Discipleship Transforming

the World
A Coptic Orthodox Perspective

Wedad A. Tawfik

Wedad A. Tawfik is professor of Theology at the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies, Cairo, and
visiting professor of Theology at the Coptic Seminary in Germany.

Abstract

Discipleship is the core of Christianity, based on the work of the Holy Spirit, in
fulfilment of the Lord’s command. True discipleship is capable of transforming the
world, so that in the end all kingdoms and reign shall be to the Lord and his Christ.
Therefore, discipleship is linked with evangelism, missionary, teaching, and social work.
With the emerging hostile trends all over the world, faith is endangered. So it is
important to remind ourselves of the aim of Christianity for humanity, for which so great
a price was paid by our Lord (his precious blood) to bring the world into the knowledge
of the truth. We have the privilege and honour to bear the precious name and to declare
it to the whole world, even if we suffer for that. Even though this means that we have to
bear his cross, to face the challenges, and to resist the powers of evil in the world. The
church is aware of its mission, to reveal to the world Christ the lover of humanity, and
for this end to serve them – to warn, teach, and guide them – through our behaviour, our
acts, and our words. Copts are keen on serving their communities and everywhere they
go, are always ready to teach others about the cause of our hope, that they also may enjoy
the fruit and the deserts of the blood of Christ. This article honestly records the
experience of the Coptic Orthodox Church regarding discipleship in practice throughout
its history up to the present day.

Keywords

Discipleship, Transforming, Holy Spirit, Martyrdom, Monasticism, Persecution

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“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing . . . teaching them” (Matt. 28:19)

Discipleship is the core of Christianity practised by the church since the Pentecost
in fulfilment of the Lord’s command to his disciples after his glorious resurrection.
The Lord linked it with baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, and with teaching
his commandments.

A disciple in Christianity is a follower of Christ, who upholds his teaching, walks in

his way, witnesses to him, and teaches others about him. A disciple witnesses to
Christ the Saviour, the Redeemer, the lover of humankind, the compassionate, who
wants salvation for everybody. For this purpose mainly he incarnated and shed his
own precious blood for them.

Discipleship needs the work of the Holy Spirit within those in charge of teaching
and evangelizing. As His Holiness late Pope Shenouda III says,

It was the Holy Spirit who gave the power necessary for evangelizing . . . Without Him the
apostles would not have been able to work . . . He calls and chooses and sends . . . Before the
Lord’s Ascension He commanded his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they receive power on
high, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8) . . . Therefore to be
filled with the Holy Spirit became a precondition for all church ministers.1

The Holy Spirit gives understanding, transforms, gives heavenly wisdom, and gives
gifts for ministry. He alone teaches and guides: “Nobody can say that Jesus is Lord
except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3) and “No one speaking by the Spirit of God
calls Jesus Accursed” (1 Cor. 12:3). He teaches us what to say: “For it is not you
who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matt. 10:20). On the
contrary, relying only on the human mind and knowledge of books without seeking
the Spirit may bring about words of human wisdom that cannot yield the required
fruit. He is a fiery Spirit that inflames the minister. With one sermon St Peter,
inflamed with the Holy Spirit, attracted three thousand to faith. With this Spirit the
church can transform the whole world and bring it to the knowledge of the truth.

Discipleship is privilege and responsibility, and the call is for everyone. God wants
that all people be saved, and the only way he set for salvation is through the
church. This is realized by accepting faith and accepting the redemption of Christ.

1
Shenouda III (Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark), The Holy Spirit and His Work in Us, 1st ed. (Cairo:
El Keraza Publishing House, 1992), 64–68.

