Discipleship In the Gospels & Epistles - Cody A. Wallace

 

DISCIPLESHIP IN THE GOSPELS & EPISTLES:

Clearing-Up Misunderstood Assumptions

By: Cody A. Wallace

The Biblical Studies Foundation, www.bible.org, is a common search site for the pastor and lay-person alike.  They speak on various theological and doctrinal topics, as well as provide commentaries and notes from some of the top theologians. For many, myself included, the website serves as a one stop shop for theological and doctrinal studies, but we should always be aware of a writers theological opinion superseding Scripture and history.

One article of evidence is Why Discipleship is Different in the Epistles, written by Robert Deffinbaugh. Deffinbaugh serves as one of their full-time staff and contributors, he is a class of ’71 DTS graduate and has contributed many works. In this write up he explains how the name disciple is not a distinction of position, choice, or maturity, but was the title given to all that believed. “In other words, discipleship is used because it compresses conversion and Christian living, salvation and sanctification, into one term. Conversion to Christ, in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, was inconceivable without a commitment to follow Him in life. That is why our Lord persistently challenged would-be followers to count the cost, as well as the rewards.”[1] But, here is where his opinion becomes apparent. Nowhere in his write up does he mention John 8 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;” (John 8:31, NASB). It is clear that a group within the Jews Jesus was addressing had believed, as it says He was addressing the believing Jews. And how was He addressing and instructing them? He was telling them how to become disciples through following His word. Deffinbaugh paper points to how community built believers into followers during the Apostolic age and not what we see as ‘traditional discipleship’, he claims Christ’s meeting with the twelve was not a archetype for us to follow but a preparation for the apostolic age in which discipleship would be communal. 

In some ways he is right, believers would view their unique gifts and talents as vital to communal growth. “Their work seemed to concentrate on a ministry to the masses, as the account in Acts 6:1-6 implies.” (Deffinbaugh 2004). The base of the article is to show Paul did not concentrate teaching or individual discipleship toward single individuals but toward the application of one's gifts. “That Paul is not speaking of discipleship is obvious. Our Lord spoke universally of discipleship—that is, it was for men of every nation (Matthew 28:19), and not just for those who are spiritual, but every Christian. But Paul spoke in a restricted sense. Paul limits his command to Timothy to the matter of a particular gift and calling.” (Deffinbaugh 2004).   The next point he refutes as a common over-usage is Paul saying, follow me. Deffinbaugh states this was not Paul calling people to disciple, but to view his teaching and lifestyle. He states, “We are not to imitate Paul alone, nor are just a select few to do so. We are to imitate others who manifest Christian virtues . . .To speak directly to those passages where Paul instructs Christians to follow his example or imitate him, he never commands unrestricted imitation. It is always imitation in a restricted sphere, in a particular aspect of Paul’s life and ministry.” Deffinbaugh is partly correct in his assessment of this passage in other areas of Scripture, believers are told to remember those who have instructed them in Christ, and the ultimate goal in Paul's own words is Christlikeness (Rom. 8:29; Phil 2:5). Jesus said the ultimate goal of a disciple is to be as the master (Matt. 10:25).

THERE IS CONTINUITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Deffinbaugh may not see it but, there is continuity in the Gospels to the Epistles when it comes to distinguishing salvation from discipleship. Take for example, Paul’s words when it comes to the cost of salvation (Eph. 2:8,9, 4:7; Rom. 5:15-17, 6:23, 11:6). The verbiage used in Paul’s words are: free gift, given, by grace, free gift, and the free gift is not as sin, nowhere in any of these passages is there a cost associated with belief in Jesus. When Paul speaks of cost it is seen associated with reward (1 Cor. 9:27; 1 Tim. 6:11-19; 2 Tim. 4:1-8). In each of the stated verses, Paul states the goal of struggle and cost associated in the struggle is for: an imperishable crown, a storing of future  treasure, and a future crown of righteousness.

