Whose Disciple Are You?

Most Christians have heard the quotes “I am of Apollos” and “I am of Paul” from I Corinthians 1 and 3. Here Paul was telling his readers that they shouldn’t follow their favorite preachers over and above their Lord, Jesus Christ.

Using a Bible dictionary, you can learn that Apollos was a Christian Jew from Alexandria and some Bible scholars think perhaps he wrote the Bible book, Letter to the Hebrews. Luke says Apollos was, “an eloquent man” and “mighty in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24). But even eloquence and a mighty knowledge of the Bible should not pull us away from our Lord.

Have you ever noticed someone repeating this preacher or that teacher’s name and quoting them with every other breath? I find myself wondering if they’ve stopped to look at the Scriptures for themselves – or are they only listening to the mighty eloquence of a popular Christian folk-hero?

Jesus tells us in John 8:31, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” (NASB). If you use Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to define the word “disciple”, you’ll find it simply means “learner”. So, whose disciple are you? Are you learning from the Lord Jesus or some eloquent human teacher?

Another word I found interesting from John 8:31 is “continue”. It seems clear from the text that I am Jesus’ disciple only if I continue in His word – so I better know for sure what that word “continue” means!

According to Strong’s, the Greek word “mênō” for “continue” means: to stay in a given place, abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry. This definition adds quite a bit of meaning to Jesus’ statement. To be His disciple, it is not enough to learn from Him a few minutes out of a few random mornings each month. We are to endure and tarry – dwelling in His word. So, let me ask again; truly, whose disciple are you?