I am in the process of writing a manual on discipleship and you are correct. The Greek, mathetes, refers to a pupil, or one engaged in learning. Indeed, we should keep learning, asking, seeking and knocking.
Yet, this simplistic approach to discipleship hardly captures the thought of discipleship as depicted in the Gospels.
The Hebrew word for teach is lamad, a word implying training. The word Talmid (plural, talmidim) is derived from lamad and is the term used for the scholar, or student (1 Chronicles 25:8).
For the Talmid there was no formal classroom setting where the student attends a formal lecture and then "hits the books" to complete an assignment. There is no Sunday School, Wednesday Night Class, Seminar, Workshop, Webinar, etc., which fails to provide essential ingredients to discipleship.
A Talmid wholeheartedly gives himself to his teacher, entering a relationship of trust that addresses every area of life. The Talmid realized discipleship to be "the art of imitation," emulating the teacher in word and in deed. The Talmid listened to his Master but also observed how he prayed, how he ate, and how he treated others.
The Talmid assumed a servant's role and often was found performing specific, even menial duties for the master/teacher.
In essence, the missing ingredient in many teaching settings in Churches is intimacy with the teacher.
The is a saying from the Ethics of the Fathers that expresses this thought regarding discipleship:
| Quote: | | Let your house be a meeting place for the wise; cover yourself with the dust of their feet, and drink in their words with thirst. - Avot 1:4, said in theme of Yoezer from Zeredah. |
The imagery of this saying is found beautifully in Luke 10:38-42.
While visiting His close friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Martha busied herself in the kitchen preparing a meal for Jesus and other disciples gathered in her house while Mary was found "seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word."
Indignant with Mary for her lack of help with the chores, Martha protested and implored Jesus to tell Mary to help. Jesus replied,
| Quote: | | Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chose the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. |
Here is Jesus' invitation to discipleship:
| Quote: | Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." - Matthew 11:28-30
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However, perhaps some are willing to go an easier route rather than become a true disciple because of the cost involved. Hear an invitation or altar call rarely, if ever heard in Church:
| Quote: | | "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whosever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? - Matthew 16:24-26 |
It is as Jim Elliott suggests:
| Quote: | | He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. |
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The Hammer
Mi kamocah ba'elim Adonai
"Who is like you, Adonai, among the mighty?" (Exodus 15:11, CJB) |
Acts Enthusiast
Posts: 1771
6/1/16 5:00 pm
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What is a disciple?