Other verbiage talking as to the growth of a believer not tying to their salvation can be seen in Paul stating the Corinthians were not able to grow 1 Corinthians 3:2 and needed milk, yet Paul called them brethren. In Hebrews, the writer claims the readers were needing to move beyond elementary teaching (Heb. 6:1). The writer also said the readers had been believers so long they should already be rabbi’s in their own right (Heb. 5:12-14); this suggests mentorship rolls were standard in the church age! Paul also considered Timothy his ‘son in the faith’ which suggests he took special consideration to his growth and development in Christ (1 Tim. 1:2). Paul also called the believers in Philippi his yokefellows; this is verbiage associated with a rabbi’s view of law.

Rabbi’s were known to have a yoke of adherence to the law (Matt11:29b, 30, 23:4; Luke 11:46; Acts 15:10; Gal. 5); Paul is calling these individuals people that were under the yoke of Christ alongside him. In the time after Christ, the cost of discipleship was known for any who might believe; they would be persecuted by the Jewish leaders and later by Rome. As Earl Radmacher notes, Jesus said persecution was one of the keynotes of being a disciple, “Persecution will come upon them because they are identified with Jesus whom the world hates without cause.”[2] A believer's open proclamation of Christ and conversion made them instant disciples rather than closet believers as the cost to follow was already seen in the martyrdom of their Savior and those that came before them.

 

DISCIPLESHIP IS COSTLY!

Jesus had a mission while He was on earth in His own words He said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10). His objective was to single-handedly redeem the entire world with His death, burial, and resurrection (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:1-4, 55-57; 1 Tim. 4:10). While on earth, He used His time to garner a crowd to follow, He shared the message of Messiah and verified the message through His miracles (Jn. 2:23). Yet, Jesus realized His message needed broadcast beyond Himself; there needed to be people to pass the baton with the good news of the gospel, and so with few words, Jesus chose twelve men He would disciple and said, “Follow Me” (Matt. 4:19). These men became His pedagogy, and He became their Rabbi, and it was to them He gave the task to spread the ‘good news’ after He departed to the Father.

Over the span of three years, Jesus trained the twelve for the task of sharing His message. As Earley and Dempsey point out in their work, Disciple Making Is, “Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi, or teacher, who used a rabbinical method for disciple making. [B]uilt on progressive level of commitment, trust, obedience, and learning. At each step He demanded greater commitment, which gave His followers greater impact.”[3] For the men to grasp the seriousness of their future task, Jesus would require total commitment as these men would carry on His message and be fundamental in the creation of the church.

A RABBI’S BURDEN VS. THE RABBI’S BURDEN

The commitment He required was a rejection of familial ties (Luke 14:26), a rejection of provisions (Luke 9:3, 58-62), and a rejection of one's self (Luke 9:23). This was not because Jesus wanted a robotic army of bland patterned individuals, that is far from what He intended. He specifically chose the men for their character and planned to use their personality in His mission. The goal of Jesus in transforming His followers was to mold them into His likeness of character, mentality, and speech. “The decision to follow a rabbi meant total commitment. They would have to memorize His words and replicate His lifestyle.” (Dempsey, Earley 2013, 68). Jesus would do the same with His disciples, and yet His words were different than those of contemporary rabbis. Jesus condemned the modern rabbis because they exasperated their pupils with rules, laws, and traditions that they could not even keep (Matt. 23:4). It is estimated that there are 613 laws Jewish people need to maintain and depending on the rabbi’s interpretation, there could be a dozen other traditions and rules associated with each law. Jesus said not to follow these men because they are unfair hypocrites and should not be followed (Matt. 23:6-14). When an individual became a pupil of a rabbi, it was said they took on the yoke of the rabbi’s interpretation of Old Testament law (Acts 15:10). Earley notes, “the term was adapted to apply to a disciple placing himself under the yoke of his rabbi’s instruction.” (Dempsey, Earley 2013, 73).  Jesus described these as heavy burdens on the shoulders of men, yet He described His yoke of teaching as, “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:30). His call was to release themselves of the other rabbis' unobtainable teachings (Matt. 11:28) and “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me” (Matt. 11:29).

