Before we talk about discipleship, let’s talk about disciples.

The question is, ARE YOU a disciple?

The terms disciple and Christian are related but not synonymous.

The Greek term for “disciple” in the New Testament is mathetes, which means more than just “student” or “learner.” A disciple is a “follower,” someone who adheres completely to the teachings of another, making them his rule of life and conduct.

The Pharisees prided themselves in being disciples of Moses (John 9:28). Jesus’ followers were called “disciples.” Their discipleship began with Jesus’ call and required them to exercise their will in response (Matthew 9:9).

Jesus was quite explicit about the cost of following Him. Being a disciple requires a totally committed life: “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Sacrifice is expected: “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ ” (Matthew 16:24).

Not all of Jesus’ followers were able to make such a commitment. There were many who left Him after a while. “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66).

The name “Christian,” meaning “belonging to Christ,” appears to have been invented by those outside of the church. It was most likely meant as a derogatory term. Only two other times does the word appear in the New Testament (Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:16).

Biblically speaking, a Christian is someone who has placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12). A Christian has been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3). A Christian “belongs to Christ” and is daily being transformed into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
A true Christian (not one in name only) will also be a disciple of Christ.

They will have counted the cost of following the Lord and has totally committed their life to Jesus. He accepts the call to sacrifice and follows wherever the Lord leads. The disciple completely adheres to the teaching of Jesus, makes Christ his number-one priority and lives accordingly.

Many people claim to follow Jesus, and claim to be His disciples, but Jesus pointed to the proof of genuineness. This is the mark of a real follower of Christ.

The Lord repeatedly compared true disciples against false, the real against the fake. For Him, this was an essential matter. And so He talked frequently about genuine salvation as opposed to a facade of salvation.

In Matthew alone, this is a constant issue.

Matt 5: 20, His first sermon recorded in the New Testament, our Lord said this: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” There is the genuine, perfect righteousness of Christ that is imputed to each believer (Rom. 4:5; Phil. 3:9; 2 Cor. 5:21), and there is a false righteousness of men. And unless you have the real thing, you’ll not enter the kingdom. Jesus was focusing here on the sham righteousness of the Pharisees.

Matthew 7, Jesus spoke of that narrow gate that only a few people ever find. There are two roads that seem to go to God, but one leads to life, the other to destruction

The Lord began Matthew 13:4-8 with a discussion of a sower and seeds.
Some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

This story tells us that in response to the preaching of the gospel, there are at least four different possible results. And only one of them is genuine reception, producing righteousness.

The lesson appears once more, beginning in Matthew 13:47–50: The church is a net that pulls in every kind of person, good and bad. And one day, angels will separate the true followers from the false. Time and again in the New Testament, the Lord brought up the idea of identifying the true disciples as well as the pretenders

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,

Matthew 10 describes the hallmarks of a genuine disciple.

The message is about genuineness, and second, a message about impact:

Who is a real disciple?

How does he impact the world?

How does the world impact him?

The first characteristic of a genuine disciple is that he is like his Lord. He bears the character of Christ. That’s why in Acts 11:26 people called the believers Christians: Christiani—“iani” means “belonging to the party of.”  They were little Christs; they manifested His character and bore the marks of His life in them.

Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). A true disciple acts like Christ. Of course, there’ll be lapses because of our humanness, but nonetheless there will be evidence of Christlikeness in the life of a true believer.

The second and consequential characteristic of true disciples is that if we are like Christ, other people will respond to us as they did Christ.

If you are genuine in your identification with Christ, you can expect the world that rejects Christ to reject you.

Disciples Must Follow at Any Cost

Luke 14:26-27. Jesus said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”

This passage is unique to Luke, though verses 26–27 are like Matthew 10:37–38 and verses 34–35 are similar to Matthew 5:13 and Mark 9:49–50. It is extremely significant that this passage is addressed to large crowds. Jesus offered himself to all, but he also was honest from the very beginning of his preaching about what the journey would involve. What Jesus asks for is first place in one’s heart. That is what successful discipleship requires.

So Jesus calls for a follower who will hate his mother and father, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life. The point of the list is that no other relationship is first for a disciple. “Hate” is used figuratively and suggests a priority of relationship. Jesus is to be first, follow Jesus means to follow Jesus, not anyone or anything else.

