Published by A very close friend of mine came to me one day. She was a parent of one of the students I had in my class while teaching at a private school. Like all of the parents, I have built a relationship with her so that she knows whom it is that her child is sitting with for the most part of the day, creating a bond so to speak. Well at the time her son had already moved on from my grade to the next, but when God places some one in your life, well that never dies.
Well she came to me one day telling me that she needed for me to help her with a couple of questions about being a Christian. Me being who I am, with no hesitation, I said sure. I will never forget after she left my class that day, I asked myself what was I thinking at the time, knowing I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. On top of that she was much older than I was, there was no way in the world I wanted to give her the wrong information. I kind of had a Moses moment, when God was telling him to go and speak before pharaoh; Moses’ reply to God was a bunch of excuses about him not being able to speak well. I had found myself there, talking to God in the same way. Several days later she came to me with an envelope. That envelope was holding a paper conveying couple of questions. One of those questions was; how can imperfect people become disciples of God?
It stumped me at first, because I in my mind figured that you can only be a disciple of Jesus in your quest to get next to God. At that moment I asked myself again. I can remember praying, saying, God now you know how good that I am not at researching biblical discussions. Either I know it or I don’t. God in a series of events basically told me that he didn’t need me to know anything. It wasn’t my job, I was the only person that he could use to type what he dictates because she would probably not accept too much of an answer from anyone else. And little did I know, God had already given me the materials needed to bring her the answer she was looking for.
At that moment I asked my self the question again.
How can imperfect people become disciples of God?
To answer this question we must first know what a disciple really is. According to Dictionary.com a disciple is defined as:
- Religion.
- one of the 12 personal followers of Christ.
- One of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1.
- Any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime.
- Any follower of Christ.
- (Initial capital letter) a member of the Disciples of Christ.
- A person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower: a disciple of Freud.
To some it all up, A disciple is a follower of Christ, who is really the son of the living God. Now that we know that, the next question is how do you follow Christ? Again to start with an answer we must first know the true meaning of what it is we are searching for. According to the dictionary a follower is defined as:
- a person or thing that follows.
- a person who follows another in regard to his or her ideas or belief; disciple or adherent.
- a person who imitates, copies, or takes as a model or ideal: He was little more than a follower of current modes.
- an attendant, servant, or retainer.
- One who subscribes to the teachings or methods of another; an adherent: a follower of Gandhi.
- A servant; a subordinate.
- A fan; an enthusiast.
- One that imitates or copies another: A successful marketing campaign will have many followers.
Applying this definition to our question, we see that, discipleship is the following of Jesus Christ in the belief of the living God. In short the ultimate goal is to become more “Christlike”. Or in a more simple form, to follow Christ you have to become a Christian.
How Do We Become a Christian?
Well according to Romans 3:23-25, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and we all need to be made right through is son Jesus Christ. The only way to do that is described in Romans 10:9-10, Which says, that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. In most, if not all, churches this is known as accepting Jesus into your heart. After doing that we have just made the first step into becoming Christlike. You are now a Christian!
Or are you?
Your answer is yes?
Good…..Then that means that you have said the sinner’s prayer, You’ve been baptized, and from time to time, if not every week, you attend church, But….
….The question still remains are you a Christian?
If you were to look up the word Christian in the dictionary you will see up to 11 meanings to that word. The ones that stick out the most are: exhibiting a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ; Christlike and of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. So in other words if we are Christians then we are people, believers who are Christlike(like Christ), and, living our lives according to the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In order to do that we must be fruitful and not barren in the knowledge or our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Question is how do we become fruitful in the knowledge?
Some will say, go to church, and attend lots of bible studies. Yeah that helps but it’s not enough!
In the new testament of the bible (2 Peter 1), apostle Simon Peter writes to Christians about after adding faith to our lives by accepting the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into our heart. We must now add 7 more things in order to be fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
After we have added faith to our lives by accepting Jesus into our hearts, we must now add “Virtue”. What is virtue?……Glad you asked. Virtue is defined as moral excellence; goodness; righteousness. Conformity of one’s life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude. A good example of “virtue” could be found in Genesis 39 where the wife of Potiphar approached Joseph. She was trying to have sex with the young man and she used the ultimate line “but no one would never know”. Joseph knowing that fornication and adultery are both sins backed off and told her, “My master (her husband) trusts me with everything in his house. He has put me in charge of every thing. The only thing here the I can’t touch is you and that’s only because you’re his wife. How could I do such a thing to him? on top of all that it’s a sin against God”. See the “Virtue” there?…..How much Virtue do we show in our everyday lives?…..Could we show more?
To our virtue, we must now add “Knowledge”. In order to be “Christlike” , we must have knowledge of how Christ lived. A great way to find out about the life of Christ, we should read and live the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One thing that I do want to point out is Matthew 16:13, where Jesus asked peter, “Who does man say that I am?” Peter explained that some say he’s John the Baptist, some say he’s Elijah, and others say he’s Jeremiah. Jesus then asked him “Who do you say I am?” his answer was then “You are Christ, son of the living God”. From there, because of his “Knowledge” of the Son of God he was blessed.
To our knowledge we must add “Self Control”. Self Control can be applied in many cases….Take the example from “virtue”. In Genesis 39 Joseph was tempted but he had enough “Self Control” to not fall to that temptation. Jesus was fasting for forty days and forty nights and was tempted by the devil with food and water…Jesus showed “Self Control”. When we are faced with having to pass something up that we know we don’t need or should have, or when we are about to go off on some one, We should take out the time to show a little “Self Control”.
To our self-control we must add “Patience”. Patience can go a number of ways here. First we must have patience with others….being forgiving. In the book of Matthew, Jesus teaches us that we must forgive each other every time someone sins against us. The other part of “Patience” is very tricky for a lot of us. We tend to put a rush on God for the things that we want, then when we don’t get it when we want it, we turn it into a situation where we feel God has turned his back on us. Keep in mind Psalm 37:4 which says Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. and Matthew 6:31-34, which says, So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
To our Patience we add “Service to God”. Let’s keep this one short and simple. If you call yourself a Christian and you are living in the faith, Your whole life is a service to God! We must live the life of Christ so the other could look at us and learn! Romans 12:1 simply states I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
To our service we add “Kindness”. We all know what kindness is, to best way to gain enough strength to show kindness all the time would be to follow Ephesians 4:31-32 which says Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
And Finally to that we must add “Love”. You can look in the dictionary to find out what love is and still have the wrong meaning of it! True “Love” is best described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-13: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”. When thinking about “Love” always keep in mind 1 John 4:8 which says Whoever does not love does not know God, because “GOD is LOVE” and 1 John 4:16: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. GOD is “LOVE”. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
As the bible says, if you add these things to your life you will live fruitful and not barren in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Keeping this in mind and following it on the everyday basis will get you closer and closer to being more “Christlike”. Helping you to become a disciple of Jesus!
So to conclude this oh so long answer to the question, How can imperfect people become disciples of God? They can’t. Your discipleship comes in the terms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Since the ultimate goal in life should be building a relationship with, becoming a child of, living as a servant for, and becoming a friend of the living God, or in short gaining a relationship with God. We must do that through the discipleship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (refer to 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, 6:1-11). As stated in John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.a person who follows another in regard to his or her ideas or belief; disciple or adherent), We must remember that the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are not only about the life of Jesus but also about his teachings. Making him a teacher and the one who we must follow. Keeping in mind the second definition of follower (
Ref. Matthew 17:1-11…God speaks instructing us to recognize Jesus as his son and we are to listen to him
