INTRODUCTION:
In studying the scriptures, we realize the goal of true evangelism involves more than a unregenerate sinner becoming spiritually alive, because God desires to see people become alive and functional. How true are the words of Jesus, when He said, “I came that they might have Life abundantly”(John 10:10). Until a born again person becomes functional he has not been fully evangelized. Jesus said, “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8).

Often we see people come to Christ and initially get excited about their conversion and after some time excitement decreases. Their life becomes unfruitful and comes to a halt. Then they question, ‘How can I live the Christian life? How can I be a victorious Christian'? This question must change from How to Who. Who can live the Christian life? Who can be victorious? Apostle Paul had learnt the answer. Writing to Galatians he says, “It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God”(Gal.2:20).

Christian life is impossible without Christ. Paul first answers who can live the Christian life, then he explains how this truth becomes experiential in life. Learning this truth to become functional Christian is the whole purpose of discipleship. Continuous faith in Jesus Christ is the only way for Christ to live His life through us and it is by faith we become functional in our relationship with Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20b).

THE DEFINITION: [follower, learner, student, pupil & apprentice]
The Lord commissioned His servants to make ‘disciples' , not just ‘converts'. The word ‘disciple' is used more than 250 times in the Bible. The word ‘Christian' is mentioned only 3 times in the New Testament. Yet the word Disciple is not as popular as the word Christian . If we are following Christ, we can only rightfully call ourselves Disciples of Christ. Others watching our lives maybe convinced to call us Christians. This is what happened to the disciples of Jesus in Antioch. A disciple is not a passive listener but an active learner. Disciples are those who have had a personal call from Jesus. Following Jesus is a full time occupation and Jesus wants all those whom He calls. He chose us not because of who we are, but because of who we are to become. Jesus told his disciples, “I will make you to become” (Mark 1:17; Mark 3:13, 14; Acts 11:26).

THE BEGINNING OF DISCIPLSHIP:
Discipleship is an exciting ministry and this is God's strategy. When God created man, He said, Let Us make man in Our image. That is how man was made. After the fall of man, God in the mission of remaking man says to Abram, I will make you. People need to be made. This is the extent of our true evangelism (Gen. 12:2, 3, 4).

THE MASTER DISCIPLER:
God Himself is the Master Discipler.The Lord Jesus Christ calls the weary and heavy laden unto Himself and He offers to give them rest. He told those who came to Him to learn from Him. He is the gentle and humble teacher. It is vitally important to grow in the knowledge of His character. God desires to see His people restored to the original and true human character mould which He intended for mankind...it is the likeness of God on earth and nothing less than that. He told His people, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” This way all will know you are my disciples (Matt. 11:28, 29, 30; 1 Pet. 1: 15, 16; John 13: 34, 35).

THE AUTHOR AND THE FINISHER OF OUR FAITH:
It is the Lord Jesus Who is actually in the business of making people. He is the Teacher. He said, “Learn from Me.” The Jews marveled at Him and said, how has this man become learned, having never been educated. Nevertheless, Jesus is indeed learned, He said my teaching derives from the One Who sent Me. The writer to the Hebrews says, we are to run the race of life looking unto Jesus. We look to Jesus to depend on His deity and to learn from His human example. He is the author and the finisher of our faith and discipleship (Heb. 12:1, 2; Phil.1:6).

THE GOAL OF DISCIPLESHIP:
Discipleship is a process throughout lifetime. The goal of discipleship is to become like Christ! He makes us to become like Him. Jesus Himself said, a pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher. Therefore, the goal of discipleship is to reach the teacher's level. That does not mean we become super humans, but we will be reinstated to true humanity. Jesus is the truth about God and truth about man. Only in Jesus, we see the exhibition of true and total humanity. When He said, “I can do nothing on my own initiative,” He was not denying His deity but He was confessing the truth about His humanity. He also said it is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher.

If we are committed to our Master discipler and love Him who has faithfully committed Himself to us, He causes all things to work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose. God's purpose for those who are called is discipleship. This is accomplished when His called ones become conformed to the image of His son. This transformation is a lifetime process and it is exciting to be consciously involved in God's making of us. This is the ultimate goal of discipleship (Matt.10:24, 25; Lk 6:40; Rm.8:29).

