Key Characteristics of a Disciple

Why discipleship?

Before ascending to heaven, Jesus gave instructions to his disciples to “makedisciples of all nations” in Matthew 28:18-20. That small group obeyed Jesus and todaythere are followers of Jesus all over the world.Every Christian should be a disciple and should be making disciples. In 1Corinthians 11:1, Paul the apostle told the Corinthians, “Follow my example, as I followthe example of Christ.” This is the essence of Christian discipleship. We follow men andwomen who are leading us to Jesus. When we become more mature Christians, we leadothers to follow Jesus, as we ourselves follow Him.Christianity is like a long chain, and each of us are links leading to Jesus. No onecan become a Christian and grow into maturity without a more mature Christian guidingand positively influencing them. We all have direct and indirect discipleship relationshipswith more mature believers. In turn, those people learned from others. Eventually, we canall trace our spiritual lineage back to Jesus Christ.

What are the characteristics of a good disciple?

This lesson lists four important characteristics of a good disciple. Thesecharacteristics are important to remember for two reasons:1.

We will know how to be good disciples ourselves.

If we have thesecharacteristics, we will receive maximum benefits from discipleship.2.

We will know how to identify people with potential for discipleship.

Becausewe have limited amounts of time, we should be careful to invest ourselves in people who have the characteristics of good disciples.Also, it is important to understand that charisma (popularity), skill, andknowledge are not essential characteristics of disciples. Moses was not very charismatic,and was not a good speaker. Peter was not very educated. And David was the youngest of his family and from the smallest clan in Israel. This lesson describes what essentialcharacteristics are for excellent disciples.

Faithful

Faithful people make good disciples. They can be trusted with importantinformation and tasks. A good example of a faithful person is Timothy, who was adisciple of Paul the Apostle.

Acts 16:1-3

He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whosemother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, sohe circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

Timothy showed that he was faithful when Paul sent him to churches as arepresentative. For example, see how Paul describes Timothy to the Philippians:

Philippians 2:19-24

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But youknow that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.3I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see howthings go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

From these verses, we can see that Timothy served with Paul as a son with hisfather. Paul and Timothy felt such an affinity and loyalty toward one another that theycould describe each other and father and son. Timothy shared the same interests as Paul(and with Jesus Christ) in that he cared deeply about the Philippians. Paul could trustTimothy to faithfully represent himself and also the interests of Jesus among thePhilippians, or wherever else Paul sent Timothy.Late in life, soon before Paul was about to be executed, he wrote a letter toTimothy urging him to pass on the doctrine and mandate to spread the gospel. Paulinstructed Timothy to entrust the message and gospel calling to reliable (faithful) menwho were also qualified by their life example to teach others.

2 Timothy 2:1-2

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you haveheard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also bequalified to teach others.

Faithfulness is an essential characteristic of a disciple. Faithful, reliable, and loyal people can be trusted with the precious gospel message.

Available

Disciples must also be available. This means they put their discipleship callingfirst in life. Matthew 8 describes one man who said he would follow Jesus after he buriedhis father (or, after his father grew old and passed away). Jesus answered plainly thatfollowing Him must be a priority in a disciple’s life.

Matthew 8:18-22

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of thelake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow youwherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hasno place to lay his head." Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Availability is not a matter of busyness, but a matter of priorities. Busy people can be available. God doesn’t just call people who have nothing else to do. When Jesus calledPeter and Andrew, James and John, and Matthew, they were all busy doing work, butimmediately stopped what they were doing to follow Jesus.Available people will hear the voice of God and respond immediately. If we areavailable in this way, we will not make excuses but will look for a way to accomplishwhat God has called us to do.

Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen."Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 9:9

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector'sbooth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

As disciples, we should not put other things ahead of following Jesus. Whenchoosing people to disciple, we should look for people who are available and ready torespond to God’s challenge.

Teachable

Disciples also need to be teachable people. If they are unwilling to learn fromothers, they cannot grow. Being teachable does not mean being gullible. It means that wereceive information with eagerness, but check to see if it aligns with the Word of God.For example, the Bereans in Acts 17 received the gospel message from Paul, but alsoexamined the Old Testament scriptures to see if what Paul said was true.Disciples should listen to their leaders with an open mind and examine everythingaccording to the Bible. In disputable matters, where it is unclear what the Bible says,disciples should give the benefit of the doubt to their leaders, who are accountable to Godfor their spiritual growth.

Acts 17:10-11

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Disciples should also learn from the examples of godly people. Althougheveryone has sin in their lives, we should watch our leaders and imitate the good aspectsof their lives.