Biblical Discipleship
QUESTION: What are the examples of biblical discipleship? Did they sacrifice?ANSWER:Biblical discipleship is a model of how Christians could and should live their lives in reflection to Jesus' example and His mission. It involves not only a personal faith with God, but sharing that faith with other people, and building up more disciples.
A Scriptural reference to biblical discipleship is found in Colossians 1:6-10: "…All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."
If you study the last verse in this passage, you will find that Paul is encouraging people to walk worthy of the Lord, please Him in all respects, bear fruit in every good work, and increase in their knowledge of God. This is the heart of biblical discipleship. As Christians, we need to know who God is and be firmly established in His word. God challenges us to live lives that are pleasing to God as detailed in Romans 12.
Another aspect of biblical discipleship is that we have to show others who God is and what being a Christian is all about. Your faith cannot be kept to yourself.
A third aspect of biblical discipleship is stretching our knowledge and understanding of God, and again sharing that with others. Knowledge is not merely to be accumulated it should give us direction for living.
Examples of biblical discipleship abound in the Bible. Almost all of the disciples participated in this style of discipleship, and it is what caused the growth of the Christian faith following Jesus' departure. If you study the New Testament, you will find that all of the disciples lost their lives professing their faith, and trying to encourage and build up others. We need to understand God's will for us, gain spiritual wisdom and knowledge, please and honor God with our lives, bear good fruit, grow in the knowledge of God, be filled with God's strength and love, have great patience and endurance, and above all, give thanks.
By following the model of biblical discipleship, we should be concerned with evangelizing those who don't know God and help them fulfill God's purpose in their lives, we should be involved with discipling others encouraging their spiritual growth and development, and then equipping others, giving them the tools to make a difference in the lives of others. That is biblical discipleship, and it is a model that we should practice in our lives today.
