You cannot turn out to be an effective disciple if you don’t know what it entails or require. You don’t go to a university to study any course without first and foremost knowing what it entails to be admitted for such course or programs. To be an effective disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially in this times that we live in, there are a number of core requirements which you must be willing and ready to meet else, you would call yourself a disciple, but you will not be effective. So, what are these requirements.

 

#1. Leaving

Discipleship begins by leaving: leaving a lifestyle behind and cleaving to a new lifestyle. Just as a man would leave his father and mother and be cleave unto his wife so that the two of them can become one flesh, in effective discipleship, you must leave something behind in order to be able to follow Christ. There is no single disciple of Christ Jesus who didn’t fulfill this condition. They left their families behind; they left their friends behind; they even left their businesses behind to follow Christ Jesus. In Luke 14:26, Jesus said:

 

“If anyone comes to Me [and notice this requirement does not exclude anyone, whether you are a pastor or a bishop or a general overseer or a brother in the Lord or sister in the Lord] and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” The word ‘hate’ as used here does not mean hate in the negative sense of it. When you read this portion in the AMPC, it showed us what Jesus was actually trying to say. It says: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple.”

 

So, it means that when it comes to the point where you are faced with a choice of either following your parents or following Christ, you would disregard your parent and chose Christ instead. And we saw this example in the life of Jesus in Luke 2:41-50. The Bible says:

 

“His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. ⁴³ When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; ⁴⁴ but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. ⁴⁶ Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. ⁴⁸ So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought You anxiously.” ⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.”

 

You cannot desire to be an effective disciple and you would love your life more than Christ. In Revelation 12:11, the Bible says: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb [talking about the disciples that had gone ahead of us] and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Being a disciple of Christ means that you even disregard your own life when it comes to it and cleave unto Christ. In John 12:25, Jesus said: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Last week Monday, we were taught How to Inherit Eternal Life. Part of gaining eternal life is in you disregarding this current life of yours for a more superior life, which is eternal.

 

So, one of the core requirements of modern-day effective discipleship is in leaving: you must definitely leave something behind for the sake of Christ. You must even be ready to leave your own life behind in order to pick the life of Christ. And that is what eternal life connotes.

 

#2. Following

The second requirement after leaving is following. You don’t leave and remain static. You leave to simply follow. In John 12:26, Jesus said: If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. How best can one know that you are serving the Lord? The proof is in your followership. You cannot become like Christ if you are not indeed following Him. You cannot do the works of Christ if you are not indeed following Him. What exactly are we following in Christ?

 

a). We are following His teachings, His manners and His ways of life. In 1 John 2:3-6, John said: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” So, when claim we follow Christ Jesus, what we are simply saying is that we are following His commandments and everything that He represented and still represents.

 

b). We are following His ministry. Jesus’ ministry was all about soul winning. In acts 10:38, the Bible says: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” And He has given us that mandate to follow in His footsteps of making sure that we win souls, and not just that, we also disciple them even as we have been discipled. This is what it means to follow Christ. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

 

c). We are also following His sufferings. Philippians 1:29-30, the Bible says: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, ³⁰ having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.” 1 Peter 2:21 says: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” Peradventure you are wondering, is it important that I go through the sufferings of Christ? The answer is yes because it is in suffering with Him that we will also reign with Him. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 says:

 

This is a faithful saying:

For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.

 

Notice that is a conditional statement, right? “If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.” No wonder Jesus said in my Father’s house are many mansions, and I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am, there you would be also. That means for us to fully be where Jesus is, we must be willing to experience His sufferings as well.

 

¹² If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
¹³ If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.

 

So, the next core requirement after leaving is following, and it is important that you understand why you are really following because if you don’t, you would not be able to adequately align yourself with Him in the place of following.

 

#3. Learning

Another core requirement in effective discipleship is learning. In Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus said: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus Christ is our only example and we learn everything in discipleship from Him. In John 13:15, He said: “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” Now, you must realize that learning is done under an atmosphere of humility and not arrogance.

 

For example, if many of us had been arrogant in school to our teachers and lecturers, maybe we would not have graduated. The reason why we go and submit to them is because there is something that they know about the course that we studied that we do not know, and for us to be able to know those things that they know, we must submit to them wholeheartedly and be humble while at it.

 

In Ephesians 4:1-3 (NIV), Paul said: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” If you are not humble and gentle, you would find it very hard to learn from someone. So, the starting point to learning anything at all is through humility.

 

Also, for us to be able to learn from Christ, we must have the mind of Christ. We must not have the mind of our own, but the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5 says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” For example, some of our lecturers would tell us back then in school that those who we refer to as the ‘A’ students are the ones who wrote exactly what they are looking for as answers in the exams that they wrote. And so, they do not have any choice than to give them the A-grade. For us to be effective in discipleship, we must simply have the mind of Christ. We must think the way He thinks, we must carry ourselves the way He would carry Himself. At the end of the day, having the mind of Christ would make us exactly become like Christ. 1 John 2:6 says: “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

 

#4. Absolute dependance on God [Luke 9:1-6]

“Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. ² He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ³ And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. ⁴ “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵ And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” ⁶ So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”

 

Now, what was Jesus teaching His disciples in this place? How to completely depend on Him and not in the things that they have. The Bible says the life of a man does not consist in the abundant of the things that he possesses. As a disciple, you must learn how to completely rely and depend on God for everything: depend on Him for your provision, depend on Him for your health, depend on to even be effective in the work of ministry. And I pray that the Lord would help us in Jesus’ name.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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