Hello friends, Welcome to Part 2 of our Discipleship series and ask ourselves the question: “Am I a Disciple?” I am calling this Part 2a since I think as I have been preparing this it will take me longer in one video than I would like, so look for Part 2b next week as we continue discussing the question “Am I a Disciple”
Last week we tackled the first questions: What is discipleship and what is a disciple.
If you remember we started with this quote of John Piper:
Discipleship is an ambiguous word, it can mean my own discipleship, the process in my own life of becoming a Disciple; It can also mean the process of Discipling another person, the process of making a disciple of another.
I think this ambiguity John Piper describes though is actually clarity. In scripture the theme is not a one or the other description of Discipleship. Scripture give us both of these pictures: that we are to be becoming disciples, discipleship. And also we should be engaged in the process of making another a disciple, Discipleship.
So today I want to specifically drill down into the first definition of Discipleship: “my own discipleship, the process in my own life of becoming a Disciple” And we will do that by asking the question: Am I A Disciple.
So last week we were really intentional with our looking at the Greek word μαθητής (mathētēs) It means in the generic sense of the word “a Follower, or a Pupil”
If you missed last week’s video this is where I recommend you stop this teaching and click on this link right up here and go watch last week’s teaching because these teachings build on each other.
In last weeks video, we looked at the generic use of this word μαθητής (mathētēs) in scripture and we discovered that simply using the word Disciple, μαθητής (mathētēs) does not necessarily mean what we think of being a Disciple of Christ is. This is important to understand in our reading of scripture so we do not apply a generic aspect to our lives of being a disciple without recognizing that Jesus contradicted that generic use and expanded it to a deeper meaning. In that passage we discussed from Matthew 8:21-22 Jesus uses the word: ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheō) (Ah-Ko_Loo_Thao) which is an expanded word for Follower, It means to “Follow and Obey” and it carries the implication of a deeper commitment and submission. If we are going to answer the question “Am I a Disciple” we have to see this difference, because what we are really asking ourselves is “Am I a Disciple of Jesus”
So before we do this I want to give you two “rules” or “Principles” of Hermeneutics, there are more than two however since we are not doing a study on Hermeneutics here today but rather one on Discipleship I will keep it to just these two:
- Context “Keep scripture in its context” How do the passages before and after this particular passage inform our understanding of the passage itself.
- Let scripture interpret scripture “What other scriptures inform our understanding of this particular scripture”
• Major premise: God is entirely truthful, without error, and incapable of error.
• Minor premise: The Bible is God-breathed.
• Conclusion: Therefore, the Bible is entirely truthful, without error, and incapable of error. And the Bible informs our understanding of itself.
That means that the Bible doesn’t contradict itself. A sound principle is that we should interpret less clear passages in light of more clear passages. We shouldn’t zoom in on just one text and interpret it without reference to the rest of the Bible.
If we use the principles of Hermeneutics we can rightly Exegete the text. Exegesis draws the meaning out of a text (that’s good),
However, when we don’t use proper Hermeneutical principles we risk falling into the trap of Eisegeting the text. Eisegesis reads a meaning into a text (that’s bad).
Let me explain it like this, let’s say you have a car and you need to work on that car. But in order to work on that car you can’t just walk out to the car and go to work. You need something to be able to work on the car: You need tools. Hermeneutic principles are the tools. Exegesis is
using those tools to actually do the work. You can have the tools to work on a car and still not do any work. So “working” on the car is like Exegesis, it is taking the tools and doing the work. Having the tools but not using them, without doing the work does not get us to a correct interpretation of Scripture.
Eisegesis is also where we tend to apply our presuppositions to the text. Let me give you an example in the theme of our study today: In Acts 11 we find this statement:
“And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Vs 26
Now if we Eisegete this text: meaning if we apply our own presuppositions to this text we could infer based on a culturally informed viewpoint of what a “Christian” is we could impose an answer that we are a “Disciple of Jesus” based on a cultural definition of “Christian”:
Today a Christian is defined in a number of different ways:
- I go to church occasionally, I am a Christian.
- I was raised in a Christian, Therefore I am a Christian.
- I am a “Insert favorite denominational flavor here” therefore I am a Christian
- Maybe we politicize it and say:
- I am a Republican of course I am a Christian
- or; I am a Democrat of course I am a Christian
- Or even still; I am an American and America is a Christian nation, so I am a Christian.
Any of those applications of the term Christian if applied to this passage of scripture would then be able back into the statement “Since I am a Christian and Acts 11:26 says Disciples are called Christians, then I am a Disciple”
This is what we would call applying presuppositions and Eisegeting the text: Eisegesis, reading a meaning into the text.
And in this text, the word Christian does not inform the word Disciple, on the contrary, the word Disciple informs the word Christian. That means that the word Disciple and more specifically the life that the word Disciple represents is what actually defines what a Christian is.
If we apply ourselves to Exegesis and use the hermeneutical tools at our disposal in order to “Draw the meaning out from the text” And we use just the two Hermeneutical tools we discussed today:
Context “Keep scripture in its context” How do the passages before and after this particular passage inform our understanding of the passage itself.
Let scripture interpret scripture “What other scriptures inform our understanding of this particular scripture”
We get a more clear understanding of the passage and can then interpret it correctly. Let’s first look at the context and see what it says about this passage:
Vs 19-26 “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.
Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”
So when we read the context we see at least two of the marks of “Discipleship” we discussed last week:
Conversion and Continuing in the Lord
Vs 20-21 “But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.”
We see the preaching of the word, the conversion response and then in Vs 22-23 “Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.”
Here we also see one sent with the intentionality to teach them that with all-purpose of heart they to continue with the Lord. The lifelong process of becoming Christlike. That was Barnabas. whose nickname was son of encouragement.
Without reading into this passage one could however infer that the other part of the process of becoming a disciple was likely present because of our second Hermeneutical principle of letting Scripture interpret Scripture we see there are no less than six different passages of scripture in the Book of Acts that read that they “believed and were baptized”
And if we add the scriptures in Matthew 28 we discussed last week and the command to Make Disciples “Baptizing them” and Teaching them. Then it is a safe interpretation of this passage in Acts 11 that they preached the word, many were converted, baptized, and then taught to continue in the Lord.
And that is Discipleship.
Using the term “Christian” today does not mean we are a Disciple of Jesus. Likewise using the term Disciple today does not necessarily mean we are a disciple of Jesus. So what we really learned today is that there is more to answering this question “Am I a Disciple of Jesus” So next week we will be looking intentionally at Jesus teaching on what it means to be His disciple.
And with that we will say goodbye and I will see you next week for Part 2b of our teaching series on discipleship as we continue to answer the question: Am I a Disciple of Jesus”?