In 2005, when I was a pastor, I traveled to China as part of a mission team from my church. I was asked to give a message to a gathering of 150 Chinese Christians who were part of the underground church movement.
I was also provided with a translator, by the name of Gayle, who appeared to speak good English and I was assured that she would do an excellent job of translating my English into Chinese. At one point in my message, I made a reference to King Solomon having “many, many, many wives” but Gayle translated the phrase as “many, many, many lives!” A few of the Chinese who spoke English laughed, others looked bemused, and many bewildered. Only one stinking letter was different (1 of 17 letters!) and yet the whole meaning moved from polygamy to reincarnation!
The lesson I learned that day is how easy it is for words to get lost in translation!
I see this happen again and again in Christian conversations where each person processes language through their particular lens.
More recently, I was invited to speak at a men’s retreat and was given the topic, “Believer, Follower, Disciple.” I knew the leader of the organization, and why he had given me this topic, as we had discussed it on several occasions. You see, some people will read those three terms through their particular lens and see a linear progression. You start your Christian life as a believer affirming certain truths (e.g. Jesus is God, Jesus died for your sins, Jesus rose from the dead, etc.). Then, at some later time, you get more serious about your faith and become a follower. If you do an exemplary job of following you reach the ultimate designation of disciple (although this is reserved for the truly elite among us).
We can bring this issue into focus by asking a very basic question, “What is a Christian?” The answer you give depends upon the lens you’re looking through.
Let me give you some typical answers depending on the cultural lens through which a person filters language.
SACRAMENTAL/TRADITIONAL LENS
Someone born into a Christian family.
Someone baptized in the church … attends Mass … goes to confession.
BEHAVIORAL LENS
Someone who lives a moral lifestyle.
Someone who lives by the Golden Rule or the Ten Commandments.
TRANSACTIONAL LENS
Someone who has “invited Jesus into their life,” or “prayed the sinner’s prayer.”
Someone who has walked forward at a Billy Graham Crusade.
So, what is the biblical lens that answers the question, “What is a Christian?” Interestingly, the word Christian is used only three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:25-26, Acts 26:28, 1 Peter 4:16) and each occurrence is someone outside the faith describing those inside the faith!
Three of the most frequently used terms by biblical writers are believer, follower, and disciple. Let’s drill down on each of these terms. We’ll take them in reverse order with the most frequently used term first.
DISCIPLE
The word disciple is used over 260 times in the New Testament. In its simplest form, a disciple is a learner or a pupil. Think of the great philosophers of Greece. We think of Homer as primarily a poet, rather than a philosopher, but Socrates saw him as the supreme teacher of ancient Greece. Then, of course, Socrates had his student, his chief disciple, whose name was Plato. Plato had his disciples, the chief one being Aristotle. Aristotle also had his disciples, the most famous being Alexander the Great. It is astonishing to think how drastically the ancient world was shaped by these four men.
Let me give you a more contemporary picture behind the term. In our work world context, we all understand the apprentice relationship. In the trades, you have master carpenters, master plumbers, and master electricians who guide and train younger novices. Similarly in the professions, you have chief surgeons, senior pilots, and head chefs who all mentor younger professionals. The wise, aspiring young person looks for a master in their field that they can learn under as an apprentice. The central idea is that to master any field of knowledge/skill, we need a period of training and development as an apprentice (i.e., disciple).
In its biblical context, we see Moses disciple Joshua, Eli disciple Samuel, Elijah disciple Elisha, Jeremiah disciple Baruch, and John the Baptist had his disciples and Jesus had the Twelve.
The thread that runs through each of these contexts is a significant personal relationship. These were not occasional or impersonal listeners but people in significant relationships for the purpose of carrying on their teacher’s work.
It was said of Jesus’ disciples, “He appointed twelve to be with him [relational companionship] and to send them out to preach [intentional training]” (Mark 3:14, explanation and emphasis added).
Jesus, himself, said, ”Everyone who has been fully trained, will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). The process of being fully trained leads to the product of being like your teacher.
Richard Allen Farmer shared an image that has imprinted itself indelibly on my mind. He said, “We should go through life with one hand reaching up [to the generation before us] and the other hand reaching down [to the generation behind us].”
FOLLOWER
How does one become a disciple? The biblical answer to this question is summed up in the words, “Follow me.” Nowhere in Scripture are we told to pray the sinner’s prayer, sign a card, raise our hand, or walk an aisle. Rather, we are asked to respond to the call of Jesus to “follow me.”
We see this call repeatedly in Jesus’ words to Phillip (John 1:43), Andrew and Peter (Matthew 4:18-20), James and John (Mark 1:19-20), and Matthew (Luke 5:27). The three would-be disciples (Luke 9:57-62), the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-22), to small groups like the disciples (Luke 9:23), and to large crowds (Luke 14:27).
They not only began their life of discipleship by responding to Jesus’ invitation to follow me, but they continued their life of discipleship by following Jesus.
Jesus’ followers became known to others, not as Christians, but as followers of “the Way” (Acts 9:2, 19:19, 23, 22:4, 24:14, 22). They were also people of the “way of truth” (2 Peter 2:2) and those who followed “a new and living way” (Hebrews 10:19-20). Why this particular language? Clearly, it signified that being a disciple of Jesus implied a way of life, a path to be followed, and a life to be imitated. Because of this biblical emphasis on following, I’ve stopped asking people if they are Christians and started asking them if they are Christ followers or disciples. Interestingly, people seem to pause for a moment before they answer. Why is that? Because language shapes perception and using more biblical language shapes a more biblical understanding which makes people take a reflective pause.
BELIEVER
When we hear the word believe we tend to think through the lens of Western Culture. A person can proclaim, “Yes, I believe in the existence of God, the deity of Christ, and the triune nature of God.” In other words, I agree with those propositional statements, but when the Bible uses the word believe it means much more than intellectual agreement.
The Book of James cautions us against this very thing: “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you? Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror” (James 2:19).
The biblical word believe goes way beyond mental assent. It uses the words believe and obey interchangeably emphasizing God’s view of faith as obedient faith. In John 3:36 (ESV), “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God remains on him” (see also Hebrews 3:18-19 NLT, Hebrews 5:9 NIV).
As Martin Luther famously said, “Man is saved by faith alone, but never is genuine faith alone.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer captures the relationship beautifully when he says, “Only the believer is obedient and only the obedient believe.”
If we are to recapture a more biblical discipleship, a good first step would be to recapture a more biblical language and biblical meaning. Biblically speaking, a Christian is much more than one who believes in God, goes to church, or is learning about Jesus. It is a transformative journey of apprenticeship to Jesus, following his teaching and surrendering our lives to him in obedient faith.
Just as he called his first disciples to follow him, Jesus invites us to do the same.