Monday Night English Disciple Class Disciple Book Report > 제자학교

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               Disciple, by Juan Carlos Ortiz, starts off the book by stating “Following Christ means acknowledging Him as Lord; it means serving Him as a slave.  It also means loving and praising.”  If anyone had a choice to pick what they wanted to be in life, almost everyone would never dream of picking to be a slave.  Being a slave would mean no freedom to do what you wanted and always following orders from a master.  Following Christ is having Jesus Christ as your master and becoming a slave to Him.  Christians today including myself have a hard time becoming a true disciple, following Christ always because of our desire to have control of our own lives.

                Having Jesus as your Lord and Savior is having to take all of his teachings and commandments and not choosing which ones to follow.  For the majority of my life, I was a Sunday Christian.  I would come to see Jesus once a week, hear the message, have fellowship, and come back next week like a routine.  There was no urge to learn more about his teachings or pray to seek his will.  Prayer was all about what God could do for me instead of what I could do for him.  I was a master of my own life and God only took a small portion of my weekly time.  I was following the “Fifth Gospel (15),” explained by Ortiz as a “man-centered gospel.”  I was having two masters in my life.  The major one was myself trying to control my life and live how I wanted.  The other small master was God whom I asked to solve my problems or give me blessings.  If someone asked if I was a Christian my answer would be yes, because I tried to keep most of the commandments and went to church on Sundays.  Being in God’s kingdom Ortiz states, “You cannot do whatever you like.  You are part of the Kingdom of God.  He is the King.  He rules” (29).  I was my own king and Jesus was my servant.

                According to Ortiz, I was a church member instead of being a disciple of Jesus.  Being a church member had three requirements, “attend the meetings, give his money, and must live a life of good character” (105).  This really struck a chord with me because this is what I used to do.  Church was a club for me with membership fees.  I feel guilty when I pay for a gym membership and stop going to the gym.  I felt guilty sometimes when not going to church on Sundays but it was okay, another Sunday would come along and I could go next time.  Going to church was a weekly routine.  I was not submitting myself to Jesus.  The first law of discipleship stated by Ortiz is, “There is no formation without submission” (111).  I was not a new creation under God.  I was still holding onto to my sinful earthly nature and not becoming a new creation in God.  The second law of discipleship is “There is no submission without submission” (113).  I was not submitting myself to the authority of God.  I was not a true follower of Jesus.

                As I examined myself more, the reason I was not a disciple of Jesus was I had no love for others.  Jesus told his disciples in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Love God, love your family, love our neighbors, and love your enemies.  As someone who grew up in church, these were well known sayings but I always thought only Jesus could do these things.  How can I love someone who hurt my family or hurt me greatly?  I came to learn that this was not possible with my strength alone but with the help of Jesus and with his love he shows us, it is possible.  Ortiz also goes to state that “love is the fulfillment of the Law.  If you have love, you have the rest of the fruit, too” (154).  Loving God, loving people family, and loving people who love you are easy.  Loving people that hate you or people that you hate, we are all called to love them as well.  Jesus freed us from eternal damnation so I should be able to forgive and love everyone by the love Jesus has for all of us.

                Being a disciple of Jesus is something I believed only people who heard the calling to be a pastor or missionary was capable of.  We are all called to be disciples of Jesus if we believe.  Even though I am not a full disciple of Jesus yet, I am starting to take small steps in becoming one.  It is by grace and the Holy Spirit that is working in me to help transform me.  Through this church, fellowship with other believers, and disciple class, I am able to confidently say that it is helping me grow my faith, trust, and love in God.  Hopefully in the near future I am able to say that I’m a disciple of Jesus.