On Being a Disciple Based on the Word

This is an article I read written by Dr. Matt Wilmington that I thought I would share:

1.      Someone who is willing to deny himself and take up his own cross–Luke 14:26

2.      Someone who is willing to prioritize his relationship to Christ ahead of all other relationships–Luke 14:27/ Matt. 6:33

3.      Someone who seriously counts the cost of following Christ–Luke 14:28-32

4.      Someone who is willing to give up their possessions–Luke 14:33

5.      Someone who remains in God’s word–John 8:31-32/ Acts 17:10-12

6.      Someone who is walking in freedom and victory–John 8:32,36 / Gal. 5:1

7.      Someone who loves other Christians–John 13:35

8.      Someone who realizes that they can do nothing apart from Christ, remains in the Vine, prays, bears much fruit, and glorifies God–John 15:1-8

9.      Someone who will become like his Master–Matt. 10:24

10.  Someone who is obedient to Jesus–Matt. 26:19

11.  Someone who is continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit–Acts 13:52

From these PASSAGES we can extract three principles: sacrificial, relational and transformational.  We can begin to develop a definition that will help de-mystify what a disciple looks like; once the fog is lifted, only then can we begin to design an organic process for disciple-making. Here is my definition for a person, who would follow Jesus:

A disciple is a person who has trusted Christ for salvation and has surrendered completely to Him.  He or she is committed to practicing the spiritual disciplines in community and developing to their full potential for Christ and His mission.

From this point your church must develop effective, measurable practices that will produce “Dangerous Disciples” who will be in love with both the person and mission of Christ!