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Following the way he drew for us enables us to enjoy the deserts of his blood
which he shed for us. Thus in the early days of the church, “The Lord added to
the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47) As H. H. Pope Shenouda
III says, “The world is full of numerous missions, but the greatest of them is work-
ing for the salvation of people.”2

The role of the church toward making disciples of all nations

Since its foundation, the church kept preaching the good news all over the world.
The early church fathers knew well the message and fulfilled it diligently and faith-
fully, which fruit we enjoy at present. Without their and their successors’ efforts there
would have been no Christianity in the world today. The mission continued, and will
continue unto the end of ages, when as announced by the seventh angel in the Reve-
lation, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of
his Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. 11:15). Therefore, it is our
role to give this knowledge to everybody so that all people may believe and be saved.

This may be possible at certain times and in certain places, but at other times or in
other places this might be difficult, and the disciples have to suffer for carrying out the
holy mission. In these present days in particular it is so difficult, if not impossible in
certain places, to speak about Christ or about God because of the increasing tendency
toward atheism, denial of the existence of God, or denial of Christ as Saviour and
Redeemer. In such circumstances disciples, ministers, and God’s servants face great
challenges and persecution for the sake of spreading the word, even to the extent of
martyrdom merely for bearing the name “Christian”! The Lord in the Revelation warns
us the devil is working hard with great wrath, disguised under many names and
employing many people to fight God’s children anywhere, because he knows that he
has a short time before being cast into the bottomless pit (Rev. 12:12; 20:3).

The Coptic Orthodox Church fulfilling the command

throughout her history3

The early Copts were known for their inflamed desire to witness to Christ every-
where, in Egypt as well as abroad, regardless of the suffering they usually expected to
undergo. History recorded the ages of suffering for faith in Egypt under the Roman
2
Ibid., 15.
3
Malaty Tadros, Introduction to the Coptic Orthodox Church (Alexandria, Egypt: St George Coptic Orthodox Church, 1993),
290–94.

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Empire, which culminated under Diocletian in AD 284. The names are innumerable,
but the church keeps their memory, celebrates their feasts annually, and builds
churches after the names of some of them. Let us consider a few examples of those
true disciples who witnessed in Egypt or abroad, whose ministry was influential.

In the Roman army there were Coptic officers and soldiers who witnessed to Christ
among their pagan colleagues, in Egypt or abroad, and many gave up their lives joy-
fully. They refused to worship before idols so they were beheaded or killed after
severe torture. Some Coptic merchants and sailors witnessed to the Lord through
their trips, and passed the Coptic culture and arts on to many countries in Europe.

In Switzerland, in AD 285, a Theban legion arrived, led by St Maurice from Upper

Egypt, and he was martyred there for refusing to offer sacrifices to the idols. His
statue stands today in one of the public squares of the city of St Moritz. All the
legion were martyred with him for the same reason. St Verina, who accompanied
the legion with others to serve them, after serving the community there, suffered
martyrdom. There is a statue for her with a comb and a water jar in her hand refer-
ring to her service there. His three friends – a legionary Felix, his sister Regula, and
Exupernatius – hid themselves, and eventually could reach the lake of Zurich,
where they baptized converts, until the ruler heard about them and they were
beheaded. They are the patron saints of Zurich, and with their heads in hands are
the subject of the shield of the city of Zurich. A similar story is recounted about St
Victor, the hero of the town of Solothurn, whose relics were transferred to Geneva
in the fifth century.

In the British Isles as well, a Coptic missionary arrived a long time before St
Augustine of Canterbury arrived in AD 579.

In Africa, Ethiopia and the Sudan accepted Christianity through Alexandrian

preaching. The Copts had their influence, not only on religion, but also on culture,
arts, and all other aspects of life.

At present the Coptic Orthodox Church continues its mission witnessing to the
Lord. Many churches have been founded abroad, almost in every part of the world.
These churches have their active ministry witnessing to the Lord in those places. In
Africa, for instance, we have about 65 churches, three monasteries, two or three
hospitals, four schools, and four vocational training centres. These churches and
institutions serve the whole country. We also have many churches in Asia, in

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Australia, in almost every country within Europe, in England, in North America, in

South America, and in Canada.

