How Do You Know You Are a Disciple of Jesus Christ?

I am presently taking part in an online discipleship course. There are discussion forums where we are able to engage with each other on the topics presented each week. I would like to share with you one gentleman’s post and then mine and his subsequent dialogue:

He posted:

In all honesty before God, would we have to confess that we have stopped somewhere short of that which is the New Testament standard? Discipleship to Jesus Christ means that Jesus Christ has an absolute right to one’s life, to do with it as He sees fit; and, while we have given Him certain rights and allowed Him to control in certain phases, we have retained rights to certain areas ourselves. we are not disciples. Discipleship means that Jesus Christ possesses every material thing that I have, it is His. It isn’t a question of what I am willing to give to Him; it is a question of what I hold back from Him that is rightfully His; and until I can recognize that everything I have belongs to Jesus Christ, I am not a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has the right to be the one object of my affection; and until Jesus Christ is paramount and preeminent in my affections, I am not a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has the right to fill my mind with knowledge and the truth of Himself, and as long as I let my intellect rule and trust it, I am not a disciple of Jesus Christ. — J. Dwight Pentecost, “Design for Discipleship: Discovering God’s Blueprint for the Christian Life”, p. 16

This was my response:

Very interesting, albeit radical definition of a disciple. We know we are a disciple of Christ when we “receive and believe” and make the choice to follow Jesus. Discipleship is a process, a relationship that matures and develops. Disciples can fall anywhere on the spectrum of growth in Christ.

So I’m not sure if we fall short of the NT standard in the way you describe. I may be wrong. I am thinking that Jesus came to push-back the legalistic rigidity of the Jews, and while what you have shared is beautifully said, it doesn’t seem to fit the pattern of the NT disciples I read about in the bible. If you look at Jesus’ immediate disciples they were mucking it up all over the place! That is what grace and forgiveness are for and why we call our God a long-suffering God.

I hope you can see where I am coming from. Discipleship is a process, a relationship, and it takes time and patience. I surely thank to Lord daily for his forbearance with me, because while I fall short often, I am still a disciples of our Risen Lord and King!

Jesus said there was one way that all people would know that we are His disciples (John 13:34-35), it is by our love.

I do believe what you posted is an ideal that we should all be mindful of and seek to attain, by the will and work of Jesus in our lives.

He responded:

“Let’s compare our opinions to Jesus’ qualifications…you cannot be His disciple unless you meet His criteria…this was discouraging to many of those who followed Jesus within the crowd…is there a difference between a believer and a disciple from Jesus’ teaching?”

He sites Jesus’ call to weigh the cost and carry the cross: Luke 14:25-35

My response:

I appreciate you sharing this portion of scripture, this is one of the first places we run to when discussing the utter surrender that is required to follow Christ, or better said, become a disciple of His. Also, I do not see anywhere in scripture that there is a difference between a believer and a disciple; we become a disciple the moment we turn toward Christ and decide to follow Him. The last thing Jesus said was “Go make disciples. Baptize. Teach” Jesus did not say make believers and disciples, they are not separate or distinct. Jesus puts the same call on everyone’s life that chooses to follow Him.

Yes, I understand Jesus’ call to radical obedience and surrender, but when I look at just one of the original 12, Peter, I see a lot to be desired in the area of obedience and surrender. Jesus names Peter “the rock that the church will be built on,” (Mat. 16:18) and then Peter lies to Jesus (the enfleshed living God’s face!), telling him he will never leave Jesus even if everyone else runs away, and be willing to die for Him (Mat. 26:33). Peter goes on to deny even knowing Jesus while Jesus is in front of the Sanhedrin, not once, but three times, as predicted (Mat. 26:69-75).
This sounds like some messy discipleship! Peter ran the other way! But after Jesus’ resurrection He “restores” Peter because of his heart and LOVE for Jesus (John 21:15ff). Jesus clearly is not restoring Peter for his obedience, dying to self, or “counting the cost” during His trial and crucifixion. Yes, we are called to follow Jesus with every ounce of our being, but we mess up sometimes, but it does not disqualify us from being His disciple.

