Being a Disciple in the Modern Day
by: Justin Taylor

So...how are things in your life? Not feeling much like a disciple right now? Or, at least, not much like a disciple of Jesus Christ? What exactly does that mean? What does it mean to be "A Disciple in the Modern Day"? What are we talking about?

So many questions, so little time. Don't despair. Even the first disciples of Jesus didn't have things all figured out. They did, however, take the first step in becoming a disciple: being available to follow Jesus. That's what being a disciple is all about. Here's what Merriam (take my advice; don't name your son that. He'll never survive high school.) Webster has to say about it: Ňdisáciáple.

Pronunciation: di-'sI-p&l. Function: noun. Etymology: Middle English, from Old English discipul & Old French desciple, from Late Latin and Latin; Late Latin discipulus follower of Jesus Christ in his lifetime, from Latin, pupil. 1 : one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: as a: one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accounts b: a convinced adherent of a school or individual. 2 capitalized : a member of the Disciples of Christ founded in the U.S. in 1809 that holds the Bible alone to be the rule of faith and practice, usually baptizes by immersion, and has a congregational polity. Synonym see FOLLOWER - disáciápleáship /-"ship/ noun.

Ok, so what does all that really say? Well, in a nutshell, being a disciple of something/someone means being a follower of that/them. So, technically, you can be a disciple of anything: a sports star, rock star, actor, friend, or even Satan himself. Anyone can be a disciple of anything. So this begs the question: what/who are you a disciple of? Interesting, isn't it?

When I was in Sunday school as a young teenager, our teacher would ask us a loaded question like "What is the number one thing that takes up time in your life?" Well, of course we would answer "God", or "spiritual things". You know, the kind of answer that we knew the teacher was looking for. But let's get back to reality for a second. This isn't a young teen Sunday school class. This is real life. No Sunday clothes, leather KJV bibles, or memorized (at the last minute) verses. No, this is about divorce, heartache, death, bankruptcy, ridicule: the awful things in life that are unfortunately a reality of today's world. So how do we overcome this world? How can we be disciples in the modern day?

I thank God for His two awesome gifts to us today: the Holy Spirit, and His written word, the Bible. Put these two together and you get a cool mathematical equation: Holy Spirit + Bible = God's awesome blessings in, and guidebook for our lives. That's the kind of math I can really get into. Now this isn't just about blessings. Sorry, but there's a lot more to it than that. Being a disciple of Jesus is about hanging in there day in and day out, when life really sucks, and you want to 'throw in the towel' on your Christianity. When you want to scream out loud "I give up!" That's the point where being a follower of Jesus can really hurt. When you look at all the world around you and see their prosperity. Why, when I serve God, do I drive a car that's 10+ years old, and struggle to make my mortgage payments when my ungodly neighbor has a fully loaded Durango, and a vacation in the tropics every year? Makes you wonder why anyone would want to be a disciple of Christ, doesn't it? Alright, let's take a look at it based upon those 12 guys that Jesus led to the cross: the (original) Disciples.

So, once upon a time there was a guy in the country of Israel. Yes, a Jew, who decided he'd go on a speaking tour for three years, and ask some other guys to come with him. I'm speaking, of course about Jesus. True, he was more than just 'some guy', but do you really think that the 12 guys he called to follow him all the way to death knew that? Sorry to tell you, but they didn't have the knowledge we do. They had no foreknowledge of what was to come. They hadn't experienced any of Jesus' miracles, heard His teachings to thousands, or His rebuke of the Pharisees. They had some guy telling them to leave everything and follow him. Here's what my response would have been: "Uh, what? Ok...let me think, uh, nope. Sorry, man, but what do you think I am, crazy? I've got this really lucrative fishing business with my bro and dad. Can't do it, dude. Hey, no offense, but I'm not going to wander around the country wondering where I'm going to sleep, and what I'm going to eat. No way am I going to have the leaders of my country beat, imprison and try and kill me. Forget it. No way. No how." Imagine how different the lives of the disciples would have been if they had given Jesus that response. Just for the record, every one of the disciples was killed for his faith. That is except for Judas Iscariot. His story is even more tragic. Imagine being drawn and quartered, crucified upside down, beheaded, stoned, and the like. That's what happened to the original disciples of Jesus. Still want to be one?