THE CALL OF DISCIPLSHIP:
•  Disciples are those who have had a personal call from Jesus - Matt. 4:18-23

•  Jesus called those whom He Himself wanted - Mark 3:13

•  Jesus wants all those whom He calls - Mark 3: 14

•  Jesus makes all those whom He wants for Himself - Mark 1:17;Rom.8:29,30

THE METHOD OF DISCIPLSHIP:
Teaching and learning is worked out through relationships. As seen before, we see again that following Jesus is a full time occupation because we share a relationship with Him. This means living with Jesus, listening to Jesus, talking with Jesus, walking with Jesus and constant dependence on Jesus. When the first of His disciples wanted to know who Jesus was, they asked Him where He lived. Jesus did not dismiss them with a visiting card. He said, ‘Come and you will see.' They followed Him, saw where He was staying and they stayed with Him. So then, a pupil's relationship with his master is the core of discipleship. Apostle John in his witness concerning the word of life, he says, we have heard Him, we have seen with our eyes, and our hands have handled Him. This was the quality of John's intimate acquaintance with His master. Unless a disciple is with His master, He will not be prepared to go from Him to the world.

In the gospel of John ch. 20, Jesus, after His resurrection met His disciples with whom he had lived for about 3 years and said to them, ‘as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' In saying this, Jesus was not just talking about the mission to His disciples; He was talking about a very important disposition of the heart in the mission. The message here is, just as the Father is indispensable to Me in my humanity, I am indispensable to your humanity. Truly, humanity can be functional only by Divine ability. This is good to know. Jesus said to His disciples, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” If it is not from Him, through Him and to Him then it is not Him.

So then, it is clear that a disciple's relationship with His Master is the method of discipleship. Apostle Paul desired to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. To Paul this was reaching forward to the prize of discipleship (John 1:37, 38, 39; John 15:5; Phil. 3: 10, 11).

THE MANNER OF DISCIPLESHIP:
The manner of discipleship is to do with attitude and behavior. Knowledge is to know well, wisdom is to do well. Not all knowledgeable people are necessarily wise, because not all those who know well necessarily do well. The Lord rewards those who have done well. You can teach only what you know, but you can reproduce what you are. Apostle John writes, ‘the one who abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as Jesus walked.' So then, you cannot learn to lead people unless you learn to follow the Master.

The disciple need to have the mind of Jesus. Humility of the mind is vital in discipleship.

Humility is not so much to do with physical posture, it is to do with the attitude of the heart. The Lord Jesus expressed humble attitude, anticipated suffering and lived a total life of obedience unto God the Father. This is the kind of lifestyle that is required from those who want to follow Jesus and make disciples.

Holy poverty is another important attitude and practice that is required in the manner of discipleship. This is not to do with spiritual poverty. Not even poverty that is inherent. Holy poverty is poverty that is by choice. This means expressing lack of possessiveness in this world. We can see this in the life of Abraham. He chose to live in tents because of his confidence in God and in the sure things to come. A disciple need to learn to live with a minimum provision for physical life. Regarding the first century disciples, we read in Acts, that none of them claimed that anything belonging to them was their own. In the gospel of Luke, we read about a certain ruler who lacked this holy poverty and he was disqualified to enter the kingdom of God. Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of God. We have the supreme example from the Lord Himself. Though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor. He humbled Himself to become a man. He was born in a manger, He did not have a place to lay His head, and He rode on a donkey. He died for others on a cross, and He was buried in a borrowed tomb. This He endured so that through His poverty we might become rich. Disciples can afford to be poor because their wealth is in God.

Sanctified or set apart living is another requirement in the manner of discipleship. Transformed life is contrary to the world. We are not of this world. We must not have much attachment with this world. Because this world is not our home, this world is passing away. We are everlasting people, and our acquaintance must be continuous with the Eternal One. Life that is conformed to this world is contrary to the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit renews our mind with a determination to live a holy life, we will not conform to this world. Instead, we will be proving and doing God's will which is good and perfect (John 13:14, 15, 34; 1 John 2:6; Phil. 3:15-17; Rom. 12: 1, 2).

THE MESSAGE OF DISCIPLESHIP:
The message of discipleship is revealed in the written Word of God. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119:160, the summary of God's written revelation is truth. This is fundamental to the message of discipleship. Jesus says, 'I am the truth'. When Jesus explained the scriptures to his disciples, He explained Himself. Pharisees knew the Word but not the God of the Word. Jesus told them, ‘the scriptures speak concerning Me, but you are unwilling to come to Me'. Paul writing to Corinthians mentions the goal of his preaching. He says, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified…and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.”

