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HIS Servant
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 DISCIPLESHIP
- By Bro. Pete
Lapid
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Most of us have an
idea of what discipleship is all about. But allow me to share my
thoughts on it.
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First, the word
discipleship is a combination of two words: disciple, which
means a follower or a student of a teacher or another person, and
ship, which is a vehicle or a means of transport to go to a place.
I therefore see discipleship as a group of followers who are
on the same “ship” or vehicle with their teacher going towards the same
destination.
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In reality, we are
the disciples, the followers of the True Teacher, our Lord Jesus Christ
who is leading us in the “ship” that is the Church, which He Himself
established on earth and upon which He promised that “the gates of
the netherworld will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18),
towards our final destination – the Father’s Kingdom.
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Second, disciples
follow or imitate what the teacher does. It is the same for us. We need
to do what Jesus did and taught us. What are the things that Jesus did
while He was on earth? He taught and spread the Good News. He called
people to conversion, condemned sin but not the sinner. He ministered to
people especially the poor and the outcasts. He gave hope to people. To
be a disciple, we have to imitate our Master.
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True discipleship
demands many things from us. But I would just like to mention three (3)
here. These are: Obedience, Perseverance and Martyrdom.
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Jesus’
surrendering His will to that of the Father is a perfect example of
obedience. For us, obedience means following His teaching and living it
in all the areas of our life. It is simply doing what He wants us to do
without any condition or hesitation.
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Likewise, to be a
true follower of Jesus requires faithfulness from us. The riches and
comforts of this world can easily lure us. That is why we need
perseverance. This will help us to stay focused on our journey.
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It also calls for
some martyrdom from us. Maybe not the kind of martyrdom that Sts. Peter
and Paul and the early Christians went through. Not physical death, but
some sense of dying to ourselves even little by little. It is not easy
to give up our riches. But we need to use them the way God wants us. To
be able to share our wealth and our time with the poor, the needy and
the outcasts takes some dying to our self-centeredness. And this could
be a good start for us to become a real follower of Christ.
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Jesus said,
“Whoever does not take up his cross and come after Me is not worthy
of Me” (Matthew 10:38). Let us therefore ask ourselves, “Am I worthy
to be called a disciple of Jesus?” And let us also pray that as we
journey together with our Lord Jesus Christ in this “ship”, the Church,
He will find us worthy to enter His eternal home in Heaven. Amen!
- TELL US LIKE IT IS!
- Has something
wonderful and unique happened in your life lately? Did God answer your
prayer in a very unexpected way? Did you, like Isaiah, meet God’s
whisper?
- Have you felt His
powerful hand working in your life recently?
- Everyday, people are
experiencing God’s mighty Word in their lives and it is a pity that very
few know about it. Do you have a story to tell? Some Good News to
share?
- E-mail us (genesis@catholic.org) or fax us
(021-6627384), and tell us about it. That’s right! You don’t have to be
a great writer to do this. We can help you write it – just tell us like
it is!
- Don’t forget to write
the subject: “Let Me Tell You A
Story”
For comments, suggestions or
ideas:
E-mail us: genesis@catholic.org
Write us: Jl. Bacang No. 20 Kebayoran Baru,
Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
Call us: (6221) 720-3824
Fax us: (6221) 662-7384
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Community - All Rights Reserved 2003
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