What is a Disciple

Exerpts from Waking The Dead by John Eldredge

. . . . A friend of mine recently handed me a program from a large and successful church in the midwest. It's rather an exemplary model of what the idea had fallen to. Their plan for discipleship involes, first, becoming a member of this particualar church. Then they encourage you to take a course on doctrine. Be "faithful" in attending the Sunday morning service and a small group fellowship. Complete a special course on Christian growth. Live a life that demonstrates clear evidence of spiritual growth. Complete a class on evangelism. Consistently look for opportunities to evangelize. Complete a course on finances, one on marriage, and another on parenting (provided that you are married or a parent). Complete a leadership training course, a hermeneutics course, a course on spiritual gifts, and another on biblical counseling. Participate in missions. Carry a significant local church ministry " load."
You're probably surprised that I would question this sort of program; most churches are trying to get their folks to complete something like this, in one way or another. No doubt a great deal of helpful information is passes on. My goodness, you could earn a MBA with less effort. But let me ask you: A program like this-- does it teach a person how to apply the principles, or how to walk with God? They are not the same thing. Change the content and any cult could do this. I mean Gandhi was a remarkable man; so was Laotzu, Confucius, or Thomas Jefferson. They had principles for a better life. But only Christianity can teach you to walk with God.
We forfeit that birthright when we take folks through a program whereby they master any number of Christian precepts and miss the most important thing of all, the very thing for which we were created: intimacy with God. There are, after all, those troubling words Jesus spoke to those who were doing all the "right" things: " Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you'" (Matt 7:23). Knowing God. That's the point.
You might recall the old proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The same holds true here. Teach a man a rule and you help him solve a problem; teach a man to walk with God and you help him solve the rest of his life.. . . . .
Only by walking with God can we hope to find the path that leads to life. That is what it means to be a disciple. After all -- aren't we "followers of Christ"? Then by all means, lets actually follow him. Not ideas about him, Not just his principles. Him.