What should identify a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how is it being worked out in your life? This issue of Uplook drives that question home to our hearts and minds.
He had twelve. Twelve men to follow Him and learn His ways. Twelve men who would be known as His disciples.
The Pharisees had disciples (Mt. 22:16); John had disciples (Jn. 3:25); Moses had disciples (Jn. 9:28), all no doubt, with their own identifying marks. But what of Christ’s disciples? What evidence would there be that a man was a follower of the Lord Jesus? This question is crucial to us because those original disciples were commissioned to produce more disciples (Mt. 28:18-20). So the question isn’t merely what would identify the Twelve, but what should identify us? In John’s Gospel, the Lord Jesus gives three sure signs:
Christ’s disciples abide in His word: Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed” (Jn. 8:31). A true disciple longs to learn from his teacher and, consequently, hangs on his every word. Christ’s disciples are marked by a love for the Word of God. They crave it, feed on it, obey it, and share it.
Christ’s disciples love one another: “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (Jn. 13:35). A common Master and common goal unite Christ’s disciples. In a world of rivalry, selfishness, and animosity, the followers of Christ ought to be obvious. They love to meet together. They put self last. They bear one another’s burdens.
Christ’s disciples bear much fruit: “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye prove to be My disciples” (Jn. 15:8). Only the vine’s branches can bear the vine’s fruit – no one else has the vine’s life. The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and genuine service for the Lord will set the disciples of Christ apart from anyone, and anything, the world and its religions have to offer.
And what was the Master’s plan to develop these traits in His disciples? We discover the key when He calls them: “And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach” (Mk. 3:14). What is the secret? “That they should be with Him!” Intimate time with the Saviour is the root of discipleship. For how can we hope to be disciples if we spend no time with the Discipler?
Did it work? All we have to do is read a few pages past His ascension to see that it did: “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Ac. 4:13). These men had spent time with the Lord. And it showed. What about us? Do we spend time with Him?
A lost world is watching us. Why do the above qualities mark us as His disciples? Because really they’re not our identifying marks, they’re His identifying marks. Abiding in the Word? He is the Word (Jn. 1:14). Love for one another? He is love (1 Jn. 4:8). Bearing much fruit? He is the vine (Jn. 15:1), the source of all fruit.
The Word, love, and fruit: these are the marks of Christ. These are the signs of His disciples. These are the clues.