Disciples vs Christians

"The word 'disciple' occurs 269 in the New Testament. 'Christian' is found only three times." (Dallas Willard). In reading a six-page extract from his "The Spirit of Disciplines" I'd only reached the end of the opening paragraph before a whole new concept had blossomed in my mind (helped on its way by the remainder of the extract.) It's actually an old concept but this morning it hit me as one of those 'epiphany' moments.

For a long time I've used the word 'Christian' as the appropriate shorthand for... well, for a Christian. As I teenager I recall telling my Sunday School teacher how the previous night I had invited Christ into my heart as my Lord and Saviour. He immediately wanted me to repeat what I'd just told him to someone else and I remember the relief with which a shorter and less pious-sounding phrase suddenly popped into my head - "I've become a Christian."

45 years later I'm wondering whether this was a bad choice of noun. What do I mean by 'Christian' anyway? I know some people use the word to mean 'a good person with standards corresponding to what are generally perceived as Christian morals'. Others use the word to mean 'a person who has given their life to Christ, who is born again, and who is guaranteed a place in heaven when they die'. I would certainly tend more towards the latter definition, though perhaps not so rigidly as some would.

John Wesley famously had a deep spiritual experience at Aldersgate Street on May 24th 1738 when he felt his heart 'strangely warmed'. This is often described as his conversion, but having learned more about his life I'm not at all convinced that this was the moment he became a Christian. It seems more like one stage in his Christian development. And then there's Peter. When did he become a Christian? When he first responded to Jesus saying 'follow me'? When he recognised Jesus as the Christ? When he confessed his love three times after the resurrection? When the Holy Spirit filled him at Pentecost?

Such questions become irrelevant when we realise that what Jesus told us was to go and make disciples. Not to go and make Christians. A disciple is a much clearer concept. It is someone who wilfully seeks to learn from and emulate their master. In Western culture I don't think we have much in modern life that corresponds to this. My concept of discipleship is influenced more by Eastern culture - at least as it is portrayed in films like King Fu Panda.

Being a disciple of Jesus is much more than having made a particular decision and said a particular prayer as a teenager. It is about committing my life to following Jesus (not literally walking down the street after him, but following him as I might follow mathematics or the board game hobby - spending time and effort reading, learning, taking an active interest in the development of, keeping up with the latest news on... etc.) and it is about putting into practice what I learn from him, always keeping him before me as my role model for life.

This is a challenge to me personally. Can I really call myself a disciple? And it is a challenge to the church. How many of my regular congregations live as disciples of Jesus? And what should I be doing as their minister to make disciples? (...both of those inside the church and those outside.)

And if I still want to use the word 'Christian' from time to time, maybe I should use it in the sense in which it originated. According to Acts 11:26 the word was first used in Antioch. And what kind of people were referred to as Christians? The disciples.