Discipleship in Christianity can be explained in two ways: it could refer to the act of following Jesus Christ and it could also refer to helping other believers to follow and remain in Jesus Christ.
Discipleship, following a leader, a teacher, or a prophet
Discipleship is a devoted, lifelong experience of following a teacher or the teachings and doctrines taught by him.
The term discipleship does not occur in the Bible in name, but the concept is found everywhere in the Bible, both the New and the Old Testament. Discipleship is all about following. As recorded in the Bible, when Jesus Christ wants to invite a person into discipleship – that is, to follow Him – He uses the command: ‘Follow me.’ So the term ‘follow’ is very associated with discipleship. And the term ‘follow’ which Jesus uses to invite people into discipleship was translated from the Greek word akoloutheo. Akoloutheo means to be in the same way with.
Discipleship occurs when one, a disciple, lives his life to be in the same way with the teachings or doctrines of a teacher. In discipleship, the disciple learns to imitate the way of life of a teacher according as he saw or heard at first-hand or according as was handed down to him as information, orally or in writing.
Discipleship is not something you do casually or occasionally. Rather, it is a way of life that one deliberately goes through. It is a way of life in which the disciple does not live for himself, neither does he pursue a course of his own, rather, he expends his lifetime following the course embedded in the teachings and doctrines taught him by his teacher and leader. Discipleship, in other words, is living a life tailored to fit into the confines of the teachings or doctrines of a teacher and leader.
Examples of discipleship – i.e. following a leader
Biblical records identify two ways in which discipleship – following a leader – can occur.
Pareimi discipleship
This is the kind of discipleship in which the leader and teacher is physically present with his disciples and his disciples have physical contact with him.
During the days of Jesus, all those who believed in him were regarded as His disciples. However, Jesus Christ called to Himself twelve disciples. Let us use these twelve disciples as a case study. After having called them to Himself, Jesus became their Teacher, Leader, Master, etc. They humbled themselves before Him, and believed in Him, and followed Him wherever he went, and learned from Him, and served Him. In serving Him, they run errands for Him and were sent by Him to preach, cast out demons and work miracles. Jesus Christ in His turn taught them moral lessons, and spiritual things, and empowered them, and gave them a sense of purpose by giving them a charge to make disciples for Him. What happened between Jesus and His disciples, except the betrayal and the denial, was discipleship.
By God’s command, Prophet Elijah went searching for Elisha. And when he found him Elijah cast his mantle upon Elisha, meaning Elisha has been appointed to replace Elijah as a prophet when he, Elijah, is no more. Afterward, Elisha abandoned his career and his family and followed Prophet Elijah to become his disciple. Whatever mission Prophet Elijah pursued, Elisha became part of it. Elisha faithfully followed Prophet Elijah and served him until Elijah was taken to heaven. What happened between Elijah and Elisha is nothing but discipleship.
John the Baptist started his ministry before Jesus did. Though physically John the Baptist was not appealing, people from all walks of life believed in him as a prophet sent by God and they came to him for baptism. Some of them became adherents to John’s teachings and were in touch with him; hence, they were described as John’s disciples. Even when John the Baptist was in prison, these disciples of his did not abandon him but were still in touch with him and they served him; for while John was in prison, he sent his disciples on his behalf to ask Jesus a question (Matthew 11:2, Matthew 9: 14; Matthew 11:2; John 1:35, 37). What happened between John the Baptist and his disciples was discipleship.
The examples of discipleship we have seen so far fall under Pareimi discipleship. What we see in the pareimi discipleship is that the disciple and his teacher or leader know and interact with each other in person.
Apeimi discipleship
This is the kind of discipleship in which the leader and teacher is not physically present with his disciples. Oftentimes, in apeimi discipleship, the leader died many years before the disciple was born. What makes this kind of discipleship possible is the human habit of handing down information, orally or in writing, to the next generation or to other people in another geographical location.
In the days when Jesus went around preaching, He met a man who had been blind from birth and he healed him. The news spread wide and the Pharisees heard of it. Astonished and curious, they wanted to investigate the matter so they invited the healed blind man for interrogation. In the heat of the interrogation, this happened:
Then they (Pharisees) reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples (John 9:28).
Do you hear what the Pharisees said? They said that the healed blind man is Jesus’ disciple but as for them, they are the disciples of Moses. At the time the Pharisees said that, Moses was long dead and gone for more than a thousand years. Moses was dead all right, but something about Moses remained. That is, the rich document of laws – ceremonial laws, religious laws, etc. which he received from God. The Pharisees were devotees of these laws. They learned it, taught it, and lived by it zealously, at least, in their own way; hence their boldness to think and say about themselves, “…we are Moses’ disciples”.
What is happening here is that the Pharisees who lived in the days of Jesus called themselves disciples of a spiritual leader who lived from 1391 BC to 1271 BC and was long dead. The transfer of information, orally or in writing, across the ages has made it possible for later generations to become disciples of spiritual leaders who lived and died centuries before they were born.
We Christians of today are no different from the Pharisees as far as discipleship is concerned. None of the Christians of today ever met Jesus in person and followed Him as the twelve disciples did. Everything we know about Jesus today is that which was handed down to us in writing. Because we have access to information about Jesus and His teachings, by believing in Him and walking by His teachings, we become His disciples just as the Pharisees walked by the laws of Moses and prided themselves on being the disciples of Moses.