Over the years, the name Christian has become associated with anyone who has anything to do with Christ. As long as a person professes belief in Christ, that person is considered a Christian regardless of what else he or she believes, and many times, what he or she does. That’s why Christians can be found on both sides of any controversial issue. Politics, social issues, religious views – even abortion stands. Christian can mean anything because the Bible doesn’t define it.

The good news is – we don’t have to define it because Jesus didn’t call us to be Christians. He called us to be disciples.

A disciple, according to online dictionaries, is a student or learner who adheres completely to the teachings of another, making them his rule of life and conduct. A Christian disciple is someone who fully commits to Jesus as Lord.

Some churches – some people – believe that a disciple is a Christian who had made a higher level of commitment to Jesus than other Christians. This makes it sound like there are two acceptable standards of commitment. However, Jesus only had one standard. He called us to a life of wholehearted discipleship to Him.

When we are committed, we follow Jesus’ teachings and we surrender all of our opinions to His opinions. When He is Lord we seek to live as He lived. It’s like the difference between scrambled eggs and bacon: the chicken is involved; the pig is committed.

 Jesus warned this wouldn’t be easy. He talked about the high cost of being His disciple. He warned that being His disciple would make us stand out from the world around us. He said we would be opposed, rejected, persecuted, and even put to death. He said we would be treated just like the world treated Him. And that wasn’t good.

If we’re not seeing that in our lives, maybe it’s because we’re not disciples. Maybe we have left the teachings of Jesus for the teachings of the world. We may have unknowingly – or knowingly – adopted the world’s ways, values, and beliefs as our own. We may have mixed them in with those of Jesus. We may have even completely replaced some of Jesus’ ways with them.

Why?

To indulge our own desires? Because of ignorance of God’s word? Out of fear of being labeled or judged? To avoid conflict or offense? Because it’s easier or more convenient? To fit in with those around us? To be accepted as one of the crowd?

Whatever the reason, Paul called what we have done ‘becoming friends with the world’.

James 4:4  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Hard words to be sure.

Here’s a comparison between Christian (believer) and Disciple that I found on a website called davidcannistraci.org.

How are disciples different from believers?

1.  THE CROSS: Believer look to the cross. A Disciple pick up the cross(Matthew 16:22-24).

2.  OBEDIENCE: A Believer obeys God if it’s convenient. A Disciple obeys no matter the outcome.

3.  DECISIONS:ABeliever decides once, A Disciple decides daily.

4.  FOCUS: Believers focus on eternal life, A Disciple focus on eternal rewards.

5.  PRAYER: A Believer prays when things get tough. A Disciple prays no matter the circumstance.

6.  SCRIPTURE: A Believer twists the Bible to fit his or her lifestyle. A Disciple works to make his or her lifestyle resemble the teachings of the Bible.

7.  ETERNAL IMPACT: Believers make heaven.  Disciples make history.

http://www.davidcannistraci.org/news/2016/2/23/seven-ways-disciples-are-different-than-believers

I have to admit for too many of the 40+ years since I encountered Jesus, I was a Christian. I loved Jesus, and grew in my relationship with Him, but when His words were hard to follow, I chose to ignore them and lived as I thought best. He loved me, and I knew I was secure in His hands, but I chose my way over His more times than I want to remember.

I still do. Am I’m heartbroken over that.

Jesus died for me. He gave up everything for me. And yet, I only give Him what’s convenient. Is that enough? Is it enough to return my husband’s love and commitment to me with a half-hearted commitment to him?

Did God ever say that was enough?

He didn’t in the Old Testament.

Joshua 22:5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses, the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

And He didn’t in the New Testament.

Mark 12:30  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

So why do we Christians think that is enough now?

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Luke 14:25-33   Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?  For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish. Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

John 15:18-21  “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me

Deut 6:4-15 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.  You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

Linda’s Paraphrase: Hear, O Christians: There is only one God. Love the Him with all your heart (total commitment) and with all your soul (what you think) and with all your might (energy, focus). Keep His words foremost in your heart always. Teach them to your children. Talk about them day and night as a part of everything you do. Put up post it notes and memory cards throughout your house. And when God answers your prayers – when you are living with His blessings which you didn’t earn – be careful not to forget who gave them to you. It is God you shall fear, not man. Him and only Him shall you serve. Don’t go after the ways and loves of the world around you – for the God in you is a jealous God – lest He get angry and destroy you.