Are You a Christian or a Disciple?

    We heard a talk recently about the difference between a Christian and disciple. The word disciple is rarely used these days in general conversation, and we have nearly forgotten what it means. Talking about disciples brings to mind the twelve men who followed Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry, and as we stop to think about them, they did indeed leave everything they had for those three years and follow Him.

The word disciple comes from the word discipline….that is, a disciple is one who is disciplined to follow the wishes of another person. As we look around today, and even at ourselves, we realise how little discipline we practice in our daily lives. But unless we practice this, we will never achieve our goals. A top sportsman disciplines his life in the pursuit of excellence in his chosen sport.

So it is with those who say they follow Christ. Do we just follow Him when it suits us, or do we put His wishes before our own and put Him first? Unless we do this, we cannot say we are His disciples. In fact, He said that if we do not put His wishes before our own, we cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:27).

    Too harsh, you might think. The price is too high. But remember what He did for each of us when He left His beautiful home in heaven and came to live on this earth and put himself into a position when people disliked him enough to kill Him. He did this to atone for mankind’s sin. What is our response to this? Well, we will become a Christian and follow Him when it suits us. But don’t ask us to give up our pleasures and sports on His day. That is too much. Is it? We cannot be His disciple unless we practice this discipline. The challenge is there….it is up to each one of us to respond.