What is a Disciple
What is a disciple? The term disciple comes from the Greek word Mathetes. The term Mathetes is defined as “one who engages in learning through instruction from another pupil or apprentice.” The term “disciple” is not used in the Old Testament, but there were indeed disciples during this time in Bible history. The Hebrew word for a disciple is Talmid. A Talmid is one who follows the way of his teacher. He would set out to become a learner of God through everything his teacher knows about God and how to follow Him with all his heart, mind and soul. Most importantly the Talmid desired to imitate his teacher and become just like Him.
To simplify these descriptions, a disciple is a learner of God and His ways. The student of God learns with the intention of knowing the scriptures and the interpretation of the scriptures. He also learns with the full intention of imitating his teacher to become just like him so he can multiply this method and make more disciples. Our teacher, or rabbi if you will, is Jesus. It is your job (and mine) to be disciples that learn the ways of Jesus and all that He had commanded of His followers, and then seek to imitate him through the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Read the great commission and replace the word disciple with the definition of a disciple.
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make LEARNERS of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, TEACHING them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo I am with you until the very end of age. (The Great Commission – Matthew 28)
How to become a Christian disciple?
According to Lifeway Research over half of America’s Christians claim to be “fond” of the Bible, but they claim to have read little to none of it. Less than 25% of Christians have an actual systematic plan to learn the Bible through reading. Even more alarming, 33% of Christians never even use their Bibles at all. Do What? Turns out people aren’t knocking the doors down to teach Sunday School or serve as the local youth pastor either.
Sadly most Christians have never completed a chronological overview of the Bible. Grapevine Studies conducted a poll in 2018 to collect the data of adults who have studied the Bible chronologically. They were shocked to learn that 50% of adults had never completed a chronological reading or study plan of the scriptures. Therefore, it appears that learning the Bible may not be a priority for many Christians. Generation Z is likely to see this trend continue.
Consequently, this is tragic and should cause great alarm among Christians today.
Western Christianity is shaping the next generation
We are currently observing a fast decline from the church in the Millennial and Gen Z cultures. One-Third Fewer Americans Attends Church Weekly Now Than in 1993. The Barna Group has estimated that 37% of Generation Z kids (your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc.) believe it is not possible that God is real. The rates are increasing by the minute. How will you reach these children if you do not disciple the generation raising them.
Why is Chronology the most important Bible learning plan for the Church today?
The chronological understanding of the Bible gives Christians an understanding of the Bible that will help that eliminates confusion. Therefore, when a Christian is learning the Bible they can understand the context of what they are reading. For this reason, they better understand how it scriptures piece together like a puzzle. “How to learn the Bible” is the missing component in the church today!
Studying, learning and teaching the Bible is not a priority and it shows more and more as people walk away from the faith.
Are Christians are failing to equip the church?
In my own observations, very few Christians are studying, reading or learning God’s Word on their own. They rely heavily on their pastors, commentaries and video led studies. Here’s the scoop! Christians are so hungry for God’s Word, yet they rely on a junk food study diet filled with someone else’s opinion. I have had many conversations with Christians over the years to dig into the reasons why they are relying so heavily on someone else to do the hard work of study and then feed it to us. Almost all of the time, the answer is they do not know how to learn the Bible. Often times I hear that women fear their interpretation of the Bible is wrong. And every so often, some claim they know how to learn but they are just to busy. As teachers or mentors of the Bible, it is important to take note of this. It is our job to equip these people. If we only tell them everything we want them to believe, well then, we have failed to teach them anything at all.
What if I told you, that for every person you lead to Christ, you were to consider that person a brand new baby you just gave birth too? This new life is now under your care. You will feed, care for and nurture this new life until he is strong enough to withstand the faith (becomes and adult) and ready to multiply His faith to others. He will be ready to multiply the nurturing process you gave him. You will equip this brand new baby believer to become a successful disciple that goes out and multiples His faith ten fold.
I have explained this to teachers over and over again and often times I find they are unsure of what it means to equip their students. This is where things turn gray. If all a teacher has to teach from is the pastors notes, a commentary or a video, then we really cannot expect much equipping. This is why more tools are needed that actually teach people how to learn, rather than what to believe. As a teacher I want to shift my goal from making people believe what I believe, to equipping them to understand the scriptures and challenging them to grow. This became my mission as a learner, teacher and mentor! Understanding what a disciple is and what a disciple has been called to do can help you to understand your role as a follower of Jesus.
It is our calling as disciples to go and make learners of God’s Word! We live in a culture of Christianity that is very quick to tell people what to believe or to get them saved and set them out on their own. When we only tell people what to believe we fail to equip them to understand their faith. Everyone will ask questions at some point in time, and if we only give an answer rather than a tool to find their answer, we have sent them away unprepared to grow.
To take the time to actually equip someone to live out their faith takes time. It is a relationship that needs to be established and grown. This could likely be why we do not see this happening. Real relationships require time, sacrifice and effort that our busy schedules are taking time away from. It is time to be intentional!
Mission iWrite Bible
For years I have met and built relationships with fellow Christians that have often told me that my ability to disciple was just “my gift”. There are gifts that God has given you that not everybody has, but do not be mistaken! If you are a believer and you are saved by the blood of Jesus, then YOU ARE CALLED TO DISCIPLE God’s people. I cannot say this any louder. With the gift of the Holy Spirit you are capable of living out your walk with God, so others can see God in you, and in turn come to you to know God to. We are ALL called to multiply the kingdom. The great commission was not just for some, but for all who accepted Jesus as their savior.
As I have been trained to follow God, I desire to pass on the systematic approach I was taught very early on in my walk with god. It was when I first learned this method that I understood the Gospel for the first time. Learning the Bible chronologically has equipped me with a plan to learn God’s Word everyday that has helped me to understand:
- The context of the scriptures
- The Major characters and events of the Bible and how they create a bigger picture
- God’s character demonstrated throughout the Bible.
- How to apply the scriptures to my own life for growth.
- How to pray through the scriptures.
While one-on-one Christian discipleship is still so valuable to me, iWrite Bible is a product born out of my desire to reach the whole world to make them learners of the Bible. With my whole heart I believe that if we become the students that sit at the feet of Jesus and learn the actual words of the Bible, we would be successful at reaching the lost around us. Just as the rabbi in the first century did, we too can grow closer to God and watch people flock to us begging to know our God.
Let’s grow together! I was at a new dentist office today and the gal at the front desk told another gal that we were now friends. How did she know I literally love becoming everyone’s real life friend. I believe the scriptures come to life and establish the roots of our friendships when we build our friendships on a biblical account. So let’s be friends. There is a 75% chance you do not have a structured plan for learning the Bible. Let’s go all in together, open our hearts and minds to growing and rise up against this Christian discipleship crisis.
Check out the free sample download of the Old Testament 40 day Scripture Writing Devotional. The first three lessons are our gift to you! https://iwritebible.com/index.php/product/sample-text/
Be on the lookout for the New Testament Devo coming Summer 2019.
The stats are in and many of you may be scared to start learning the Bible! Maybe you are to busy and the Lord is calling you to slow down and get into His Word. What are your current struggles or fears when it comes to studying the Bible?
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column]
[/et_pb_row]
[/et_pb_section]
Leave a Reply