The Coptic Church making disciples through education

Alexandrian religious thought spread all over the world through the famous Cate-
chetical School of Alexandria, the oldest in the world, founded by St Mark himself.
Its fame and influence reached the whole Christian world. Christian principles and
dogma were taught through this school, and the works of its great deans are still
the trustworthy source of biblical teaching. Among those were Athenagoras, Panta-
naeus, Clement of Alexandria, Didymus, and Origen. They attracted leaders from
the East and West to be trained by the Coptic theologians.

Those deans of the school also made trips abroad guided by the Spirit to preach
the word. St Clement visited Italy and Greece, and during persecution he went to
Palestine and Syria to teach there. Origen visited Rome during the pontificate of
Zephyrinus and transferred the Alexandrian theological thought to it. He also was
summoned by the emperor’s mother to go to Antioch. He visited Greece and also
established his school in Palestine. Pantaenus undertook preaching and educational
activities in India and in Asia.4

In the first three Ecumenical Councils – Nicaea in AD 325, Constantinople in AD

381, and Ephesus in AD 431 – the fathers of the Coptic Church of Alexandria
played a prominent role witnessed to by the whole world for defending the Chris-
tian faith on the ecumenical level. Among the great church leaders and theologians
is St Athanasius the Great, the 20th Patriarch of the See of St Mark, who in Nicaea
in AD 235 formulated the Creed which all churches still adopt. St Cyril is another
example of a long chain of Coptic great figures who influenced the history of
Christianity.

The Coptic Church making disciples through monasticism

The Coptic Orthodox Church had a leading role in spreading the monastic life in
all its forms and systems. Biographies were written of some pioneers of asceti-
cism, such as St Anthony, the father of all monks, whose biography St Athana-
sius wrote, as well as St Bachomius, the father of the cenobite system of
4
Ibid., 294.

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monasticism, St Macarius the Great, and St Paul, the first anchorite in the world.
Their influence, teachings and writings, way of life, simplicity, spirituality, and
asceticism extended all over the world, and were the basis for the monastic
movement everywhere. Pilgrims from East and West visited Egypt and settled
among the monks and afterwards wrote about them, like St Jerome, John Cas-
sian, and Melenia the Elder. Moreover, many leaders of asceticism outside Egypt
started their monastic life under the guidance of those Egyptian pioneers, such as
St Eugin. St Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesaria of Cappadocia, the founder
and organizer of the monastic movement in Asia Minor, visited Egypt around
AD 357 and adopted the monastic style of life of the desert fathers of Egypt.
His rule is followed by the Eastern Orthodox Churches. St Jerome also came to
Egypt and left details of his experiences in his letters. The monastic orders of
Egypt were adopted by Benedict the father of Western monasticism, who
founded the Benedictine order in the sixth century on the model of St Bacho-
mius. Actually, countless pilgrims visited the desert fathers to emulate their spirit-
ual and disciplined way of life.

At present, the Coptic Orthodox Church has many monasteries all over Egypt,
with a large number of monks and nuns who follow the same way of life of their
fathers. Monasticism today is not confined to worship, for monks and nuns have
many other activities and even run projects that serve the community, providing
high-quality products with competitive prices, like agricultural products, small hand-
crafts, and animal products.

The Coptic Orthodox Church’s evangelism abroad at present

With the increasing immigration movement since the mid-1960s, a large number of
Copts immigrated to various countries abroad. The patriarch H. H. Pope Kyrillos
VI (Cyril) dedicated a great deal of effort to shepherding them, with his successor
H. H. late Pope Shenouda III taking care of them more deeply. He established
churches and ordained priests for them in the countries of immigration. These
churches and the Copts abroad have always proved to be a good witness to the
Orthodox faith through their way of life and ministry. Many, through their example
of life, joined the Coptic Church. They establish good relations with other churches
and state institutions in those countries, and have common activities and meeting
with other churches, with Russian churches, Greek, Armenian, American, Syrian,
Catholic, and evangelical churches.

