Discipleship part 1
I think it's important sometimes that we take a minute to kind of reflect on what we are actually talking about. Especially when it comes to Christianity. Because we have this whole "insiders" language. And I'm not even talking about the "thous" of the King James version of the Bible. I'm talking about things we throw around and take for granted--assuming that everyone else knows what we're talking about, when most of the time WE don't even know what we're talking about. Things like grace. And mercy. Holiness. And discipleship. That's where I'm going to start. Because it seems to me (and I may be wrong about this but it SEEMS like), we think being a disciple of Jesus means being a robot. Fitting into a box and marching lock-step in Jesus' foot steps. But I've said it before and I'll say it again: Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. His foot steps are too big for us to fill. And I know Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12). But that's actually my point. We aren't supposed to do exactly what Jesus did. We're supposed to do greater things than He did. Why? And How? Because He went to the Father and gave us His Spirit. Because HE'S the One doing those great (and greater!) things in and through and as us. See, discipleship is not about trying to be someone you're not. Hopefully we're beginning to see that you can't truly experience an abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life by denying yourself... but you can only experience it by embracing yourself. I want to define discipleship in this way: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). That's it. Pure and simple. To be a disciple is to love one another. That's what it's about. That's what it's ALL about. It's all about love. And watch this, because to me this is powerful: The word, "disciples" there is number 3101 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "a learner, that is, pupil." Not someone trying to act like Jesus--because even if you could act like Jesus (which you can't), that's all it would ever be. An act--but someone LEARNING from Jesus. Learning who we really are as He reveals Himself to us and in us and through us and as us. All a disciple is, is someone who is learning how to love. Not someone who has it all figured out. Not someone high and mighty looking down on anyone else. I'm convinced that the only time we should ever look down on someone is if they've fallen. And the very next thing we should do is help them up. Because that's what love is. It's a big hug. A warm embrace. A helping hand. And that's what a disciple is. Someone who is learning how to love as he learns how loved he is. Someone who is learning how to love as he learns WHAT love is. WHO love is. That's what this (everlasting) life-long journey is all about. It's about God revealing His love (Himself) to us and it's about us (through the Holy Spirit) receiving it and releasing it. That's what a disciple does. That's who a disciple is. A student of love.