Concepts

The Life of Discipleship

The Life of Discipleship

• All believers are disciples                + Seven lessons from nature

• Discipleship to knowledge              + Lessons in order and work

• Seeking the word of benefit            + A lesson from roots and foundations

• Discipleship to a life               + A lesson from the candle and incense

• Conditions of discipleship           + A lesson from the mountain and the boulders

• Types of discipleship             + A lesson in teamwork

• From the living and the departed        + Lessons from the rites

• Discipleship from all sources

• How are children discipled?

The Life of Discipleship

The Christian life is a life of discipleship. All who believed in the Lord Christ and followed Him were called disciples. The Lord’s Sermon on the Mount was directed to His disciples: “Then His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: …” (Matt 5:1–2).

And when He sent out His twelve disciples, He said to them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…” (Matt 28:19).

The man who was born blind, when the Jews asked him about Christ, said to them: “Do you also want to become His disciples?” So they reviled him and said: “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples” (John 9:27–28).

The believer in Christ is a disciple of Christ, discipled in His teachings.

In spreading the faith in the days of the apostolic fathers, the Scripture says: “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly” (Acts 6:7).

Discipleship does not mean merely hearing sermons, lectures, teachings, or commandments, for everyone hears the Gospel in the churches. Rather, discipleship is to be discipled in a life that you receive and absorb.

Conditions of Discipleship

Discipleship is not merely receiving knowledge; rather, it has specific conditions by which those who are discipled to the Lord are distinguished. Foremost among these conditions is the Lord’s saying: “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples” (John 8:31).

What does abiding in His word mean? It means transforming this word into a life, so that the word of the Lord becomes part of the life of His disciple.

The Lord also says that there are categories of people who cannot be His disciples because of behaviors in their lives, among which are:

1. If a person does not leave his father and mother, his family and his possessions for the sake of the Lord and His Gospel, he cannot be His disciple (Matt 10:37).
2. Whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit to be His disciple (Luke 9:62).
3. Whoever does not deny himself, take up his cross, and follow the Lord cannot be His disciple (Mark 8:34).

Thus, discipleship is not merely hearing words; it is a life with its conditions.

4. The Lord adds another rule as a condition for discipleship to Him, saying to the Twelve: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

This love is a condition and a sign.

Types of Discipleship

1. The first type of discipleship is discipleship to a teacher, that is, to spiritual guidance.

Thus many used to travel across countries and seas in order to hear a word of benefit by which they would train themselves and make it a constitution for their lives. They would keep the word in their hearts so that they would never forget it.

All people are equal in this discipleship, even the elders among them.

We hear of Pope Theophilus, the 23rd Patriarch, that he used to go to Saint Arsenius or to Saint Paphnutius to hear from him a word of benefit, though he was the father of the whole Church.

We also read about Saint Macarius the Great, the founder of monasticism in Scetis, that he met the boy Zacharias and asked him for a word of benefit, though he was the elder of the whole desert. Yet he still wished to learn, despite being a teacher to all.

He who loves discipleship makes his motto: “Listening is better than speaking,” and he receives knowledge wherever it is found.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian took a word of benefit from a sinful woman who was not ashamed to gaze intently at his face. When he rebuked her for this, she said to him: “I am a woman whom God created from a man, so it is natural for me to look at a man. But you were created by God from dust; therefore it is fitting for you to look at the dust from which you were created.” The saint benefited from her final phrase and departed.

Saint Abba Antony the Great, at the beginning of his monastic life, also benefited from a woman who was not ashamed to undress before him to bathe in the river. When he rebuked her for uncovering herself before him while he was a monk, she said to him: “If you were a monk, you would have dwelt in the inner desert, for this place is not suitable for monks.” The saint considered her words to be the voice of God to him, benefited from them, left that place, and went to the inner desert.

He who seeks benefit picks up the word of benefit wherever it is found and extracts spiritual profit with a soul eager for discipleship.