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The suffering Coptic Church, the mother of martyrs

Bearing the cross has always been the portion of the Coptic Church. Nevertheless,
the church was and still is a true live gospel witnessing to the truth, to its bride-
groom, through its living Orthodox faith, its pious evangelical life, and its bearing
the cross joyfully. The Coptic Church in Egypt is at present facing the same chal-
lenge previously experienced in the early centuries of Christianity, that is, persecu-
tion for bearing the name “Christian”. Over the last six years the suffering of
Copts has increased, as hundreds have been martyred and hundreds injured.

Nevertheless, they always prove to be true disciples, bearing the cross joyfully.
Everybody wonders how these martyrs refused to forsake faith or pretend to be
non-Christians to escape death, for the murderers asked them to be Muslims to
escape death but they refused, preferring to die as Christians rather than to live and
forsake their Lord! Everybody wonders how the families of those martyrs rejoiced
for having a martyr for faith in their family. Not to mention the injured, whose suf-
ferings continue for a long time, if not for their whole life. The most wonderful
thing that transforms many is how those suffering Copts and everyone in the
church pray for those who persecute and murder them, that the Lord may forgive
them and change them. This is the true love toward everybody, even enemies, love
that transforms and changes lives with the transforming power of the Spirit.

This is the cross that the Lord mentioned, saying, “If anyone desires to come after
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24).
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me”
(Matt. 10:38). To the Copts particularly, “It has been granted on behalf of Christ,
not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Phil. 1:29). Through the
church’s endurance many are transformed, as one of the early church fathers, con-
templating on the words of the Lord, “Go your way; behold, I send you out as
lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3), stated: when the wolves devoured the lambs
they themselves became lambs. History repeats itself: when the disciples had been
persecuted they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
name (Acts 5:41). Copts today do the same with courage, endurance, rejoicing, and
hope.

So even when witnessing to the Lord is not possible through preaching in the pres-
ent world – where fundamentalist movements reign disguised under various reli-
gious names – witnessing is accomplished through bearing the cross with pleasure.
This is much better than words, because it allows others to see how Christ makes

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us love even the enemies who kill the bodies but cannot touch the souls, and how
we lay all our hope in him.

However, Copts also have ministry of the word – through church meetings, Sunday
schools, seminaries, and theological institutes all over Egypt and abroad. Also, Cop-
tic television channels take part in mission through theological programmes, ser-
mons, and liturgy, which may be watched by anybody, even out of curiosity. Here
the Holy Spirit can work within them to know the truth and be transformed.

Discipleship transforms the community

It is important to highlight, as Metropolitan Serapion of the Coptic Diocese of Los

Angeles stated on the official site of the diocese and in one of his sermons, “The
Coptic Orthodox Church is not merely a school involved in research work and
teaching dogma, but also an institution that worships God and serves mankind. It
works for the renewal of this world, and hopefully awaits for the world to come.”5
The Coptic Church serves the community as a whole through the services it pro-
vides for everybody regardless of religion or affiliation, for the church is the mother
of everyone. The church establishes hospitals, schools, clinics, and food product
projects, providing the best services and the best products to the whole community,
without distinction.

For this is the commandment of our Lord, to do works of charity and care, and
whatever works we do are considered done to him personally, besides the fact that
we will be judged according to our works (Matt. 25:31–46). For this purpose He
says, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that
your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). This double mission of the church is
expressed by the Coptic Orthodox late bishop Samuel in a Muslim-Christian Con-
ference held in Kordoba in September 1972:

Our mission, both Moslems and Christians, is to seek diligently and seriously with a feeling of
responsibility before God and history to search into the challenges facing man at present from
spiritual, psychological, social, and economic aspects, for this influences the whole personality
and integrity of man and of the society as a whole. Religion has a duty to present to the new
generations such faith that liberates the souls and nations and at the same time be a means of
implanting spiritual values so that these values become influential in the life of individuals,
nations, and the whole world . . . the crisis of the present age is that development and

5
Serapion (Metropolitan of the Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California and Hawaii), Discipleship in Christ’s Way: Hom-
ily, (Los Angeles, 29 November 2016), on the official site of the bishopric.

