Three Discipleship Observations (John 1:35-51)
What we have here in John 1 is a wonderful, informative glimpse into what discipleship really is.
Starting with John the Baptist, we see that he wasn’t just telling people about Jesus. He was had followers and he was practicing discipleship. In this passage, we see that his discipleship was just like his teaching. He didn’t draw people to himself, teaching them and increasing his own person. He pointed people to Jesus. When his followers leave him to follow the Messiah, he hadn’t lost followers so much as he had succeeded in his purpose. So, the first goal of Biblical discipleship is to get people to follow Jesus, not us.
But, discipleship is all about following. When the disciples mentioned here find Jesus, they simply follow Him. When He does ask them what they want from Him, their answer is not teaching or wisdom or some other insight. They only want to know where He lives because their plan now that they have found Him is to be where He is, watching and imitating. The second goal of Biblical Discipleship is to get to know Jesus, not to know about Him.
Lastly, we see here that an important part of discipleship is sharing the wealth. The first thing we see followers of Jesus do is tell others. There is no training necessary. They follow Jesus and they tell others what they are doing. Somewhere along the way churches have decided that discipleship is complicated and is all about intricate teaching. You do not need a degree to do what the Bible is showing us here. The third goal of discipleship is to make disciples. In fact, there is an argument to be made that you are not a disciple of Jesus until you have brought someone else to Him.
Starting with John the Baptist, we see that he wasn’t just telling people about Jesus. He was had followers and he was practicing discipleship. In this passage, we see that his discipleship was just like his teaching. He didn’t draw people to himself, teaching them and increasing his own person. He pointed people to Jesus. When his followers leave him to follow the Messiah, he hadn’t lost followers so much as he had succeeded in his purpose. So, the first goal of Biblical discipleship is to get people to follow Jesus, not us.
But, discipleship is all about following. When the disciples mentioned here find Jesus, they simply follow Him. When He does ask them what they want from Him, their answer is not teaching or wisdom or some other insight. They only want to know where He lives because their plan now that they have found Him is to be where He is, watching and imitating. The second goal of Biblical Discipleship is to get to know Jesus, not to know about Him.
Lastly, we see here that an important part of discipleship is sharing the wealth. The first thing we see followers of Jesus do is tell others. There is no training necessary. They follow Jesus and they tell others what they are doing. Somewhere along the way churches have decided that discipleship is complicated and is all about intricate teaching. You do not need a degree to do what the Bible is showing us here. The third goal of discipleship is to make disciples. In fact, there is an argument to be made that you are not a disciple of Jesus until you have brought someone else to Him.
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