Being a Disciple means being a leader

Just wrapped up my class on Discipleship and Evangelism in the NT. Hard to believe, but after starting classes 3 years ago, I am now just 4 classes away from graduating! My topic for the final paper was on Leadership as an aspect of Discipleship. Here is an excerpt from my paper. If you want to read the whole thing let me know and I will forward on a copy:

What does it mean to be a Disciple, and not just a Disciple, but a Christian Disciple? The operative word for our purposes is Christian discipleship. The reality is that there are many different types of discipleship. One can refer to discipleship in the context of pop music or music instruction, a religious sect, a specific trade like an electrician or carpenter, and so on. But Christian discipleship is more than just showing the ropes or equipping someone for a task. “It also involves character training, which involves confrontations, corrections, and other aspects of caring that are Christ-focused, ultimately, for the purpose of honoring Christ.” (Kang, 2008)
A Disciple is many things and embodies multiple aspects of life. Jesus frequently referred to His followers as disciples (mathetai): over 65 times in Matthew, 44 times in Mark, 34 times in Luke, and over 70 times in John. Additionally, the followers of John the Baptist are referred to as disciples and the occurrence of the word appears frequently (over 25 times) in the Book of Acts. (Longenecker, 4) These disciples, these followers of Jesus were believers, workers, evangelists, administrators and martyrs, they covered the gamut for our Lord. They were teachers, shepherds, “fishers of men”, and they all fell under the umbrella of disciple.

Since a disciple can take on many roles and involve various different aspects or ministry calls, our objective for this brief paper will be focused on leadership, and on a disciple as a leader. Jesus was not only a teacher, He was not only a role model for those that followed Him, but He was a leader. As Richard Bauckham declares about Jesus, “His teaching is ancillary to His deeds. His mission is to do the works that His Father has given Him to do for the salvation of the world.” (Bauckham, 1337) In short, Jesus led and was a leader. He invested his all in leading His disciples and in turn expecting them to be leaders of others. The objective for this paper will be 3fold: to define and highlight the characteristics of leadership as a part of discipleship- including the effect of the spiritual gifts on the leadership call, to focus specifically on Paul’s example of leadership (through the Apostolic appointment of Jesus Christ) and the various roles he employed, and lastly to summarize my personal philosophy and approach to being a disciple of Christ through being a leader.

The reality is that as a Christian, a person called to serve as a leader is a disciple, because disciples are called to lead. Disciples follow and imitate Christ. And in imitating Christ, disciples become leaders; so inevitably disciples will be leaders in some varying capacity.