If his followers care more about family than about Jesus, when families are divided under pressure of persecution, they will choose against Jesus. This is what lies behind Jesus’ remarks. Discipleship is not possible if Jesus is not the teacher.

This is why bearing the cross and coming after Jesus is the issue of discipleship. Learning from Jesus means following him, experiencing the rejection he experienced and so bearing the cross he bore. We cannot “learn Jesus” without being prepared to walk this path. To follow Jesus is to rely on him.

“Hate your father and your mother,” demands that we unpack this a wee bit. Jesus himself elsewhere insists in the strongest terms that children must obey their parents and adults must honor their parents.

Jesus rebukes the Pharisees in their day for playing fast and loose with the tax laws. If they declared something was korban, something was actually dedicated to the temple, then money that should’ve gone to the support of their parents was funneled off and used for religious purposes that promoted their own reputations. Maybe they could even keep some on the side, but it didn’t go to their moms and dads.

What Jesus says is, “That’s wrong! It’s wicked! It’s selfishness because the Bible commands you, ‘Honor your parents, Honor your father and mother.’ By your tradition, you’re nullifying the Word of God.” So Jesus is as strong as anyone on this issue. Yet he dares to say this, it’s already tied back to Exodus 20.

Because before you read the fifth commandment you have to read the first. “You shall have no other gods before me.” We know it’s possible to make even our families our idols.

Matthew 10: 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me.

Jesus calls not for an unloving attitude, but for a willingness to put him first in the concrete situation where the calls of Jesus and of family conflict.

The disciple will find that in following Jesus he must take his cross (16:24 for a positive command to do so). After Jesus’ own crucifixion, the meaning would be obvious, the public walk through Jerusalem to Golgotha, and the painful and unjust death, if they were not the disciple’s literal fate, vividly illustrated what he could expect from ‘men’, like Master, like servant ( vv. 24–25 Crucifixion itself was not an uncommon sight in Roman Palestine; ‘cross-bearing’ language would have a clear enough meaning, even before they realized how literally he himself was to exemplify it.

The disciple is to put Jesus before his own natural inclinations and interests as well as before those of his family. As throughout this passage, Jesus’ demand centers on loyalty to himself ( v. 32–33), in full awareness of the conflict this may entail.

Mt 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

The reasonable request meets a clear refusal. Following Jesus takes precedence over even family obligations (10:35–39; 12:46–50; 19:29). If the consecration of a Nazirite or of the High Priest did not allow him to attend even to his father’s funeral (Num. 6:6–7; Lev. 21:11), Jesus’ demand is no less absolute.

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?

If discipleship means identification with the Master, they must expect to share the fate he has just outlined for himself. The point is made by an expanded version of the saying already recorded in the charge to the disciples in 10:38–39, together with a reminder that the ultimate stakes are high.

If ‘cross-bearing’ was a vivid metaphor there, the ‘loss of life’ may therefore be as literal for the disciple as it will be for his master.

Luke 9: 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 But he said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, I will follow thee, Lord; but first suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house. 62 But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Jesus’ response seems so harsh. Jesus’ command is rhetorical, since the dead cannot bury anyone. It means either that the spiritually dead should be left to perform this task or that such concern is inconsequential in the face of the call to be His disciple. As important as taking care of a family member’s death is, it is a lower priority. Either way, Jesus makes it clear the request should not be honored. Even the “best excuse” possible should not get in the way of being a disciple.

Instead, the call is to go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

After that verse, what can we say about the obtuseness of so many hearers?

It is that they do not belong to Jesus’ sheep. It is not just that his own sheep do hear his voice, that he knows them, and that they follow him (points made in vv. 1–18 and here repeated), but that those who are not his sheep do not hear his voice, that he does not know them, and that therefore they do not follow him. Neither Jesus nor John means to reduce the moral responsibility of the opponents in the slightest.

“People are more interested in faith and religion than in Jesus. Believers are largely indistinguishable from nonbelievers in how they think and live. The church has lost its place at the table of cultural influence.

Can we restore the impact of the church through more events and buildings?

It will take zealots for Christ, individuals who are intractably devoted to knowing, loving, and serving Him with all their heart, mind, strength and soul, if we are to transform our world