A disciple is a copy.
Discipleship requires a decision.
Discipleship requires training.
A disciple is a copy of another person. The copy is to be made of one who is himself fully a disciple, keeping all that Jesus commanded. Good fruit alone gives evidence of discipleship; the lawless can have sheepskins and gifts. Disciples are the good trees; good trees come from the word. The word is the genetics of discipleship.
Those who disciple must make the choice clear: the gate is small, and the way is narrow. The soul must be lost in order to follow Jesus Christ. The beginning in baptism pictures death, burial, and resurrection, not joining a club. A living community of disciples can be built with disciples; but those who will not listen to Him cannot contribute to the life of this community.
Those who disciple must teach process not just facts. A disciple must learn how to keep all that Jesus commanded. He must be taught how to do what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. The foundation of discipleship is in what is done in secret; the word of the kingdom stands or falls by what is in secret. Those who have learned to keep all that Jesus commanded will then themselves make disciples, for that is part of what He commanded.
To be discipled we must listen, to God and to others. We need to build a connection between what is said to us and what we do. What may be a still, small voice in our thoughts or in our interactions with others may be the most significant next step that we need to take. We need to trust Him that He is working to disciple us; it should not take years to do what we are being told to do.
To be discipled we must make a place in our life at the cost of everything else. We must clear some ground in the midst of this world. This is the great struggle, keeping the darkness from swallowing up our one place of light.
To be discipled we must be a good place for the word to take root in. There is life in the word; disciples are gardeners of the word, each one in his heart. Christ must be formed in each disciple; there is no equivalent mechanism that will work.
-Greg Whitten-
