Discipleship Definition
What is discipleship? Discipleship is the act of adhering to one's doctrines and lessons and even help in spreading the same to other people. A person who exercises the act of discipleship is referred to as a disciple. In the bible it depicts that the son of God, Yeshua had many disciples, twelve disciples whom he walked with every day became apostles. The duty of the disciples was learn from Yeshua as to to help Yeshua teach the gospel of Messiah to every nation.
Note that for you to be a disciple you have to have faith in the teacher and his/her teachings. There was both the beauty of being a disciple and also in addition to that it came at a cost. The disciples in many instances were faced with various challenges which tested their faith in what they believed in. Below I will take you through some of the benefits of discipleship to the people and probably highlight some of the challenges that one may face if he/she is a disciple.
Benefits of Discipleship
These are some of the instances in the gospel where the Disciples of Messiah benefited from following Him.
1. Closeness to teacher.
By being a disciple you get the advantage of being more close to the individual unlike other people. This means that you will be able to interact more with him and get to understand deeply his teaching. For instance the disciples spent most of the time when they were not spreading the gospel just interacting with the savior Messiah Yeshua thus they got to understand him better.
2. Experience about his teachings.
The disciples in their course of discipleship were able to witness many occasions when Yeshua performed miracles which no ordinary man without the Spirit of God could manage to perform. This means that they became actual witnesses to the great work of Messiah and could attest to the great miracles that He performed.
3. Authority and special powers.
Discipleship enables one to receive special authority and power from the teacher. For instance Yeshua gave His disciples the authority to perform miracles after He departed and gave them the duty to spread the word of God to the whole world.
4. Mass coverage.
Discipleship enables the teachings to cover an even larger area or group of people. For instance if Yeshua was alone He would not have been able to spread the gospel to the number of individuals he did unlike with when he had His twelve disciples.
5. Insight to future happenings.
Discipleship enables you to get an insight of what is going to happen in future or even the plans that your teacher has put in place. For instance the disciples got to know about the crucifixion of Yeshua even before it actually took place.
6. Similarity with your master.
With discipleship you get to earn various qualities of your master and in the end you might end up being exactly like them. The disciples took up the qualities of Yeshua which really helped them to spread the gospel after he was gone. Without the gained qualities the disciples would have failed in this task of spreading the word of Messiah.
In line with the benefits there are also challenges that discipleship carries along.
1. Lack of faith.
In some instances disciples were faced with the challenge of lacking faith in the power of Messiah. For instance when they were involved in a storm in the sea they were terrified with some even having the notion that they would perish. Yeshua however stood to the test and calmed the storm.
2. Tough situations.
In discipleship you may be faced with tough situations to deal with. In the bible while Yeshua was preaching to a multitude which was very big they were faced with the challenge of providing food for them Yeshua performed a couple of miracle in these instances and roughly 10,000 individuals were all fed.
3. Opposition.
After Yeshua ascended to heaven the disciples in the work of spreading the gospel faced numerous opposition in various places. Some were even prosecuted and killed just to renounce the name of Messiah. Discipleship can even cost your life.
4. Betrayal.
Before He was crucified, Yeshua was betrayed by one of His own disciples who was known as Judas. He sold the whereabouts of Yeshua for a few silver coins. In discipleship you may end up with some disciples who betray you and expose you to your opposition.
Conclusion: In order to be a good leader one must be a good disciple. Become a disciple today at www.Discipleship101.TV, the cost of discipleship is absolutely free. You can also browse our products to learn discipleship within the comfort of your home.