It is really all about the love (John 13:34-35). I am convinced that our being a disciple of Jesus is based on the direction of our heart, not how straight we walk the line, by the grace of God and to His glory.

Do you have any thoughts on this dialogue?

How do you know if you are a disciple of Jesus?

4 responses to “How Do You Know You Are a Disciple of Jesus Christ?”

  1. Kerim Fahme Avatar
    Kerim Fahme

    Hello,
    Here is the answer of:
    How did I know I became a student of Jesus?

    Please note, what I will say below you are likely not familiar to. But I hope you will have enough free time to notify me of anything, I said, that sounds wrong in your ‘personal’ view. Thank you in advance.
    And, just for knowledge, in the Arabic Gospel, the word ‘disciple’ is translated to ‘student’ (as a student at a school).

    Since I was teen (I am 74 now, born and live in Aleppo city – Syria) I noticed that Jesus only, unlike any other person (thru the entire history till now), knew and described very well my inner nature. At that period of time, I used to think that I am somehow weird. And being rational (Math is my favorite, so I was able to be a professional designer in electronics later), I also realized with time that Jesus knew already whatever I discovered in the world’s reality. In other words, Jesus helped me (from reading His Sayings on the Gospel attentively) get the ‘logical’ answers to ‘all’ important questions that are related to my own existence and the world as it is in reality, on the ground. (I am afraid that this fact opposes any Christian Church ‘s teachings!)
    At least now, you cannot believe me because you were never told or heard that Jesus (having God’s Knowledge) came to save us from ignorance (as loving parents try their best to let their children get all necessary knowledge that lets them survive well in the material world). I mean, like any human baby, I was born with the greatest weakness that a human may have in his life. It is ‘ignorance’. But, as you know, humans are also given a powerful intelligent brain to defeat their ignorance though in the fields in which they are interested.
    In brief, Jesus came to save me by showing me the strait gate and the narrow way that leads to God’s Eternal Realm of Love… surely not by a sort of magic (as it is the case in all man-made religions).

    I better stop here since I have no intention to disturb your peace of mind.
    I just wonder if you, a disciple of Jesus, know, in the least, on what Jesus’ message focuses solely (also, very clearly) while Pagans, Jews, Muslims, Atheists and formal Christians of any Church or Denomination around the world are not supposed to believe in ‘its’ existence, practically speaking.

    Finally, I understand that you have to ignore all I said if you didn’t have the chance in your life to read very attentively Jesus’ sayings (directly from the Gospel) to know on what Jesus’ message focuses precisely.

    Best wishes,
    Kerim Fahme

    Reply
    1. shannonclaussen Avatar
      shannonclaussen

      Kerim, I am familiar with everything you have stayed here and agree with much of it. (If you noted my thoughts verses the person I was interacting with.)

      Also, I think I wrote that about 8 years ago, and as a “student” of Jesus, I have grown, matured and developed a deeper theology.

      Lastly, Jesus didn’t come to save individuals, or mature us, specifically. He came to redeem the entire existence. To fulfill God’s promise. We are just a small part of God’s universal plan. However small our part is, we are called to participate along the way!

      There is nothing you have written that I am offended by, I have read Jesus’ words intimately.

      I am so happy to have you share your words and wisdom with me. For you to offer a different cultural perspective. I am honored you took the time to engage and read my post. And I wish you many blessings and the peace that only comes from knowing Jesus.

      Yours in Christ,
      Shannon

      Reply
      1. Kerim Fahme Avatar
        Kerim Fahme

        Hello Shannon,

        I like you know that I am a totally independent student of Jesus. All Christians I met, locally or on the internet, had their good reasons to join certain Churches or Denominations. Naturally, they have to also observe the teachings of their Churches.

