Christian Student Fellowship

Being a Whole Disciple

 Today I would like to start diving into the idea of balanced or whole discipleship, of which I will continue for the next couple of weeks or so. When you think of a disciple of Christ what comes to mind? Maybe for you it is a constant learner, someone who cannot get away from God’s word nor from books about it. Maybe you think of a doer, the disciple of Christ is one who does things that honors God and loves those around them. Maybe you are one who are more heart centered and think the disciple of Christ is one who primarily feels the way Christ would about those around them. Empathy might be key to being a disciple for this person. Simply enough, all of those things make up a disciple, but they must all be together. Our head, heart, and hands must work together to follow Christ.

Which one most often takes the lead for you? For many in today’s Christianity we are a head centered faith. The true way to Christ is through our brain and thoughts. While this is good and biblical, it is certainly not more important than the other two. Think about how Christ led his disciples. While he did teach them many things they also learned how to follow Christ in other ways. Jesus did not always explain exactly why he was doing something, he simply did it and the disciples watched on. By reading through the life of Jesus it is obvious that action matters a lot in the faith. And that action comes from a deep care and compassion for the people, not just a tremendous knowledge of them. Christ displayed a perfectly balanced faith. We will of course fail to be so balanced, but over the next few weeks lets take time to find out where we are strong, and where we are weak so we know how to grow in a more balanced faith and lead others in such a faith.

   That is one of the more interesting things about our faith. We are constantly in the tension of disciples and disciple makers. We are never passed the stage of being disciples, or being made more like Christ. And on the other side, we are never in a place that we are incapable of making disciples. In the following weeks I will go through discipleship focusing on the head, the heart, and the hands each individually. At the end of the day be thankful that we have the word of God to instruct us, guide, and grow us in being more like Christ.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”