must be learned and passed on to those coming along behind us, and it is vital that we set this sort of example, teaching them how to follow Jesus and how to teach others to follow Him as well.
As I mentioned briefly earlier, some of the most important ones for a man to disciple are his wives and children. He has a direct command from God to do so every day.
Ephesians 6:4 NASB95 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:6 NASB95 - "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:7 NASB95 - "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
Our sons and our daughters are the most important ones for us to teach and disciple in the Way of God. It’s a divine daily mission for us to complete, and when it is neglected, it results in them failing to learn the Way of God in a full-strength form, and they will likely receive a watered-down version from another source. It’s our duty as fathers to inoculate them against that and pass on the truth of God’s word.
It’s not just our children, however; it is also our wives.
Ephesians 5:25 NASB95 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
Ephesians 5:26 NASB95 - so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
1 Corinthians 14:35 NASB95 - If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.
That’s pretty straightforward, really. We are supposed to teach our wives the Word of God. There’s not a lot else that needs to be said about that.
The gist of it is that as husbands and fathers, we are responsible for establishing righteousness in our homes and making them strongholds of faith.
The aspect of men’s discipleship that I’ll focus on for the rest of our time is bringing others into the faith and being examples to the men around us. We are to go out and make disciples wherever we find ourselves, and that does mean preaching publicly, also known as proclaiming the gospel publicly.
In our day and age, we have many avenues from which to pursue that, such as the internet, radio, TV, and physically going out and preaching to people face to face. However, the most powerful form of making disciples is face-to-face, one-on-one. You meet someone and you pass along the Way of God to them in a personal relationship.
2 Timothy 2:2 NASB95 - The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
A faithful disciple of Jesus is the man who receives the word of God, then goes and teaches it to others. The man who is not just talking a good talk, but the man who has the example to go along with what he is teaching.
The young men in this world and in the church of God have, for the most part, been left without strong examples of what it means to be a strong and courageous man of God.
I’m absolutely serious.
That is one of the gaps we need to fill, stepping in and forming men's groups where we can disciple these lost young men one-on-one and pass down what we have received from God. Groups that forge new warriors of God, ready for the spiritual battle we all face.
Continuing on in 2 Timothy 2.
2 Timothy 2:3 NASB95 - Suffer hardship with [me,] as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:4 NASB95 - No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
We are in a war for the kingdom of God, fighting to bring the life-saving word of God to those who are perishing in the kingdom of darkness.
2 Corinthians 5:18 NASB95 - Now all [these] things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
2 Corinthians 5:19 NASB95 - namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:20 NASB95 - Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95 - He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
We are the ambassadors of a life-saving gospel, and our mission is not simply to bring converts to God’s way but to disciple warriors who can take up the fight by our side.
Acts 26:16 NASB95 - 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;
Acts 26:17 NASB95 - rescuing you from the [Jewish] people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,
Acts 26:18 NASB95 - to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'
These are the words that were spoken directly to Paul, but our mission is much the same as we see affirmed throughout Scripture.
Philippians 2:14 NASB95 - Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
Philippians 2:15 NASB95 - so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
Philippians 2:16 NASB95 - holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Our example is powerful, much more powerful than the speech that comes from our mouths, and we must have both in alignment. We are directly opposed to the way of life that is being lived out in the world, and our message is vital to their survival. Our job isn’t to decide who is called and who isn’t. Our job is to go out and make disciples, to bring those lost and wandering men to the truth of God’s way.
You know, as disciples of Jesus, we are all supposed to be discipling others, every man and woman who claims to be a disciple. While discipleship for men and women looks different, it is all absolutely essential to the health and survival of a congregation.
We must disciple each other as well.
A disciple is much more than just a student; a disciple is someone who seeks to become exactly like someone else, and then passes that on to the ones coming along behind them.
I’ll finish up with the command from Jesus in Matthew 28.
Matthew 28:19 NASB95 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:20 NASB95 - teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
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