Discipling

Here is how I viewed Biblical friendship:

Jesus had twelve disciples.

Then, He had a smaller group of disciples, Peter, James, and John (with some sources also including Peter’s brother Andrew), who were His inner circle.

Therefore, I should have a group of friends.  From that group of friends, I should have an inner circle of about three to four.  I followed this seemingly accurate model for a while.  It seemed logical.  I mean, it came from the Bible, right?

Do you ever have those moments where it feels like God literally just drops an epiphany in your mind?

A disciple is defined as a pupil or apprentice.  My friends are not my pupils or apprentices.

In other words, the relationships Jesus had with His disciples were not typical friendships.  They were unique in that He was the Teacher, and they were the students.  Friendships involve at least two people who share life together.  Yes, in a sense friends can learn from and teach each other.  However, neither of the friends have a primary role as a teacher or student in the relationship.  Through the twelve disciples, Jesus set the example of how to disciple others.  His goal wasn’t to give us a model to follow for how to have friends; His purpose was to show us how to make disciples.

There is a special relationship for the one discipling and the one being discipled.  The teacher recalls what the Father has taught them throughout different seasons of life, making themselves relatable.  There is a strong sense of accountability in scripture reading, prayer life, and righteous thoughts.  The time spent discipling is not meant to be grounded on shallow stories of how a week went while sipping a cup of coffee.  A time of discipleship should exist as an open book of Biblical teaching and honest encouragement.  Just a heads up, honest encouragement is not always uplifting statements of “Good job,” and “I am proud of you.”  True and purposeful authentic affirmation may be a guilt-evoking reminder that your thoughts are not lining up with scriptural Truths.

Jesus left us with numerous examples to follow.  However, almost everywhere He went, He took one specific one with Him: His disciples.  Notice how Jesus does not tell everyone He meets or performs miracles on to come along with Him (Luke 17:19, Luke 9:42, Luke 8:39, Mark 8:26).  Yes, He takes the time to sit with those people and heal them, but He does not look to them when it is time to move on to the next town.  He turns to the disciples, maybe also speaking to teach them.  Jesus chose twelve specific men to invest in and to leave His message with.

The point of the Gospel is not to hoard a great amount of Biblical knowledge and insight for yourself.  The Gospel of Christ is meant to be our whole life.  And we all love to share our lives with others, right?  Therefore, we should be sharing the Gospel with our peers, coworkers, and acquaintances.  The Gospel is a living and breathing example of unconditional grace and love.  That deserves nothing short of being proclaimed every single day.

Though it may take time and courage, look for individuals to invest in and disciple.  Don’t expect a group of four people to immediately happen.  Don’t even try to rush finding those specific people.  Pray about it and seek the Lord’s guidance.

Perhaps it is time we stop letting reading and studying Christ’s examples fully substitute living them.