What Is A Disciple?

The standard definition of “disciple” (noun) is someone who adheres to the teachings of another. It is a follower or a learner. Someone who takes up the ways of someone else. Applied to Jesus, a disciple is someone who learns from him to live like him or someone who, because of God’s grace, conforms his or her words and ways to the words and ways of Jesus. To be a disciple of Jesus means to serve like him. It means to serve, primarily by engaging with your brothers and sisters in Christ and serving them in acts of love, even when it’s inconvenient, even when it is at odds with the world’s social order and expectations. Disciples of Jesus are servants who love one another. Jesus says to His disciples, “Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” This means that Jesus’s disciples are on a mission. It means, in the broadest sense, that they are empowered to step into this world as his witnesses. A disciple of Jesus makes disciples of Jesus.