Perhaps most people have a misunderstanding of the word “disciple”, for they suppose that this word should be applied only to the twelve men who followed Jesus. While they could be called disciples, and were, in fact, often called disciples, yet the more strict term for them would be the term “apostles”. A look at Acts 26B will help us here: “…….And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch”. Perhaps some of my readers have never noticed that the words “Christian”, and “Christians” occur only three times totally in the entire Bible. Acts 26:28 and I Peter 4:16 use the word “Christian” one time each, with Acts 11:2 6 using the word “Christians” one time. Nowhere else, other than these three references, are the words “Christian” and “Christians” used in the Bible. The word “disciple” is used 29 times in the Bible, and only in the New Testament. The word “disciples” is used over 200 times in the Bible, but only once in the Old Testament (Isaiah 8:16), and only one time in the possessive case (John 13:5). The New Testament word for “disciple” is always the same Greek word, and it means: “a learner, i.e., a pupil”. It comes from a word that means: “To learn in any way, or to understand”. So, dear “Christian”, you are better known in Scripture as a disciple, or a learner!!!
It Is interesting that those who follow certain trades are often anxious to “learn the ropes” of their trade, but disciples, often called Christians in our day, but not in Bible days, are often not too eager to “learn the ropes” of discipleship, or Christianity. I am certainly not against the use of the word “Christian”, for I use it continually, partly because most people would not know what I mean, if I used the word “disciple” in the same way the Bible uses it. I am almost age 80, but I still have a desire to be a better disciple than I am. I mentioned the word “apostle”, and although a few outside the twelve who followed Jesus, Paul for one, were called “apostles”, yet the term was basically reserved for the twelve who followed Jesus. (Even one of these, Judas, was a fake.)
May I ask my readers how eager they are to learn more about Jesus, or how eager they are, if they have received Christ for salvation, to learn as disciples? We human being are often quite adept at keeping some things to ourselves, but those who are believers, or disciples of Christ, should not be timid about admitting Who their Leader is! I hear quite often that a certain person studied under a well known professor, so why should we be timid about announcing that we are learners in the school of Christ? Oh, I realize that many people are not comfortable in talking about Jesus and the salvation that He offers, but my question would be: Why should we be timid about speaking up for our Master Teacher? It could be that many do not desire to think of discipleship as being in a position as a student, but that is exactly what the name indicated, and all of us who have been in the family of God very long understand that we surely do not know everything we need to know about following Christ and being good disciples, or students. It might surprise some of our friends if we should begin using the term “disciple” as it was used in the Bible, in fact, it would likely take some time for many to catch on to what the word means. Others might think that we are being “self-righteous”, if we use the term “disciple” to describe our position before Jesus. Whatever the case, I think we would do well to use words the same way the Bible uses them, and the term “disciple” is very prominent in Scripture, while the term “Christian” is used only three times, and one of the three times it is used by King Agrippa (Acts 26:28), and perhaps in a derogatory manner then! So, do not be afraid as a believer to tell others that you are a disciple of Jesus, although you are not an apostle.
By J. Briggs King, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921