        I was born in a Catholic family. My father died when I was 9. My mother was educated and talented in making (at home and with assistants) women’s dresses ‘a la mode’. When I was at the university, I joined Sunday Catechism as a teacher. Then the day came on which I was asked to teach my teen students about ‘Trinity’. I asked the students if there are among them two real friends. To my big surprise, almost all students pointed their fingers to two boys. I asked them again: “But, how did you know they are real friends”. The common answer was: “They have always the same will in dealing with others as if they were just one not two”. I went on saying: “Also, our Father in Heaven (not incarnated) and Jesus (incarnated) have One Will/Power (God) towards us for being unified, since before Creation, by the Ultimate Spirit of Love, the Holy Spirit”. At the same hour, I was banned from Catechism for not observing the Church’s teachings. I had to let them see Trinity as the 3 edges of one triangle for example (I forgot now the other examples which, as the triangle, have nothing to do with God’s Love… the Holy Spirit).

        I recall when I was 30; I had the idea to be a priest. Joining Jesuits seemed a good choice. At the meeting with a Jesuit priest, our conversation went fine till it was time for the final question: “Why did you like to be a priest?” My answer was somehow like: “This will give me the opportunity to repeat what Jesus says on the Gospel as clear and loud, as He did, before the world’s multitudes”. The Jesuit priest was very sincere: “I wish you know that you will have to preach the Church’s teachings only”. This experience let me know why those who allowed being preachers of Jesus in the world (mainly via satellites) are not like the first disciples; they are safe and the world’s Elite love them (unless they are involved in politics) for preaching man’s teachings not of Jesus.

        Now I wonder if you are still interested to find out together the main differences between Jesus’ teachings (as mentioned on the Gospel) and the Church’s teachings in general.

        To give you an idea on what I mean, here is an example:
        “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

        Jesus, in this saying, confirmed clearly that John the Baptist is the greatest Jewish Prophet. But what was the main mission of this greatest Prophet? It was to prepare the Jewish people for the arrival of Jesus among them. This implies that the main mission of all previous Jewish Prophets cannot be greater than of John the Baptist. And, at the arrival of Jesus, this mission was fulfilled for good.

        Therefore, the Jewish teachings became, after Jesus’ arrival, much like the school teachings without which one couldn’t continue to join a university and be professional in a certain field. And, at best, his schoolbooks join his good souvenirs since he, the professional, can no longer see them as scientific references at work. Let us recall that some school teachings had to be made ‘incomplete’, if not ‘wrong’, to help the kids learn science in steps (I hope you know this). Also, Judaism, inspired from Heaven, was very important, though for the ancient ‘kids of humanity’ only (our past ancestors). In fact, Jesus message that focuses on God’s Unconditional Love towards all others, good and evil, updated the Jewish teachings and let most of them be irrelevant, if not obsolete.

        What do you think?

        Yours in Christ,
        Kerim

  2. Kerim Fahme Avatar
    Kerim Fahme

    Hello Shannon,

    Just to complete the topic you raised; I like to add that the best answer to your question is given clearly by Jesus Himself:

    “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

    I lived this fact many times in my life while I live (not preach) the unconditional love towards all others, good and evil. The different persons who tried to hurt me very badly (by fake accusations) had a common purpose. They all liked to prove me that the way, I live, is not only non-sense but totally wrong for a natural man (a man of the world). To my big surprise, each of their cases was dropped officially on the same day and life returned to normal even without defending myself (you may not believe me, but the Holy Spirit did the necessary in every case. Only if you like, I won’t mind writing you in detail). The penalty of the worst fake accusation against me was hanging to death. And, naturally, those who were behind this accusation and the like ended up confessing: “Indeed, his God of Love does exist and protect him from all dirty plans”.

    Truth be said, I wish I know someday why I had to survive on earth for that long.

    Kerim

    Reply

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Shannon Claussen

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