2. There is another discipleship to life rather than to words.

An example of this is the disciples of Abba Bishoy, whom he never commanded nor gave specific directions, but they benefited from his life and imitated it. They absorbed this life through associating with him and were discipled in his way and style.

The teacher is not only the one who presents teaching, guidance, words, directions, advice, commands, or training, but rather, and more so, the one who presents a practical life from which all who see it benefit and set it before themselves as a model.

At the beginning of his monastic life, Abba Antony was discipled to the life of the hermits: learning silence from one, gentleness from another, calmness from a third, and prayer from a fourth. He was like a diligent bee passing over flowers, drawing nectar from each one. He did not have one teacher only, but was discipled in every virtue in the life of everyone he met among those righteous men, like a bee that does not draw nectar from a single flower.

As Abba Antony was, so were his disciples with him: some learned from his words, and others learned from his life. An example is the one who said to him: “It is enough for me merely to look at your face, my father.” This monk looked at his teacher’s face and learned cheerfulness, calmness, peace, and gentleness.

The ear is not the only means of discipleship; the eye is just the same. One can see life, absorb it, and benefit.

Saint Abba Arsenius rarely spoke, as he persevered in a life of silence. Yet the monks and visitors to the monastery learned from his life and calmness while he was silent. At the very least, they learned silence from him.

3. We are discipled not only by the living but also by those who have fallen asleep.

We are discipled by their biographies and by the remembrance of their lives with all their stories.

The Queen of Sheba was a lesson for all generations when she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. The repentance of Nineveh was a lesson learned by all people from the history of Nineveh.

Thus the Scripture recorded for us images from the lives of the prophets and the apostles by which we are discipled. And Saint Paul the Apostle said to us: “Consider the outcome of their conduct, and imitate their faith” (Heb 13:7).

Perhaps in your lives you have seen good examples. Have you learned from them? Have you been discipled by them?

Be assured that we will be judged on the last day for not benefiting from all the good elements that the Lord has granted to our generation.

Children are not discipled by books or sermons, because they do not understand them. But they are certainly discipled by the lives of those around them. They absorb them from examples at home, at school, in church, and in the street. It is required that we present to them in all these sources good examples.

You also are discipled by everyone, by every virtuous act you see in any person.

The Lord Christ presented to us an example from the Gentile centurion and from the Canaanite woman, and He said that He had not found in all Israel faith like the faith of these two.

Take lessons from teachers and their guidance, and take lessons from the lives of the righteous whom you see and from the lives of the righteous who have departed, and also take lessons from books, for they contain everything—provided that you choose carefully what you read.

There is another source from which you are discipled, and that is nature itself.

Discipleship to Nature

The Lord Christ said: “Consider the lilies of the field… consider the birds of the air.” He gave us from them a lesson in faith and in God’s care.

What lessons can we take from nature? They are many, among which we mention:

1. From nature we take a very wondrous lesson in order.

Look at the firmament in its amazing order and in its laws from which it never deviates, and in the fixed relationship among all its bodies and planets. Look also at what results from all this: the succession of night and day, the succession of seasons and times, the arrangement of seasons and times of winds, climates, rains, cold and heat, light and darkness—all in a fixed order that never fails. Do you not take from this a lesson in order, if you wish to benefit?

Just as you take from the firmament a lesson in order, you can take the same lesson from the human body, this exceedingly wondrous body in the order by which all its systems work in amazing harmony, whether the work of the heart, the brain, the nerves, or the digestive system, and the marvelous order found in sight and hearing.

What we say about the wonder of order applies also to the order in the bodies of animals and birds.

2. From nature we also take a lesson in carrying out the divine will.

Everything in nature—celestial bodies, rivers and seas, materials beneath the earth, and various natural factors—executes exactly what God has willed for it or from it, in complete obedience that does not deviate. It is as though it says to the Lord in all its work: “Your will be done.”

