Discipling Worshippers of Jesus...

The Great Commission is all about "making disciples" of the nations. It is the point of the entire commission. Jesus then tells the Apostles (and us) how to go about making disciples: baptize them and teach them to obey everything that Jesus had commanded them. The process of becoming a disciple is the same as being a disciple: being baptized indicates a desire to be publicly identified with the Risen Jesus as the individual's Lord and Savior, while obedience is the "spiritual act of worship" in Romans 12:1. When a person is a disciple of someone (whether Jesus or not), they are one that learns from the teacher; they become an imitator of their teacher (DISCIPLE
mathetes NT:3101, from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

The very definition of the word "worship" (proskuneo in the Greek) calls for an act of reverence or homage to God OR to man. I like to define worship as "worth-ship", or what we decide is most important in our lives, that possession, thing or person is what we worship.

Since the definition of worship is what we deem as worthy in our lives, discipleship follows that definition. In the church today, being a disciple of Jesus can be defined as simply as only going to church in many instances. In order to be a true disciple of anyone, there has to be an indication of priority in an individual's life. As Dr. Michael Mitchell indicated in his "The Conditions of Discipleship", self-denial, renunciation, leaving all, steadfastness, fruitfulness and love are all indications of a disciple (Mitchell, 1-2). "Being a follower of Jesus Christ was an all-consuming obsession" (Barna, 21).

Christians worship so many things in their lives today: money, relationships, sex, possessions, sports...the list could go on. This worth-ship of worldly things also is a strong indicator of who or what we are a disciple of. We learn from everything that influences us, whether we realize it or not. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is NOT an easy thing to do. It takes a constant pursuit of the One who saved our souls and gave up His life for us. It DOES take sacrifice. I love what King David said in 1 Chron 21:24,
"No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing ." NIV A sacrifice was required to save us...a sacrifice is required to be a true disciple. I have a poster in my youth room that my students constantly see that states, "Dying for us was the most He could do. Living for Him is the least we can do." I believe that with all my heart. I'm not always the best at it, but it is what I strive for.