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technology achieved in the recent years without similar spiritual progress made humans forget
that they have a spirit, to the extent that some people thought that material is a god who can
solve all problems and introduce solutions! Such unbalanced progress could not realize happi-
ness for man, but rather increased man’s concerns and problem.6

In Egypt and abroad the Coptic Church is known for serving the community. In
Africa, for instance, there is the active ministry of our Bishop for South Africa,
H. G. Bishop Antonius Morkos. He very recently inaugurated a complex in Uganda
comprising a church, a service building, a clinic, a residence building for volunteers
working there, and an orphanage. These services are usually provided to all Africans
without distinction. A similarly great project was established in Kenya many years
ago by H. G. Bishop Bolos (Paul), with a hospital for which he brought physicians
from Egypt. The project is running well and is appreciated by the state officials.

Such is the practical discipleship that transforms lives. A Christian is like a leaven
that leavens the whole world or the light that shines before the whole world, as the
Lord commanded us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Briefly, we are required
to be true children of God without fault and to shine as lights in the world, holding
fast the word of life (Phil. 2:15, 16).

Transforming discipleship and biblical teaching

“Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine . . . for in doing this you will save
both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:16). So we are required to take
heed to ourselves, how we behave, and how we work for our own salvation.
Then take heed to the doctrine to hand down sound teaching based on the holy
scripture and tradition, because those who hear the word may be influenced and
follow it and be saved, if receiving the sound teaching. So we ask here: Is there
any conflict between discipleship that transforms and biblical teaching? Does
teaching Bible and dogma contradict social work and extending love to the whole
world?

Both are required: to teach and to extend love and serve others. In the Coptic
Orthodox Church: “Teaching is not mere formality, nor ministry a mere position.
Religion is love transmitted from one heart to other hearts, and faith handed down

6
Samuel (Coptic Bishop), “‘A Word before the Moslem-Christian Conference’ in Kordoba in September 1972,” in Christian
Religion in Principal Concepts, ed. Tawadros Maurice, 4th ed. (Cairo: Dar Antoun Publishing House, July 2005), 216–17.

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from one generation to other generations. It is the kingdom of God spreading and
growing.”7 However, such questions face the Coptic Church now, amidst the call
for the unity of the church. We are aware that it is the Lord’s will that we all be
one, but this does not mean that we merge into other churches and lose our iden-
tity and faith. We respect the doctrines of all churches, but we are not ready to sur-
render for any reason our doctrines and our teaching, which we have received from
the early fathers who received them from the Lord himself. We are a traditional
church and we pride ourselves in this. We kept to the line from the early church
up till the present and unto the end of ages.

This does not mean we have no love or are narrow-minded. On the contrary, we
are faithful to our Lord, to his teaching, which is handed down to us by the holy
inspiration in the Bible through his disciples and apostles. The church is wise
enough to remove any deviation from the original faith, and keep its children well
informed of the pure teaching that our fathers kept by their blood throughout ages.
For as we have seen, many of our holy fathers suffered or were martyred to keep
their faith and hand it down pure to their children, some for defending faith, some
for holding to their chastity, and some for refusing to deny their Lord or worship
before idols. These are great examples whose blood and suffering we cannot ignore
or forget, for the blood of the martyrs is the seed of faith. We feel it is our respon-
sibility to keep this faith unto the second coming of the Lord.

