Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
THE VALUE OF DISCIPLESHIP
The term "disciple" is from the Koine Greek word mathētḗs. It simply means "one who engages in learning through instruction from another, pupil, apprentice". When Jesus called the twelve to be His disciples, they understood Him perfectly because the Jewish concept of discipleship is akin to apprenticeship. It involves followership through learning and imitation. That is why the twelve abandoned all they were doing to follow Jesus and to learn from Him daily. Central to our walk with Jesus is discipleship. A common calling that we all have is the call to discipleship- a follower of Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." As we follow Christ daily, our aim should be to make others a follower of Christ. Discipleship is not a tea party, it is not an event neither is it a class, it is a life style that is committed to following one person(Christ), to become like Him. Today, some are beginning to turn this concept around to mean what it is not. Their understanding of discipleship is that which is centred around man instead of Christ. Some preachers are proud to call those around them "my disciples" instead of disciples of Christ. That's similar to what the Pharisees were doing in the days of Jesus, they took the place of God in the hearts of men that was why Jesus said, "And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."(Matthew 23:9 NIV). They had large followership to the point where people no longer see God as their father but the Pharisees. They were hypocrites and they made others children of hell like they were. That's why Jesus was at loggerheads with them. They misrepresented the whole concept of discipleship.
In Christian discipleship, we follow Christ not man. God can use man to teach us Christ but we should bear in mind that the person we are following ultimately is Christ not that man. This is a kimgdom value we must not jettison for anything. The faith of some believers becomes weak when their human model fails and falls. It shouldn't be. The writer of Hebrews says, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."(Heb12:2). Henceforth, you must make Christ your object of focus, learn of Him and walk in His footsteps.
Father, I receive grace to walk in the footsteps of Christ and to be His lifelong disciple in Jesus name.