Recently, while talking with a group of 20-something men in my living room, one asked a stimulating question. “In one sentence, can you give me the definition of a disciple?”
I immediately grabbed a note card and wrote out my answer. Several of the guys took a stab at their definition, but no one was able to give a succinct, one-sentence answer. Then it was my turn!
Reading straight from my note card, I said, “A disciple is someone who is learning to follow a master.” There was silence in the room, then a few nods of agreement began. We seemed to have settled on a valid one-sentence definition.
Over the next several days, I was compelled to continue working on that definition. It was technically correct. Someone who follows a master is a disciple, regardless of who the master is or what the master teaches. Yet, I knew that the question was specific about being a disciple of Jesus.
After several iterations, I settled on an 8-word definition. Several of the words were chosen based on the sayings of Jesus. Here’s where I landed. A disciple is…
“Anyone who is learning to become like Jesus.”
Simple and to the point. Perhaps it is too simple for some. We have really complicated our lives with very long descriptions of a disciple. Yet several of these words are chock-full of meaning, so there’s plenty of opportunity to flesh out what they mean.
In posts to follow, I will begin to explain what several of these key words mean and why other words that are familiar to many believers have been left out. In the meantime, drop down to the comment section and let me know what you think of this definition before you read my forthcoming explanation posts.
- Image by Rizve Joarder from Pixabay