As our Metropolitan Serapion of the Diocese of Los Angeles says, “The Coptic
Orthodox Church is well known as a conservative church, especially in dogmas and
doctrines. At the same time, it progresses, not by embracing new doctrines or new
‘articles of faith’, but by explaining the same faith ‘once given to the saints’ in a
contemporary language.” And also, “Dogmas interpret our whole philosophy of the
church through repeated practice of our faith through the holy tradition (Holy
Scriptures, worship, behavior, and preaching). The church experiences the Crucified
and Risen Christ, truth, and love at the same time.”8

This, however, does not mean that we make enmity with other churches, for we
also are an ecumenical church, knowing how to approach others, how to respect
them, and how to find points of agreement with them even concerning dogma.
The Coptic Church is an active member and one of the founders of the World
Council of Churches (WCC), of the Middle East Council of Churches, of the All
7
Ibid., 88.
8
Ibid.

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Africa Council of Churches, and of many other councils. The Coptic Church
actively participates in conferences, meetings, and dialogues held with other
churches to reach an agreement concerning any controversial points. Even with
other religions, in Egypt we have good relations with the Muslim leadership, we
exchange visits on certain occasions, and we hold common activities among youths
on both sides. The Coptic Church leadership behaves very prudently regarding the
sorrowful calamities undergone by the church members, such as murder and
declared persecution from fundamentalist Muslims.

The importance of teaching for discipleship

Can anybody imagine that the church makes disciples of all nations without teach-
ing them about Christ and his teachings, about how they can be his disciples, and
how they also can make disciples of others? Shall we only say to the others, “Jesus
loves you,” “He saved you,” “Be sure He has forgiven all your sins,” etc.? Do we
by this serve them or bring them to the true salvation and eternal life? Can we
leave them to do whatever they want depending on the free salvation that the Lord
accomplished for them, or is our duty to teach them how they can benefit from
this free salvation and from the deserts of the precious love shed for us?

And what about the new trends that appear, like atheism and even some strange
ideas within Christianity? Is it not our responsibility to guide them to the right
path, or shall we adopt their views and turn from our genuine faith? So, it is clear
enough that there is a connection between discipleship, baptism, and teaching, as
the Lord commanded, “Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you.”

These are the elements we should follow to fulfil our call for transformation. This
is what Peter the apostle did on the day of Pentecost. He preached to the multitude
about Christ. And when they heard his words, they were cut to the heart, and asked
Peter what they should do. And St Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one
of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37, 38). So they were taught that
there is baptism, there is the holy Trinity, there is repentance, there is remission of
sins, and there are gifts of the Holy Spirit! Their lives were transformed by accept-
ing these rules and following them.

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We remember how the early holy fathers resisted and held to the genuine faith and
fought and died for it, how ecumenical councils were held to discuss certain points
of the faith, in order to hand down the sound doctrines to the following genera-
tions. It will be disloyalty to forsake such faith and replace it with new changeable
concepts and trends, which may be erroneous, until step-by-step we find ourselves
alienated from the genuine faith of the early church. Experience proves that such
new trends and new views and interpretations led only to more schism and division
among the one church. That is why we are divided and there are hundreds of sects
and churches. The ideal solution, in my own opinion, is to have all churches search
the doctrines set by the early church as recorded in the teaching of the apostles
who received directly from the Lord, and of the apostolic fathers and the first ecu-
menical councils that clarified the doctrines of faith, up to the year 451, the date of
the first schism. This would lead to the unity of the body of Christ that we all
aspire to.

We should bear in mind that transforming the world around us and making disci-
ples to Christ is not a fight to bring others to our faith, nor to bring members of
other churches to our church, nor to claim that we alone will win the kingdom of
heaven or have the sound doctrine. No, the right thing is to seek the truth and the
sound teaching in the original sources dating back to the days of the Lord and his
disciples and the early fathers. Furthermore, we are sure of God’s absolute justice
and mercy, and with this hope we serve and pray for everybody and for ourselves
that the Lord may have mercy upon us and forgive our trespasses, and give us sal-
vation. Amen.

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