The message of discipleship include instruction concerning the ‘Kingdom Culture'. Disciples need to practice the kingdom culture no matter where in the world they live. We are in this world but we are not of this world. Walking by faith and not by sight is the basic practice of a genuine disciple. Faith needs to grow and mature to endurance. Faith is not a feeling. Neither is it an intellectual assent to a doctrine. It is our active response to God's word! Faith is confident obedience to God's word in spite of circumstances and consequences. The consequences may be frightening and unknown but faith is believing God to do what is right and true.

Through instruction of the word, disciples need to be prepared to experience temporary loss for the sake of eternal gain. The way to gaining is losing, the way to prosperity is poverty, the way to glory is suffering, the way to success is faithfulness, the way to resting is trusting, the way to exaltation is humility, the way to crown is cross, and the way to life is death. This is the paradox of the message of discipleship (Ps.119:160; Jn.14:6; Lk.24:27; Jn.5:39, 40; 1 Cor. 2:1-5; Heb.10:32-39; Matt. 5-7).

THE PARADOX OF DISCIPLESHIP:

•  The way to Being is by Doing – Acts 1:8 –Matt 5:13, 14.

•  The way to Resting is Trusting – Heb. 4:3.

•  The way to Leadership is Servanthood – Mark 9:35.

•  The way to Success is Faithfulness – Prov. 3:6; 16:3; 2 Pet. 5:7; 1Thess. 5:24.

•  The way to Glory is Suffering – Matt.5:10-12; Rom.8:17, 1Pet.5:10; 1Pet.4:16.

•  The way to Prosperity is Poverty – Matt. 5:3, 4, 6; Mark 10:21, 23; 1Tim.6:7-9.

•  The way to Exaltation is Humility – Matt.23:12; 1 Pet.5:6.

•  The way to Gaining is Losing – Mark10:28-30; Phil.3:7, 8.

•  The way to Crown is Cross – Phil. 2:6-9; 2Tim. 2:12; Phil.3:10, 11.

•  The way to Life is Death – Matt.10:39; Luke17:33; Phil.1:21; 1Cor.15:31, 36.

THE TEST OF DISCIPLESHIP:
The challenge in the test is to prove discipleship. Discipleship is both eternal and expensive. Since it is God's strategy, it reflects God. God must be seen; Christ must be exalted. Father is glorified by the fruit bearing of the disciples. This is proving discipleship. This is how the followers of Jesus demonstrate discipleship in deed. Proving is demonstrating to be true. Jesus said, ‘You should go and bear fruit.' In the process of discipleship, we should bear fruit which remains, not that which burns away. Only what God does remains. Can we be confident to let our work go through fiery test? This is the challenge of discipleship (John.15:3,5,6,8,16).

THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP:
God is first, everything else comes next. Often we fail to make clear by word and deed to those who follow Christ, the actual cost of discipleship. When the great multitudes followed Jesus, He turned and said to them, ‘If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life he cannot be my disciple.' Different people will have different costly sacrifices to make in discipleship. Everyone needs to carry his own cross to follow Jesus. Jesus said, ‘No one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions'. Anything that comes between God and you, you must give up. The painful cost of discipleship is self-denial and death in the cause of Christ. In the scriptures, we have examples of so many who have paid the cost of discipleship. Acts chapter 7 records the witness of Stephen who was stoned to death. He died as a martyr for Christ. The writer to the Hebrews records in chapter 11 vs. 36 to the end of the chapter about those who experienced mocking, scourging, chains and imprisonment. He writes about those who were stoned, sawn in two, put to death with the sword, went about in sheep skins, in goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, ill treated, wandering in deserts, mountains, caves and holes in the ground. These were men of faith of whom the world was not worthy and these disciples gained approval of God and endured to receive the sure reward (Luke 14:26,27,33,34,35; John12:24-26;Heb.11).

THE CONCLUSION:
We are to be available to God, so that His work may be done through us. We are to exercise leadership which is taking initiative not just in words, but in deed. We need to cooperate with God to execute the calling of our lives through obedience to Him. Serving and inviting the needy and to be sensitive to reach them in order to bring God's rest to their lives. You can be spent for others. You can afford it, because you have His life, which is abundant. Be gentle and humble with those who desire to learn from you. Love those whom you serve. Work the works of God. Communicate the power of God, drawing people to God and not to yourselves. Anticipate suffering and hardship. Make disciples not just converts. Make a decision that your ministry will be intensive than to be extensive.