Definitions of Christian Discipleship

[MaxPC]

Kindly share your definitions/perceptions of Christian Discipleship:
-what is it;
-what are the responsibilities;
-inward and outward signs of it.

Sharing, (not argumentation and debating) is the focus of this thread. Recommended books and articles are welcome.

[temporal1]

“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”
This is, perhaps, the best known and most commonly quoted statement made by St. Francis of Assisi.

it's also been attributed to Pope Francis, i suppose that means, author-unknown.

i first read it in recent years, it reminded me of my real-life Anabaptist friends, who, each in their own way, seem consciencious about conveying their faith in humility, in daily+consistent actions, while not using direct spoken words.

thus, i eventually found MD, with a "couple of questions," about Mennonites.
hmm. i believe that was in early March 2011.

[MaxPC]

In the definitions of discipleship, how would you consider mentorship?

[temporal1]

In the definitions of discipleship, how would you consider mentorship?

although i don't believe the word, "mentor" is in scriptures, there are numerous references to it, it is a form of discipleship. even references to elders in the church (to me) reflect mentoring.

several related passages:
https://www.openbible.info/topics/mentoring

[silentreader]

Kindly share your definitions/perceptions of Christian Discipleship:
-what is it;
-what are the responsibilities;
-inward and outward signs of it.

Sharing, (not argumentation and debating) is the focus of this thread. Recommended books and articles are welcome.

Max, are you looking at the person doing the discipling or the person being discipled or both, I'm not sure what your intended focus is?

[MaxPC]

Kindly share your definitions/perceptions of Christian Discipleship:
-what is it;
-what are the responsibilities;
-inward and outward signs of it.

Sharing, (not argumentation and debating) is the focus of this thread. Recommended books and articles are welcome.

Max, are you looking at the person doing the discipling or the person being discipled or both, I'm not sure what your intended focus is?

Both: mentor and mentee.

[silentreader]

In the definitions of discipleship, how would you consider mentorship?

Max, I don't want to run amok in your thread but I'd like to, if I may, re-quote Zodhiates' statement on the NT usage of disciple from the MentorLink thread. He said, "It means an adherent who accepts the instruction given to him and makes it his rule of conduct." And further, "Jesus had disciples in the sense that they were His adherents who made His teaching the basis of their conduct. He had many disciples and He invited all those who believed to become His disciples in this manner".
One of the important facets of mentoring is to also mentor by example.

[MaxPC]

In the definitions of discipleship, how would you consider mentorship?

Max, I don't want to run amok in your thread but I'd like to, if I may, re-quote Zodhiates' statement on the NT usage of disciple from the MentorLink thread. He said, "It means an adherent who accepts the instruction given to him and makes it his rule of conduct." And further, "Jesus had disciples in the sense that they were His adherents who made His teaching the basis of their conduct. He had many disciples and He invited all those who believed to become His disciples in this manner".
One of the important facets of mentoring is to also mentor by example.

Excellent definitions. I don't think you're "amok" at all. This is the kind of input I had in mind

[silentreader]

Luke 14:25-33 (RSVCE)

The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.[a] 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. 33 So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Footnotes:
14.26 Christ’s disciples must be prepared to part from any one who prevents them from serving him.

Becoming a disciple forces one to rethink and re-evaluate priorities, sometimes in radical ways.

[Dan Z]

There is this old idea in the church called Nachfolge Christi in German, it literally means "the imitation of Christ" (A fellow named Thomas A Kempis coined the term about 600 years ago, although the idea goes back to Christ and his apostles).

Discipleship to me means truly becoming Christians ("Christ-ones"), growing in maturity toward lives that reflect the image and likeness of Jesus. Discipleship understands that Jesus is the very Word of God, God's deepest and truest revelation to us - and it recognizes that, in word and deed, Jesus showed us what God's ultimate calling is for the life of his followers.