Four Marks of a Disciple: Steps in the making of a lifelong follower of Christ
It is a marathon, not a sprint. Glowing and developing strong followers of Christ.
One of the most common passages of scripture in the New Testament is Matthew 28:18–20 famously known as the Great Commission.
Jesus came and told his disciples,
I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
In my early ministry years, 90% of my messages were about the need of going out to win the lost to Jesus. I was deeply convinced without any doubt that “winning” the lost to Christ was the way Evangelism had to be done. However, true my convictions were, my approach was deeply flawed. I believed that the more people who raised their hands during the Alter call and repeat a “salvation prayer”, the more successful and effective I thought I was in ministry. This type of mindset is more prevalent in modern-day Evangelical-Charismatic Pentecostal circles.
You’ve probably heard lots of exaggerated fake “testimonies” of how many hundreds of thousands of people being won to Christ every day. ‘Ten thousand people raised their hands and gave their lives to Christ’. Says; one preacher in a loud, authoritative voice while the congregation claps. Some numbers thrown around are insanely out of this world.
Realistically, if we’re to calculate all the millions, the hundreds of thousands of the so-called people they always say have come to Christ through Evangelistic meetings, in just six months everyone on this planet would be a Christian. But we all know, that’s not the case, they’re fewer true believers in the Messiah Jesus than the total population of China.
We seem to be doing a lot of reaching out, but we see little fruit when it comes to those who fully commit and dedicate their lives to Jesus.
In today’s modern contemporary glory hunting Churchianity, when we think of Soul-winning, we think of trophies…. To inflate our egos, the bigger the numbers, the more important and “anointed” we think we are. Basically, using the name of the Lord for personal glory and ambition. What a shame! And a mess we’ve done.
Let us get back to the drawing board.
Note what Jesus said “Go and make Disciples” not “Go and win Disciples”. Making is a process, It’s not a one-time thing or one size fits all. You may compare making disciples to manufacturing. You start from raw material until the finished product is ready for use. You plant, You wait, It germinates, You weed, You prune. A tedious process indeed.
Process and Marks of a True Disciple
Memorization | Memorize your Teachers’ Words
Memorize your teachers’ words. A disciple is a student who has the task of memorizing everything his teacher says and does. Most people wonder how the twelve Apostles of Jesus managed to remember the exact words the master said to the extent of writing down such detailed accounts in the Gospels. Try today to ask 10 people to tell you at least 5% of the exact words their pastor used in his sermon, you’ll be surprised with the findings.
If we’re truly disciples of Jesus, it is a MUST for us to know His word by heart from A-Z. The LORD commands Joshua, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” Joshua 1:8
Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God. The best way you can grow your faith is by meditating on God’s word day and night, for a true disciple memorizes the words of their teacher.
History has it that for anyone to qualify to be a student of the famous teacher Gamaliel, you had to memorize the entire Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy) word for word at the age of 13.
Apostle Paul was a student of Gamaliel which means Paul had memorized the entire Torah word for word by the time he was 13 years old, no wonder why Paul was good at making other Disciples because he knew the process.
2. Imitation
Imitate your teacher’s actions.
“And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1
A disciple is like a child who needs to be nurtured by a parent. Character is the complex of mental and ethical traits marking a person. The stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s life determines their response regardless of circumstances.,
It is also the total of things that a person does, feels, and thinks by which they’re judged as being good or bad, strong or weak. Character is a total of things that makes one person different from others; special quality; nature.
Students learn from their teachers and try to follow the teacher’s example. Jesus being the perfect greatest teacher, His students/disciples must be willing to imitate him and walk as he walked and do as He did.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father” John 14:12
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27
“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 John 2:6
We must be Imitators of Christ.
3. Repetition
A true disciple repeats whatever he has learned from his teacher. Jesus told us to go do the same as He did.
But Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as my Father has sent me, I also am sending you.” When he had said these things, he breathed upon them, and he said to them, “Receive The Spirit of Holiness.” “If you will forgive a man’s sins, they will be forgiven him, and if you hold a man’s, they will be held.” John 20:21–23
Jesus gave us the power and Authority to repeat His words and actions as though Himself is the one doing them. Whatever we ask in His name, it shall be done. John 14:14
4. Duplication by making other Disciples
The last and most important mark of a true disciple is making other disciples. Every living thing multiplies. God commanded us to go and multiply and fill the entire earth. Humanity’s biggest responsibility is that of multiplication.
