We’ve been asking the wrong question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years, we’ve asked people, “Are you a follower of Jesus?” or “Do you believe in Jesus?” But these questions no longer carry the weight they once did. It’s time we started asking something far more penetrating: Are you a disciple of Jesus?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Belief Isn’t Enough<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people believe Jesus was a real person. Many believe in “God”\u2014yet they believe in a god of their own making, shaped by culture, comfort, and personal preference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n James 2:19 reminds us of an uncomfortable truth: “Even the demons believe\u2014and shudder.” Belief alone requires nothing of us. It costs nothing. It changes nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following Without Intimacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Followers simply follow. They linger at a distance. They watch from the sidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why social media platforms have “followers”\u2014you can follow someone, keep tabs on their content, even admire them from afar, yet have zero personal contact. No relationship. No transformation. No cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same is true spiritually. You can follow Jesus\u2014attend church, quote scripture, even defend certain doctrines\u2014and still remain fundamentally unchanged. Because followers and believers don’t require intimacy. Only disciples do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What Makes a Disciple Different?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Disciples sit at His feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are taught. They are corrected. They hang on every word, not casually consuming content but desperately hungry for truth that transforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disciples are intentional. They don’t drift through their spiritual lives hoping to absorb holiness by osmosis. They make deliberate choices to lay down their own ways, their own plans, their own carefully constructed versions of who they think they should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disciples mimic and seek to imitate Christ. They don’t just admire Him from a distance\u2014they study His character, His responses, His priorities, and they ask the Holy Spirit to reproduce those things in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n