My "Brand" of Discipleship

Mark 1:16-17  "Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

We all search for something in this life to bring purpose and meaning. The idea of being called to something is used more now than I remember hearing. That may not be the case, but I feel like I hear it used more regularly about even every day jobs. It is likely that the men mentioned in the above verse knew their calling was to be fishermen. It was a family business that would provide. Instead, this man comes along and gives them a new calling, a calling of discipleship.

Interestingly, Jesus' call to these men was different than other teachers of the time. Why? He chose them, they didn't choose Him. Daniel Akin in the Christ Centered Exposition Commentary on Mark explains, "In rabbinic schools of the day, the aspiring student sought out the respected rabbi."(20) So, discipleship was something the disciple wanted, but there was more to it than just choosing your teacher. Akin states further, "Further, the student's allegiance was to the Law, not to the teacher. Jesus' form of discipleship is fundamentally different! Jesus seeks them out, and their allegiance will be to Him." (20)

Did you catch that? Disciples sought out a person, but really aligned themselves to the person's teaching. So, they in some ways looked to a teacher's "brand" of discipleship. Jesus however, wanted the allegiance of His disciples to Him, not simply to His teachings. Why? To follow just the teachings of Jesus really leads to moralism and not salvation. Salvation alone rests in the Person of Christ. His teachings lead us to Him. Jesus didn't want followers to be simply "good people". He wanted followers who believe and trust in Him and that He carries the power to make His teachings alive in the follower.

This made me think more about American Christianity today. Do we sometimes find ourselves becoming a disciple of a particular Christian leader's writings, sermons, or YouTube videos? In a world of celebrity Christians do we have more disciples of Matt Chandler, David Platt, Lysa Terkeurst, JD Geear, Lecrae, etc? I would assume the people I listed are pointing people to Jesus and not themselves, but perhaps we adhere ourselves to their particular "brand" of Christianity.

So what am I saying? I am not saying stop listening to podcasts or reading books by important leaders of our time. We still need their leadership and guidance as well as those local to us. What I am saying is check yourself. Do you find yourself more influenced by the people or their particular "brand" of discipleship or by Jesus and His Word? Do you find yourself seeking answers to life or "doing church" more from the next person's book or from the Creator of life and the church? Remember we become what we worship/give our attention to. We are called to be disciples of Jesus, not the people He calls to do His work.