Satan and man are the two beings who rebel against the will of God, according to the direction of the mind and the inclination of the will. But nature is obedient in carrying out the divine will and the laws God has set for it. Let us therefore take from it a lesson and be discipled in its life of surrender and obedience, and not use our minds to deviate from God’s will in our lives.

3. We also take from nature a lesson in activity and work.

Behold, the earth has been rotating around itself and around the sun for thousands of years without stopping its movement and activity, and without issuing a complaint due to the constancy of work. It has worked in calmness and will continue to work until the last day.

The same is the case with the movement of all celestial bodies and all elements of nature: continuous activity without cessation and perfect performance of the mission throughout the ages. It is a silent lesson for us, by which we can be discipled and learn how to work continuously, seriously, without complaint or weariness, just as nature works.

4. Another lesson we take from nature is that it always works for the sake of others.

In all its continuous work, it does not work for itself but for us. For our sake the sun rises and sets; for our sake the stars shine, rain falls, winds blow, rivers flow, and flowers smile.

Why do trees grow, give shade, blossoms, and fruit? For themselves or for others? Undoubtedly for others. Likewise, the bee exerts all its effort and gathers nectar from everywhere to produce honey that we eat.

It is a lesson from nature in a life of self-giving, generosity, and labor for others in silence and without boasting.

5. We can also take from nature a lesson in teamwork.

All cooperate together for an integrated work. The fruit we eat is presented to us through the cooperation of the tree, the sun, the water, the air, and the soil of the earth. The rain that waters us and the crops involves the cooperation of heat, water, sea, winds, cold, and air pressure. All work together in complete cooperation, just as all the systems of the body cooperate together to preserve its life, safety, and continued activity.

Whenever we find ourselves incapable of teamwork or failing to work together for good, let us remember nature and be discipled by it.

6. Just as we learn from nature as a whole, we can learn from each part of it individually.

The mountain teaches us steadfastness against winds, rains, and all factors of erosion. We also learn steadfastness from the boulders that stand firmly in the riverbed, continually struck by water while remaining unmoved. From the mountain we also learn strength, elevation, and direction upward toward God.

From the rain we take a lesson in performing duty regardless of people’s opinions. The rain falls at its appointed time; it does not care whether the farmer praises it because it watered his land, nor does it refrain from performing its duty because someone is annoyed that his clothes were soaked. It is not affected by people’s opinions, having risen above praise and blame.

The roots of trees give us a wonderful model of working in secrecy and self-denial. People often praise fruits and flowers and admire the shade given by branches and leaves, but they rarely praise the roots that carry the entire tree and provide it with nourishment and water in secrecy.

When you look at a lush tree, do you desire to be a strong trunk, delicious fruit, or a hidden root? The root carries the entire burden and denies itself so that others may receive all the praise. Yet it continues to grow while performing its duty, without envying the fruits or flowers or the lofty branches swaying joyfully in the air, dependent on the hidden root.

We take the same lesson from a building’s foundation, which bears the whole structure on its shoulders. You may see a huge, beautiful, towering building adorned with decorations that artists competed to make magnificent and worthy of photographs, but you never think of the buried foundation that supports it. It is hidden underground and, without it, nothing would stand. It receives no praise because it is unseen—yet it is a lesson.

7. We can also learn in nature lessons from animals and birds.

We learn wisdom from the serpent, simplicity from the dove, courage from the lion, faithfulness from the dog, and activity from the ant. We also learn faith from the birds that are content with their provision, which do not store in barns or hoard possessions no matter how much good is before them. Their lives are in continual song and constant joy despite the threats of hunting.

Discipleship to the Rites

We can take many lessons from the rites in the Church. We learn from the candle that melts to give light to others, and from grains of incense that burn to offer us a fragrant aroma. We take lessons from the icons and what they carry of memories from the lives of the saints.

The rites are a great fountain of teaching, but this is not the place to elaborate.

What matters is that discipleship is not only through sermons.

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