How do we become Genuine Disciples and do Genuine Discipleship?
We can become Genuine Disciples through delight, devotion, and demonstration.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, CSB)
Hopefully you’ve already read Mel’s post that explains what the Bible has to say about how genuine discipleship looks. (If not, you definitely want to check it out!) So, here we are going to dive into the nitty gritty of how we (you and I) can actually do this! (hint: we do it together) As you read this, keep in mind Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus told his apostles before he ascended to heaven to make disciples and teach them, AND he’s telling us to do that, too! But before we can go and make other people into disciples, we must learn to live as genuine disciples ourselves.
A genuine disciple delights.
A sincere follower of Christ will have her foundation in Jesus Christ and delight in that. She will be strengthening this belief in her heart. She will have heard the Good News and accept it as truth. Similar to a foundation of a home (or even your child’s lego building), foundation in Jesus Christ is key to a firm future. In order to be a true believer, one should know that:
Jesus was born fully God and fully man. He was a real person and lived a real life. Jesus healed, comforted, and taught both Jews and non-Jews. The religious leaders did not believe in or like Jesus. By God’s sovereign will, Jesus was beaten and crucified on a cross. Jesus really died and was dead for three days. This death allowed Him to take the punishment for our sins. (Because the Old Testament teaches that the consequence for all sins is death. Period.) However, Jesus did not stay dead! He rose to life and continued to teach His disciples for weeks before He ascended to heaven, where He now sits awaiting His return to earth. (Gospel per DeeDee)
We often refer to this message as the “Gospel” which literally means good news. Genuine believers know, understand, and rely on this good news as their foundation of their faith in Jesus Christ.
A sincere disciple delights in gaining knowledge of God, His Word, and basic theology (which is literally the study of God). This is done by learning, reading, studying, and understanding God’s Word. We know that the Bible is inspired, inerrant (no errors), infallible (trustworthy), authoritative, clear, sufficient, and necessary. 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 says this clearly: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” So what better way to delight in the Word than by getting into it and finding out what God is telling you?
A sincere and genuine believer will enjoy spending time individually and corporately worshiping God. A genuine believer may do this in various ways, (prayer, praise, study, etc) but her attitude is always one of delight in knowing God is in control and beyond worthy of all our praise. Prayer is a way that we converse with the Almighty God, who loves us and wants to spend time with us. A sincere disciple will be delighted and find enjoyment in her time of prayer: with adoration (God, you are amazing!); thanksgiving (Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity.); supplication (Please, Lord, provide for my needs.); and intercession (Dear Lord, I ask that you provide healing for my friend.). Many times in the Old Testament part of the Bible, we see the Hebrew word "shachah" used in place of what we in English refer to as worship. This Hebrew word "shachah" means "to bow down," according to Strong's Concordance. In the 21st century, we may not always bow down before God with our bodies, but our hearts should be in this position with our reverence and submission to God when we come to worship Him.
A genuine disciple devotes.
A genuine disciple is one who devotes her time, energy, money, and talents to a life of godliness and sanctification. Sanctification is a large word, but genuine believers are always in the sanctification process, or the process of being made holy and sinless. 1st Peter 1:16 says “for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.” Therefore genuine believers are told to pursue lives that are holy, sinless, and sanctified. This is a process that only meets the concluding stage when we are united with Christ in heaven.
A genuine disciple devotes her time. Time is so precious, whether you’re a mom of toddlers or a single woman investing in yourself. Finding time to devote to not only be in God’s Word, but to invest in understanding what God wants your sinless life to look like is a challenge. A genuine disciple is disciplined to create time in her schedule, no matter her stage of life, to spend time with God and His people in study, prayer, worship, service, and Christian fellowship.
Devoting these things to God may look like our selflessly giving money to the church or to help another believer. Money is something we as humans want and need for life and physical well-being. By devoting our monetary gifts back to God, we are showing our devotion to God. Sincere believers give from the joy in their hearts, like 2 Corinthians 9:7 states, “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.” This often involves budgeting, planning, and even financial sacrifice in other areas to follow God’s lead in devoting selflessly to giving money to help the church grow and flourish.
God has gifted each of us with different talents and as we mature and grow sometimes our talents change. (For the ladies saying “But I have no talents” ask a close friend or family member to point out things you are good at doing in their opinion.) Some examples may include: speaking, writing, studying, gardening, teaching, hospitality, planning, working with young people, working with older people, organizing, encouraging, connecting, singing, cooking, and so many more. Devoted disciples try to find ways to use these individual gifts to serve others and bring glory to God. 1st Peter 4:10 says it perfectly: “Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.” Clearly we are commanded as genuine disciples to use our gifts in service to others.
A genuine disciple demonstrates.
As a faithful disciple of God, readiness to demonstrate knowledge and belief in God and His Word is vital. It is one thing to know about God and about the Bible. However, it is an entirely different thing to demonstrate, or show, your knowledge and understanding in your daily life. Peter encourages believers to always be ready to share and explain the reason for the hope we have in Jesus. (1 Peter 3:15-16). Another way to look at this concept is to have a Biblical worldview, actively seeking to look at life and others through the lens of what we know about God and His Word. For example, when having conversations about other people, genuine disciples will use their words wisely knowing that each person was created in the image of God.
A sincere believer will be actively living as a believer. Similar to the meme that states “I want to be so full of Christ that when a mosquito bites me, it flies away singing ‘there’s power in the blood,’” others will be able to look at the way a genuine disciple speaks and interacts with others and know that they are a true believer. James, the brother of Jesus, warns believers that if words are not accompanied by actions there is deception (James 1:22-25). Genuine disciples demonstrating what they believe with their actions will display the Fruits of the Spirit (found in Galatians 5:22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. Even disciples are not perfect and will often fail at showing these fruits, but there must be a consistent effort and growth in learning, expressing, and demonstrating each of them.
Jesus did not just teach His disciples to live faithfully and expect that to be the end of things. Jesus expected His disciples to go out and make other disciples! A huge task for genuine disciples is the demonstration of creating disciples in others. This starts by trying to lead others to a desire to know Jesus as their Savior. However, it does not stop there either. The next step is what Jesus says in Mathew 28:20, “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” Genuine disciples lead others to desire Jesus, devote to Jesus, and demonstrate their belief in Jesus. And the cycle continues over and over and over.
We are all called to a life of genuine discipleship, which involves a delight in the ways of God, a devotion to want to know Him more, and a demonstration of His change in our lives. This is an ongoing, lifelong process that creates a cycle of discipleship and bringing along new believers as we grow.
Here’s a CHALLENGE for you! Consider if you are living as a genuine disciple of Christ. What might you need to change in your life to be a genuine disciple?
