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Podcast
Christians Discipling One Another In The First Century Church
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I'd like to consider what the Bible says about Christians
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discipling one another in the first century church.
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First a definition.
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Biblical discipleship is the act of one person intentionally impacting the life of another
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person in the direction of Christ's likeness, with the thought that they'll teach others
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also.
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Now, I want to make 20 brief observations.
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Rather than read the biblical passages, I'll only list the scripture that supports the
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observation.
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So, let's get started.
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In the first century, number one, discipleship was cross-cultural, Romans 10, 12, Galatians
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3, 28, and Christianity was unique in that it was not tied to any culture.
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It was not identified with any country, nationality, or people group.
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For example, the first Christians were Jews, but Christianity was quickly separated from
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Judaism.
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The other world religions are culturally, racially, and nationally tied.
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Number two, discipleship was theological conversion, not biological reproduction, 2 Timothy 2.2.
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Christianity was not spread biologically.
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Actually, celibacy was recommended.
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Most religions grew primarily by biological reproduction.
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Christianity grew by discipling people theologically.
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Three, discipleship was disconnected from any worship structure or worship center.
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For example, what Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4, 21-24.
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Christianity was not connected to any temple or mosque or sanctuary.
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It was not associated with any liturgy, priesthood, religious calendar.
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Christianity was a fellowship of believers.
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Number four, discipleship was a unique strategy commanded by a unique savior for a unique
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religion, Matthew 28, 18-20.
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As a mode of operation, discipleship was not commanded or even possible until the church
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age where all believers were priests.
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Number five, the training of disciples was not to run the kingdom of Israel or any other
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kingdom or organization, but rather to launch the church.
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Matthew 23, 8-12.
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Jesus did not train his disciples in politics, government, organizational operation, or administration.
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He trained them in theology, morality, evangelism, discipleship, and sacrificial service to an
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equal brotherhood where the more mature served the less mature.
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Number six, the disciples were to represent Christ to the world, not reach the world for
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Christ, Matthew 28, 18-20, Acts 1-8 and 2-39.
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The apostles were to be Christ's witnesses to the world, but they were not to reach,
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win, convert, or serve disciples of the masses.
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To reach the world, they'd have to change the Word of God because the world hates the
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Word of God, John 17, 14.
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Number seven, the focus of Christ and his disciples was on those who wanted to grow
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to maturity, Hebrews 5-14.
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For example, if we represented all of those who consider themselves Christians on a graph
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where up is a desire for discipleship, it would look something like a triangle.
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The further up you go, the less people there are.
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The focus of Christ and the disciples was on those at the top of the triangle.
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By the way, it seems that most of our Christian organizations today focus on the large group
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at the bottom.
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Number eight, discipleship was all about the individual, not the community, Romans 12, 4-1.
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The church was seen as individual members of a body, not people assembled into a community.
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The word community never occurs in the New Testament.
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A body encourages each individual to develop excellence.
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A community takes from the motivated individual and distributes to the unmotivated masses.
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Number nine, discipleship was incarnational, people with people in the flesh, 1 Thessalonians 2, 7 and 8.
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Discipleship, one-on-one or in small groups, was a person focusing on another person personally.
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Number 10, discipleship was reproductive, 2 Timothy 2, 2 would be a good reference.
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Discipleship was not about adding to a particular group, meeting, or organization.
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Neither Christ nor the apostles ever organized a large meeting.
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Christianity spread like the growth of the mustard seed.
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Number 11, discipleship was rational and factual, several good references in the book of Acts, Acts 17, 2-4, for example.
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Discipleship was a rational discussion based on real historical events and factual evidence,
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not mysticism, leaps of faith, or private unsubstantiated spiritual experiences.
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Number 12, discipleship included winning the right to be heard, 1 Thessalonians 2, 1-12.
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The apostles spoke in synagogues, public places, and then moved on.
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But with those who responded to the gospel, they won the right to be heard by investing
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themselves into lifelong relationships.
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Number 13, disciples came from a network of lifelong relationships, Romans 16, 3-16.
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Most of Jesus' disciples were already believers in the Old Testament sense before they followed him.
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His first five disciples were recruited through a network of relationships, which began with
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two disciples of John the Baptist, Andrew and John.
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Discipleship for the apostles came from a fellowship structure which could be within
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the same city or across the Roman Empire.
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Number 14, discipleship sharpened the discernment of the disciples, Matthew 10, 16.
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One of the most significant aspects of discipleship was to increase the believer's discernment.
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Every New Testament book except Philemon warns about false teachers or false prophets.
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Discipleship was morally and theologically judgmental and intolerant of false teaching.
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15, discipleship included some who stayed and some who left, Matthew 13, 10-13, John 6, 65, and 66.
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Jews and the apostles focused on those who wanted to strive for excellence.
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Those became their lifelong friends.
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Number 16, discipleship meant counting the cost, Matthew 10, 35-37.
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Discipleship meant putting Christ's likeness above the things of the world, including family relationships.
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Number 17, the disciples had different backgrounds and personalities, but the one thing they
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had in common was that none of them were part of an established religious system.
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Very few established religious leaders were disciples, like Nicodemus in John 3, 1.
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Some disciples were secular people like Levi, John 5, 37-39, and the woman at the well in John 4.
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Most disciples were people who already knew something about God and were seeking a closer
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relationship with him.
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For example, this was the case with Stephen and Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch, and Paul
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and Barnabas and Timothy and Titus and John, Mark and Apollos, and the uninformed disciples
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of Acts 19, Purcell and Aquila, and most of the converts from the synagogues.
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Number 18, disciples were kept from worldly behavior, not from worldly people, John 17, 11-17.
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The goal of discipleship was not to make believers into monks, it was to keep them in the world
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while being able to discern and navigate the pitfalls of the world.
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Number 19, discipleship meant understanding and teaching the Word of God, like the good
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seed of Matthew 13, 23.
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Reproductive disciples were not just those who attended gatherings or were involved in
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Christian activities, but those who understood the things of the Word of God.
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And number 20, being discipled meant imitating the life of the discipler, but only to the
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extent that he or she imitated the life of Jesus Christ.
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First Corinthians 11, 1 and 2, Ephesians 5, 1 and 2.
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No one doing discipleship is perfect, so discipleship was always about following Christ.
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But the reality is those being disciples were also looking at the life of their discipler,
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so the apostles told people to follow them as they followed Christ.
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Thank you for listening.
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A longer paper on this subject with footnotes and the scriptures is available on our website
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relationshipandconcepts.org.