Jesus’ teaching would be surrounded by the four-letter word ‘love’. Love God (Mk 11:30), love others (Mk 11:31), love each other (Jn. 13:34, 35), and love your enemies (Matt. 5:44).  It would be up to Jesus’ disciples to share His message and engage others to do the same. In fact, this was the main concern of His after His resurrection, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples,” (Matt. 28:18b, 19a). His last instruction was for His learners to make learners.

FOLLOW ME = DISCIPLESHIP

 

            Deffinbaugh has other issues with the conclusions he jumps to in his write up. For one the call to follow has been the same discipleship call for centuries. Jesus called the twelve (Matt. 4:18-20). Robby Gallaty in studying ancient Hebrew culture had this to say about Jesus’ call to follow and the ancient rabbis, “’Come, follow Me.’ ‘Follow me,’ LECH AHARAI (literally, ‘walk after me’), was a technical term in Hebrew for becoming a disciple.”[4] The Hebrew people prior to Christ when calling someone into a personal mentorship role called them to follow, so Jesus being a rabbi in His ancient settings used the same verbiage to call His followers into a similar role. Paul used the same call to follow although he broadcasted his to a wider cast of people (1 Cor. 11:1). Paul would have been extremely familiar with the rabbinical call to follow as it was the same he heard from his own mentor Gamaliel “If the rabbi thought the student could make the cut, he extended an invitation to follow him until the age of thirty, which was when most rabbis began their own ministries. Three prominent first-century rabbis were Hillel, Shammai, and Gamaliel.” (Gallaty 2015, 34).

            Paul’s process for discipleship was similar to that of Christ, he was about passing on knowledge (2 Tim2:2). He told his mentee Timothy that wisdom in selecting disciples was paramount. “Optimal fruitfulness calls for wise selectivity.” (Dempsey, Earley 2013, 159). Because Paul wanted to have men trained to pass his church plants, he did not want to waste time. This may be the reason why he quickly gave up on John Mark to start because of impatience (Acts 15:36-41) and yet in old age saw him as a vital asset (2 Tim. 4:11). Paul, like Jesus, committed significant amounts of time to his disciples, and they did ministry together. Paul took Timothy nearly everywhere he went, “Timothy had the opportunity to see Paul in action for a three-year period as he did evangelism and discipleship.” (Dempsey, Earley 2013, 161). This time was Timothy’s time to be invested in by his rabbi Paul, much like Jesus did with His disciples. And like Jesus, Paul sent out his disciples to do ministry without him. Jesus sent the 72 to spread the message of the kingdom (Luke 10), and Paul had Silas and Timothy stay in Athens after he left to “run the ministry there in his absence (Acts 17:14).” (Dempsey, Earley 2013, 162). The goals were the same, hands-on training and application. Last, Paul kept Timothy focused that ministry was not self-driven and inward-focused. “The goal is multiplication.” (Dempsey, Earley 2013, 163). Jesus’ disciples grew from eleven to adding thousands at a time (Acts 2:47), and Paul’s disciples reached beyond the seas and multiplied to the point of reaching areas unknown to them at the time as evidenced by the Americas being churched today. Jesus’ goal was to make the church. Paul’s goal was to nurture and grow it; both used their disciples to maintain their ministries after they left.

 

 

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[1] Deffinbaugh, L. Robert. Why Discipleship is Different in the Epistles. Bible.org, June 2, 2004. https://bible.org/seriespage/18-what-happened-discipleship-epistles

[2] Derickson, Gary, Earl Radmacher. The Disciplemaker: What Matters Most to Jesus. (Salem, OR. :Charis Press, 2001), 32.

[3] Dave Earley, Dempsey, Rod, Disciple Making Is (Nashville, TN.: B&H, 2013), 58.

[4] Robby Gallaty, Rediscovering Discipleship: Making Jesus' Final Words Our First Work (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 34.