Jeremy L. Berg

What is the primary task of the disciple of Jesus?  When one enrolls in the school of Jesus, or receives the call to give one’s life to following after him, what is the first step?

Let’s play fill in the blank.  (No cheating or reading ahead for the right answer.)  When Jesus chose his twelve disciples, the Bible says:

“He appointed twelve that they might ___________________________ and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:14).

In this statement, we find out the task Jesus gives his fresh recruits: they are sent out to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, and to liberate people from demonic oppression.  But what kind of preparation must they undergo to be fit for such a task?  That’s the blank we must fill in.

Here are some good options, but not the correct answer:

“He appointed twelve that they might….

• go to Bible College and/or Seminary
• go to church every Sunday and listen to sermon after sermon
• join a small group or Bible study
• read Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership or every book by Beth Moore
• attend a pastor’s conference
• complete the 40 Days of Purpose study

These are all good options, but not the one, primary essential aspect of discipleship. Instead, the Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus appointed twelve “that they might BE WITH HIM.”

This is the essence of discipleship both in Jesus’ day and today.  While we cannot be with Jesus in the same physical way that the twelve were, we can and must sit daily at his feet by studying his teachings, communing with him through prayer, and walking with him in the Spirit.

As leaders, pastors, and churches, we have the responsibility to help enroll new believers into the school of Jesus, to learn to follow in his steps, to model our life after His, to reorient ourselves around his radically countercultural teachings and values, and to “be conformed to the image of the Son” (Rom 8).

I feel many churches take other approaches that don’t emphasize a Jesus-centered approach to discipleship.  Some churches teach Life Principles from the Bible, others emphasize expository preaching through the Epistles, others bounce form topic to topic (prayer, family, parenting, purpose, sex) based on various isolated texts.

There is a place for all of these types of teaching.  But I believe the primary approach we take as leaders/pastors is to help invite folks to enter the story of Jesus and the disciples, to imagine ourselves in the shoes of the disciples, dropping our own nets, leaving our past life behind, following Jesus, chewing on his parables, stepping out in faith and walking on water, and becoming more and more like him.

As this passage reveals, the first task of the disciple is to BE WITH HIM.  For he is already with us: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28).