Radical Discipleship: Jesus vs. Modern Christianity

Coffee With Conrad

What Did Jesus Really Mean by "Make Disciples"? Contrasting 1st Century vs. Modern Discipleship
Key Points:
In 1st century Israel, discipleship under a rabbi was a significant multi-year commitment involving close daily relational living and imitation of the rabbi. The goal was to become like the rabbi in character, behavior and lifestyle.
Jesus' call to "make disciples" meant perpetuating this intense rabbi-disciple relationship model, with disciples becoming teachers themselves. It involved deep sacrifice, leaving everything to follow the rabbi.
In contrast, modern western discipleship often:
Emphasizes comfort and personal fulfillment over sacrifice
Uses classroom-style teaching vs. relational immersion
Makes disciple-making a side ministry vs. the core mission
Sees persecution as failure vs. a privilege of sharing in Christ's sufferings
Focuses on information transfer vs. transformational lifestyle
To align with Jesus' intent, the modern church needs to recapture the early church's model of sacrificial, relational, every-believer disciple-making as the driving mission, even if it means embracing discomfort and suffering for Christ. The goal is Christlike transformation, not just knowledge transfer.
Links:
Book: "Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus"
YouTube: "Rabbis and Disciples" from Walking the Text channel
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