In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul told the Christians in Corinth, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (NIV).
So, as people who want to be better disciples of Jesus, let’s look at the example Paul sets for us as he made it his goal to follow Christ. Along the way, we will find multiple marks of a disciple of Jesus.
A Disciple Has a New Identity
From the life of the apostle Paul, we see a clear difference between his way of life before and after surrendering to the lordship of Jesus. In his former way of life, he was “the chief persecutor of the early church.”[1] Now, Paul was becoming its hardest-working evangelist.
In light of his example, we who claim to be followers of Jesus must never see people as the church’s true enemy, regardless of how much they may hate and even seek to destroy the church. Instead, we must see our true enemy as Satan, and anyone following him as our motivation for evangelism. Being clear on this distinction makes it all the easier to rejoice with angels in Heaven upon the conversion of the unlikely. As John Stott put it, “Was the arch enemy of the church to be welcomed as a brother? Was the dreaded fanatic to be received as a member of the family? Yes, it was so.”[2]
“We who claim to be followers of Jesus must never see people as the church’s true enemy, regardless of how much they may hate and even seek to destroy the church.”
A Disciple Shares the Gospel
Another measure of the sincerity of a disciple of Jesus is their eagerness to begin sharing this good news with others as quickly as possible. This does not mean they are given leadership within the church as Paul himself would later say is ill-advised (and I can’t help but wonder now if he wrestled with this very issue himself). It does mean they are given tasks (most notably, the task to make more disciples). Acts 9:20 gives the impression that Paul wasted no time telling his former peers of his new faith.
A Disciple Pursues Formation
While Paul immediately began ministering in the synagogues, he also took time to wrestle with his new faith. He would travel to the desert to be formed. Much like David on the run from Saul, and Moses on the run from Pharaoh, Paul had a period where he developed before he became a missionary. “Saul went into the desert. The desert is like the sea. It owes nothing to man…Here the truth is held as dear as is water.”[3]
“While Paul immediately began ministering in the synagogues, he also took time to wrestle with his new faith.”
A Disciple Submits to the Apostle’s Teaching
As much as one needs to wrestle with their faith and have a personal connection to the living God, that faith must also be humble enough to be in submission to the truths of Christ as spelled out by the teachings of those who walked with Him. This is just as true for us who live two thousand years later as it was for Paul, who was alive at the time of Christ. “Even Paul, who in his letter to the Galatians says everything he can honestly say to emphasize his independence from Jerusalem, admits that he visited the ‘pillars’ there—James, Cephas, and John—to make sure he preached the true message about Jesus.”[4]
A Disciple Loves the Church
As we have already stated, Paul used to be a man who threatened the Church. He breathed out murderous threats (which he had already proven he was ready to back up by holding the coats of those who killed Stephen) and went with the authority of the Jewish council to arrest Christians wherever he could find them in Damascus. After his conversion, however, we read letters from a man who now devoted his life to the church he once hated. “The same mind which had led him to persecute the Christians so relentlessly functioned after his Damascus Road experience no less energetically and masterfully on their behalf.”[5] In this, we gather a profound truth about a disciple of Christ: To follow Christ is to love His Church.
“To follow Christ is to love His Church.”
A Disciple Follows Jesus
The disciple of Jesus is also not only to be powerful in word, but also in deed. They must not just “talk the talk” but also “walk the walk.” “The power of Saul was great in his sermons, and greater still in his actions.”[6] A disciple of Jesus follows Jesus, in word and deed, even amid opposition. Paul, as well as many early Christians and Church leaders, would face severe persecution. Paul would face multiple imprisonments until his beheading in Rome under the emperor Nero.
A Disciple Seeks Unity
Unity of the brotherhood within the Church marks a disciple. Paul cared deeply about this, writing in Ephesians 4:1-3, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (NIV).
“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
But what about when unity isn’t achievable? What happens when you and a fellow disciple of Jesus find yourselves in a persistent, significant disagreement? Paul and Barnabas were two men who traveled the Roman world planting churches and establishing leaders. They were deeply unified. Yet upon their second trip, Paul and Barnabas were in dispute over the decision to take John Mark (who had deserted them on the first journey). We find that even when there is no reconciliation on an issue, there can still be a parting of ways that strategically prioritizes the work of Christ. Each man took a companion and doubled the work of Christ. What the Devil intended for evil, the Lord intended for good. As the Lord’s disciples, we trust Him and keep following wherever He leads us.
[1] Mark Moore, Acts. (Joplin, Mo: College Press, 2011), 171.
[2] Stott, John R W. 1994. The Message of Acts : The Spirit, the Church & the World. Leicester, England ; Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press. Pg. 176
[3] Henrietta Buckmaster, Paul: A Man Who. Changed the World (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1965), 27.
[4] Mark E. Moore, Fanning the Flame: Probing the Issues in Acts (Joplin, Mo.: College Press Pub. Co. 2003), 328.
[5] Malcolm Muggeridge and Alec Vidler, Paul, Envoy Extraordinary (Collins, 1972), 24-25
[6] Sholem Asch, The Apostle (New York: Carroll & Graf Pub., 1985), 309
