How can you tell if someone is a disciple of Jesus?
In a previous post, I summarized six expert definitions of a disciple and concluded with this as my definition: “A disciple of Jesus is an individual who is continually being transformed into the likeness of Christ, as he or she is learning and participating in the mission of God with others.”
If that’s what a disciple is, is there some easy way to tell if the guy that you are passing by on the street, or the lady that is in the cubicle next to you, is a disciple? After all, how can you really tell if someone is “continually being transformed into the likeness of Christ” when you only have a two minute interaction with them?
Perhaps it’s a list of visible outer actions and attitudes? Such as, whether or not you know John 3:16 by heart, sponsor a Compassion child, or file your income taxes honestly and on time? Although these are outer actions that you would expect a Christian to embody and live out, these are not actions exclusive to Christians.
Instead, what if it’s a combination of both outer and inner actions and attitudes? What if the evidence of being a disciple of Jesus is the presence of the following three aspects in your life?
- The faithful acceptance of everyday problems
- The inner presence (fruit of the Spirit) and outer evidence (gifts of the Spirit) of the Holy Spirit in your life
- The regular practice of the spiritual disciplines
Dallas Willard calls those three aspects the “golden triangle” of spiritual transformation.
Or put another way,
“Growing in faith is not just about disciplines of study and withdrawal…but there must also be rhythms of activity if we are to be mature followers of the messiah” (Frost and Hirsch).
So maybe that’s it? Maybe a healthy rhythm of the spiritual disciplines, a living out of our faith, and the presence of the Spirit of God in our lives is what distinguishes disciples of Jesus from others?
Or maybe, the best way to recognize a disciple is whether or not “people respond to [you] like they did to Jesus” (Hugh Halter)? After all, Jesus was compelling – people were drawn to him. People sought Jesus out, liked him, and respected him. So, as Halter questions in his book, doesn’t it make sense for disciples to also be sought out, liked, and respected by the world? This is not to be mistaken for living a life that pleases others, or diminishing the gospel in any form or manner.
Are the above ideas and lists comprehensive and biblical? Or are they anecdotal?
How do you know if someone is a disciple? What framework do you use?
Join me next time as I present a solid framework, based on two massive research projects, that will help us figure out a way to tell if someone is a disciple of Jesus. It will be a framework for discipleship.
Hi Daniel –
Excellent summary of what a disciple is. It’s amazing how complex answering the question can get, isn’t it? How hard is it to ask “Is this person increasingly like Jesus?” Sounds so simple. Yet it IS a serious and complex question to answer. And this is why letters were written to communities of people who claimed to know and follow Jesus; Letters, not simply a sentence or two. Letters full of encouragements (positive calls to action) and critiques (negative spurs to change).
What do I use to tell if someone is a disciple? I like Willard’s ‘triangle’ (not because it is Willard who says it, but because it seems biblical), and I like the other emphases from people like Bonhoeffer and Halter. I take my cue from Jesus’ words in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” I look for people who by their disposition, by how they think, by what matters to them, by the ACTUAL realities and actions of their lives (cf. I Cor. 4:20) that show that they are apprentices of Jesus, show that they know Him, and are being made one with Him. I look for people who have a living love for God and for others which shows itself in all of life. Wow – what a call. God help me as He does this work in me, in us.
Beautiful response Tim. Your last paragraph sounded like a solid sermon that the church needs to hear.
The reality is a disciple is multi-dimensional since Jesus was. Disciples are like Jesus and increasingly being made like him, not by their own effort, but through the Holy Spirit.
Beautiful response Tim. Your last paragraph sounded like a solid sermon that the church needs to hear.
The reality is a disciple is multi-dimensional since Jesus was. Disciples are like Jesus and increasingly being made like him, not by their own effort, but through the Holy Spirit.
p.s.
Mike Breen posted something great on this today – check out http://blog.exponential.org/2013/04/mike-breen-why-we-dont-disciple-like-jesus-did/#more-5725
I’ve gained so so much over the last 15 years from a man who invests in me, whose life I regularly think about in a number of areas of my own as I ask, sometimes in a split second, “What do I do now?” He disciples me by his example lived before me and by the intensive questions and teaching he brings.
“Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” I Cor. 4:16