Ask yourself this question: Am I a disciple or merely an admirer? It’s an easy question. I must admit, it may need some defining or perhaps some metrics to help decided. Wikipedia, that grand source of all factual knowledge (jest intended), defines “a disciple” as: “a disciple is a dedicated follower of Jesus.” An “admirer” is defined by dictionary.com as: “a person who regards someone or something with wonder, pleasure, or approval.” Using that definition, I do admire Jesus! Using wikipedia, I would like to think I emulate that definition as well. What about you?
Maybe some actual Bible text can help us in our search for the answer. In 1 Timothy 4.11-16 The Apostle Paul tells Timothy, “These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” Paul stated that a disciple is an example set for others. One who has answered the call to follow the example of Christ, then sets that example for others.
An Admirer, on the other hand, watches the example set, but doesn’t necessarily follows through on the example. To simplify: A disciple acts like the one they are following, an admirer studies the person but doesn’t necessarily act as they do.
Christ was all about action! He healed, He spoke, He preached, He walked, He confronted, and on one occasion He tossed men out of his temple. He died on a cross and He resurrected! And He did all of this because He loved! His life was literally a life of action. Matthew 22.39 says, “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” We are to love others just as He loved us. His was a sacrificial, unconditional, and completely dead to self, kind of love. It was an active love. Proving through acting out His love that He loved the unlovely. So if I am going to be a disciple and not an admirer (one who just studies but doesn’t necessarily does anything) I need to do what He did.
Just in case you were wondering, you weren’t saved to just learn about Jesus from your Bible, you were saved to live out what you’ve learned. Indeed it is true that if you have received the free gift of salvation by Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection as your Savior, for your sins, then you have a purpose to live out. It is not mere studying and admiring from afar. It is up-close and personal discipleship.
2 Corinthians 5.14-21states this fact, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Notice it didn’t say, “you one day will be”. It said you “are” His Ambassador, and Minister. You have a purpose. You have an action plan set before you. You ought then to be more than an admirer, you are called to be a disciple of Jesus.
Before you ever consider leading others, you have to answer the call to be His Disciple first. The word “radical” is defined by Webster’s online dictionary as: “Going to the root or beginning.” If you want to call yourself a disciple today, you must be willing to go back to what Jesus demands from one who will follow Him at the beginning. We have to go back to the source—the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In Mark 8.34-38 we read, “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
When I read this I think of the calling of the Apostle Matthew, one of the original disciples. This is one of my favorites. He was more than despised…he was a vial man. Look at the motley crew he was just called into: Simon Zealotes v. Matthew. In the Gospels we see Matthew inviting Jesus over to his house and a great number of friends. By the way all of them were publicans and sinners as well…vial as can be! Because Matthew answered the call to do this, to obey, to be more than an admirer, the text says in Matthew’s Gospel, that the ones who came to listen and meet Jesus “followed” Him after as well.
If it wasn’t for Matthew saying ‘yes’ to following, what wouldn’t have happened? People wouldn’t have come to Christ. Thank God Matthew made a culturally radical move toward Jesus. He answered the call. He became a disciple by acting on what he had just seen Jesus do.
Do you also have a burden for someone? Do you have a desire in your heart to be used by God? What one thing would you change, that if it was changed, would blow the lid off of your “christianese” life? What one thing would you do change the “churchanity” that has encouraged your admiring stance? I’ll tell you the answer to that—you!
Will you answer the call to be His disciple? Answer the call to take action? Or are you satisfied with the mediocrity of just being an admirer?