Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Darris McNeely] Have you ever read a book about leadership? Do you know how many books
there are on leadership? Here's one: Leadership Is An Art, a pretty good book. I've read it,
and it has a lot of good material. Here's one: Churchill on Leadership, the great 20th
Century British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Here's another one: Jesus on Leadership, discovering
the secrets of servant leadership from the life of Jesus Christ. There's another one
here on servant leadership. I find this one about Jesus on Leadership, at least the title,
to be interesting. All of these books contain some very good information and points about
the subject of leadership, but I've been thinking lately that when it comes to the matter of
leadership and what the Bible says about it I find the word disciple more than I find
the word leadership.
In fact, in the New Testament I don't find Jesus talking about leadership. I find Jesus
Christ talking about becoming a disciple and that started me to thinking it might be better
to focus upon the meaning of being a disciple as opposed to in a sense being a leader. Leadership
is another important art form, but perhaps becoming a disciple is a place for us to begin.
In Matthew chapter 28 beginning in verse 18 Jesus left this instruction with His followers.
He said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore
and make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-19).
This is in Matthew 28:19. "Go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things
I've commanded you. For lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age." Go and
make disciples. Teach them to observe all things I have commanded you. This is among
the final words of instructions Jesus gave to His followers, His church. People, men
in this case and women who were disciples and had been a part of the initial founding
of the church.
You look at the word disciple and you find it in the Bible, both from a Hebrew and a
Greek perspective, the word disciple really means a student or one who's a learner. That's
really essentially what it means. To become a disciple is really to put ourselves under
the tutelage, under the mentorship, the watchful eye and care of a teacher who is in a sense
a master at their particular subject or art or science or discipline. And we discipline
ourselves to be a disciple, a learner, a student of all that that individual knows and has
to teach us about that particular subject. That's essentially what a disciple is. There
are entire apprentice programs in various fields for people to learn to become an electrician,
a plumber, a carpenter. And they become a disciple of a master at that particular craft
or trade.
Christ called twelve individuals who were called to a lifelong job of becoming a disciple.
These twelve men became apostles, and they in turn taught other disciples as they followed
this teaching from Jesus Christ to go out and to make disciples and spread the word
of God.
When you look at what they did, at how they approached that, and how Jesus really worked
with them during His time and His ministry, there are a number of lessons for us to learn
about becoming a disciple. To teach someone else to be a disciple we must first be a disciple
ourselves. And I think that's a critically important need in any organization, in any
structure - be it a church, a business, any type of an organized entity in today's world
- I think to become a disciple has great teaching and meaning for all of us to apply in our
lives. And so I'm going to begin a series of dailies here to take us through some of
the steps from the Bible about being a disciple and in the end help us all to learn how to
be a disciple.
That's BT Daily. Join us next time.