What is a disciple? In a general way, “disciple” just means being a follower or student of something or someone. As Christians, we mean that we are followers or students of Jesus Christ, which is a very special kind of disciple. If you’re a disciple of anyone else, the entire focus of your discipleship is about what you do. You are measured by your own work against the standard of your master’s work.
But being a disciple of Jesus isn’t like that at all. Jesus has already completed the work of a disciple. He’s the perfect human, and he has gifted his perfection to you before you even thought about growing as his disciple. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not about what we do; it’s about who we are in Christ. It’s not about action. It’s about identity.
At The Summit Church, we realized we needed a way to talk about our identity in Christ, to give us a way to describe who we are in him and who we are becoming as whole disciples. We identified these five identities of a disciple to help us do that:
Worshiper: seeks to know, love, and obey God above all else
Family Member: lives with the local church as family
Servant: gives of themselves for the good of others
Steward: uses their time, talent, and treasure to know God and make him known
Witness: proclaims Christ in word and deed
These identities are not random or isolated, but are unified in Jesus. So growing as a whole disciple is growing more into Christ and becoming more like Christ.
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