FYI: Disciples Are Not A Special Class of Christian
There are no levels to this
Just the other day I invited someone to join a group centered on the fundamentals of being a disciple of Jesus and making disciples of others. What shocked me was her response. Usually I get that the group is not the right time or day. Sometimes someone else invites them and they are committed to another group. But this person actually told me they weren’t ready for it.
A person who would actually state that they are a Christian said they weren’t ready to be a disciple. It was almost as if they were saying that being a disciple is different than being a Christian. It left me very confused.
But this kind of strange idea has been floating around churches for a while now. It’s the idea that you can choose what type of Christian you are going to be. You can choose to be a regular average Christian or you can choose to be one of those special super Christians.
The difference between the two is that the regular average Christian has a certain set of requirements to be satisfied and then he is free to live his life however he wants to. You’ve seen this type of Christian before. Maybe you are one or have been one.
Meet Melissa. Melissa goes to church every Sunday. She pays her tithes. She faithfully serves in a church ministry. Melissa’s checked all the boxes. She’s done her religious duty. She may even go on a short-term mission trip as a bonus box to check. This will be enough to appease the pastor and also appease Melissa’s conscience.
Her life is kept neat and tidy. She doesn’t bother or offend anyone (except on social media). The only way anyone would know she was a Christian would be the Jesus Loves Me keychain she has or the bumper sticker she put on the back of her minivan.
Melissa is still in control of her life. Although religious, she does not necessarily have an abiding walk with Jesus characterized by obedience to His commands.
For Melissa anything more than this would be extra. To actively share her faith or make disciples of others handle this super Christians. Besides, she’s does enough.
The problem is that God doesn’t ask us to just do our religious duty. He asks us to give our lives to him. It’s not enough to check all the boxes.
The definition of a disciple is someone who obeys Jesus and makes other disciples of Jesus. This is more than just checking the external boxes other churchgoers can look at. This is the same kind of thinking as the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.
A rich young ruler approaches Jesus with one question on his mind. Good teacher What must I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus lets him know that there’s only one who is good and that’s God. He also gives him the list of the second half of the decalogue. All of these commandments can be assessed by someone else.
When Jesus asks him if he has kept the law he answers in the affirmative to the whole list. All of the things he obeys are external. But he comes up short on the matter of his heart posture. Jesus asks him to give up his wealth and he can’t do it. His heart is full of the idol of money.
Even though he checks all the boxes he still hasn’t checked the box of a surrendered life. This is not a once and for all thing. This is the box a disciple checks daily. Luke puts special emphasis on this aspect when he records Jesus’ call to take up the cross of discipleship:
“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Mark 8:23)
It’s not a one time thing you did at a Billy Graham meeting or when you were 13 at a youth camp. The call to surrender happens every time you open your eyes to a new day. This is what it means to be a disciple.
And contrary to popular belief it’s not for a special class of Christian. Jesus’ invitation to the disciples is for all of us:
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)
This is not a call to add Jesus as a condiment to the rest of your life burger. It’s a call to surrender and be changed into a different person—the kind of person who leads other people to follow Jesus. It’s a lifelong everyday thing. I would dare to even say moment by moment.
This doesn’t mean that if you fail to do this for one day or one minute then you’re outside of the kingdom. God is not an angry petty judge waiting for you to slip up. It’s more about the general tone and direction of your life. It’s about striving to do this daily and having the mindset of pushing towards obedience.
And this call to surrender and obedience is for every disciple. Not just for the missionaries and pastors. There’s no levels to this. Some think it’s only for a special class of Christians. It’s for every follower of Christ whether they are a plumber or a pastor; a marketer or a missionary.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you move your family to a rain forest in the Amazon or into the inner city. It could mean that. But it could also mean crossing the street and befriending your neighbor. It could mean giving away one of your prized possessions because of a gospel story you read. In other words, when you live a lifestyle of obedience you put yourself in a position to leave everything and follow him on a daily basis.
The opposite way is to think like the rich young ruler. It’s the stance of “I’ll do whatever the church group requires and no more. Once I’ve satisfied the requirements I’m free to live my life how I want to. Anything more than this is for the super Christians.” This is not discipleship. This is not Christianity.
This way of thinking there’s a special class of Christians is not necessarily how the church started out. Part of it is because when the church emerged in the first century the outside world was hostile. Just to be a Christian meant a life of surrender and obedience. This obedience was to death. It didn’t matter whether you were a teacher or a bishop or an apostle. Everyone was a follower of Jesus. And sometimes followers of Jesus were fed to the lions or burned at the stake.
This made it easy to be identified as a disciple. You were a part of those weird people and there was a social stigma on being an “atheist”. That’s what they called Christians because they didn’t believe in the Roman/Greek pantheon.
Then Constantine gave Christians religious freedom. Subsequent emperors made Christianity the religion of empire. Suddenly it was not only tolerated but it was cool to be a Christian. Being a disciple didn’t come with high stakes. There was no danger or stigma associated with being a follower of Jesus. This change diluted the faith.
This dilution was the stimulus for monasticism. Starting with St. Anthony, monastics pressed for a more rigorous pursuit of surrender and obedience. They left into the desert and dedicated themselves to a life of work and prayer. And this is the beginning of separating normal everyday Christians who check the boxes and “super Christians.”
So you start to see this idea of a special class of Christian forming when the pressure is off. When the church becomes upstanding in the eyes of society it relaxes requirements. Surrender and obedience are optional. In this type of setting, people align themselves with the church for a variety of reasons.
It could be for monetary gain. If the majority of the people in your community are Christian then it's good for business. It could also be for political power. We can see how this plays out even in 21st century America. It could also be the sovereign act of being born into a family who is Christian. No matter what the reason, if your life isn’t characterized by taking up your cross and living a life of surrender and obedience then you are not a lower level of Christian. You are not a Christian.
This is not to say we are not saved by grace through faith. This is just an assessment of what genuine faith is. For example Jesus calls the disciples to follow him and he will make them fishers of men. The disciples respond by leaving everything and going on a 3 year apprenticeship of learning what it means to follow the Rabbi Jesus. Everything.
Now we don’t leave everything like them because a) Jesus is not bodily present with us and b) Jesus wants us to mostly remain in our present vocations and cultural contexts. But the general point is the response to Jesus’ invitation is surrender and obedience.
To put it plainly, there are no hobbyists or amateurs in discipleship. You are either following Jesus or you’re not. This is the natural outgrowth of a genuine saving faith. Being a good church member is a cheap substitute.
Checking the boxes of what it means to be a church member does not make a disciple. These boxes can be different no matter what Christian tradition you’re a part of: giving, church attendance, serving, small group attendance. In some more strict holiness traditions it’s about whether you smoke or curse. In others, it’s about mentally assenting to the right doctrines. This all amounts to meeting the requirements of the group.
No matter what group requirements you meet you are always invited to more. This more is found in daily surrender and obedience. And that’s not just for super Christians. It’s for everyday folks who have decided their relationship with Jesus is the most valuable thing in the universe.