Discipleship

I think of discipleship and I think of both Luke and Paul. I wonder which model we are to follow. Luke seems to be a classic model. In classic, there is a connection to the teacher in the words. There is Luke's 70
/72 in
Luke 10:1. 1After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

We look at this and get the best Idea of our job from the Book/Word. They are sent into the world as missionaries for God. They are given nothing but the message. Remember at this time there is no Book/just the word and the message of Jesus. They are to convert the masses, Which are not in "Church"; in fact, they are gentiles and Jews. They have just some common ground. Paul on the other hand seems to me to be converting the converted, But to his way of Christian thought. It always does not seem to be Jesus' brand of Church. I see both as good and valid. I just wonder how much of this dual role is useful in a Minister or a Disciple. Are we to use our resources for new converts or for shoring up the congregation in the world that has so many pitfall out there. SEX, DRUGS, CORRUPTION, GREED, and too many more to list. However, you know them and I do not need to continue on this course.

I find myself to often in a position where many come to me as a curiosity; I am something that they have never seen. A minister to them, are something you see on Sundays and Wednesdays. They do not have lives, just preach and then disappear into the abyss of the church building. I see this as an opportunity to just be a model/symbol of True Christian living. Every action will be looked at, every action a chance to Fail OR Show someone the way to God. Start a new Trail, where our Luken disciples have already blazed a trail. Well covered over from the ways of the world.

Now let us look at some other models,

Mk 3:16-19 16So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Mt 28:16-20The Commissioning of the Disciples
16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Acts 1:2121So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,


Acts: 6: 1Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” 5What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.7The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
The Arrest of Stephen
8Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. 10But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. 11Then they secretly instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. 13They set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; 14for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.” 15And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

These are the true start of the model of the Church of Christ Disciples of Church. The Apostles and the 70, started to branch out and give Apostolic Lineage to all disciples of the Lord. They stopped being Apostles (messengers) and started to become Disciples (Followers). Disciples are to be Mimics of the Christ, in all ways. To use Jesus and only Jesus' message as a model for discipleship. The purest form of ritual is to strive for is to become a plain disciple of Jesus.

Rev 21:14 14And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

12 foundations,
12 gates
12 apostles
12 angels
12 tribes
12 sons of Israel
12 jewels
12 pearls.

It would seem to me that the 12 sons of Jacob are thus important to discipleship. Thus which house are we? Are we from the house of David? Thus, why the other 11 gates? Why would God bother/ Or is it that we have again missed something in God's Divine plan, and thus about discipleship? Have we missed the real power of discipleship? That we are infact all part of the 12 tribes of God, and just adopted into this wonderful family of the Lord. Let us look back at the original Question and follow Paul

2 Cor11:1313For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

Gal1:11Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—

Eph2:2020built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

1Thes2:66nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others,

Heb3:11Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

Rom1:55through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name,

1Cor9:2If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Thus after looking at Paul, we see that we are to be Disciples of Jesus and God. Disciples in the order of Melchizedek,


Psalms 110:4
4    The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

So we are called from and in the model of the Apostles, Melchizedek, Moses, Mary Magdalene, and last the 70 of Luke 10. Let us look again in detail to this chapter.

Luke 10:1-121After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
Luke 10:17-42
The Return of the Seventy
17The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Rejoices
21At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
38Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

We see some different themes here. First the 72, then what is a neighbor? Last, we see the issue of Mary's yes. Do we hear ourselves in this passage? I wonder. In these passages, we see that true discipleship is one in which we look for not just your needs to be fulfilled, and never for our gain. Are we to go into the world and spread the word? On the other hand, are we to stay at home and build only on the fellowship? Alternatively, is it just that we are to do both, Spread the word and to use our actions at home to build the fellowship with each action that we do. Be supportive and use Moral actions to build up your fellowship. Do not tear them down with Gossip, Talk, and actions that are against both you and the fellowship of Man. We must see people as our Family, be it the person in the congregation or the person we just meet in the street. Each is a child of God, who is loved and cherished equally.

As in John 1:12-13
12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

We see that God gives us the power to become one of his children, The way to salvation, IF we only believe in his Name. For we are born of God and not Just of Flesh. Thus, we are all children of God

Rom 8:16-21When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Future Glory
18I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

I find it interesting that we are fellow heirs of God. Again, we find ourselves striving to come, close to Jesus. Thus, trying to be an equal follower of God. Never able to match Jesus, but we can try. That maybe all God wants from us, to try to be the best Disciples we can be. God will adopt us just as the Sons of Rome did. He is showing that no matter how bad a disciple we could be, We just need to try again. Be like Paul, or be like Luke, but the important part is being like Jesus.