Defining a Disciple
I came across this definition of a disciple from the book, InnovateChurch and I really like it.
A disciple is a person who has trusted Christ for salvation and has surrendered completely to Him. He or she is committed to practicing the spiritual disciplines in community and developing to their full potential for Christ and His mission.
It establishes that you are indeed a follower of Christ, that you have a personal responsibility to be transformed, and that you have a personal responsibility to join the mission of Christ in making other disciples. To see the characteristics of a disciple, see my previous post about making disciples.
Discipleship is the process churches use to make disciples. Here is the book’s definition of discipleship.
Discipleship is the process of guiding individual disciples to grow in spiritual maturity and to discover and use their gifts, talents, and abilities in fulfillment of Christ’s mission.
Are you a disciple? And is your church making disciples?
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totally agree – discipleship – all about growing people to be more like Jesus and equipping them to serve the ministry and mission of Jesus. one of priorities I think pastors miss in the ministry is giving priority to equipping with a view to mission. Equipping the saints always seems to stop short of the church, but never with a view to the world. My understanding is that Eph.3:10-11 sets the context of the call to equip in Eph.4:7-16, which reminds us that raising disciples within is always with a view to the world. like you said – people need to see that they have a personal resp. to join the mission of Jesus by the very fact that they are disciples of Jesus. in Him, euge
I really prefer something like: A disciple is someone who is committed to following Jesus all the time and in every way.
Yours is a good definition as well. It is simple and clear. But I do think you have to be careful to define what you mean by follow. You can follow someone without actually believing in them. I think churches tend to put so much emphasis on service that they miss the transformational part of being a disciple.
Following Christ is a complete surrender, a complete yielding of your life to follow after him no matter the cost. Following assumes total belief and total commitment. Thanks for your comments.
Ok, just getting back to this. The problem with what you want to say is that it does not pass the logical test for truth.
harsh, I know. Truth in this case is a statement that corresponds to reality. I have, for example, been following Christ for the past 32 years, have been a seminarian, pastor, missionary, seminary prof and a bunch of other things. I am still most of them 
but I could not say in all confidence that I am 'completely surrendered' or 'completely yielded'. So, for me then I would not be a disciple according to your definition.
I agree that we need to raise the bar on what it means to be a Christ follower but we should make our definition reflect the reality of what it is to be one.
I appreciate your comments, but I think you may be reading much more into what I am saying than I actually said. Maybe my language is strong, but I think that the language in the Bible is very strong as well. When you read through Matthew 22:37-38, Matthew 12:44-46, Luke 14:33, and John 14:15, you see the level of commitment that Christ requires.
The cultural context is also very important. I live in the American south, where there is a church on every corner and almost everyone you meet claims to be a Christian. Many people will even say they have trusted Jesus as their Savior, but not as Lord. I don't believe that is an option that the Bible presents. When we surrender our lives to him, he wants our heart, not a half-hearted commitment.
The book of 1 John is an excellent description of how we can be fully committed to Christ, yet still sin. There is incredible grace, there is forgiveness, and there is hope for everyone. I want to teach that discipleship is more than just obeying a list of commands. It starts in your heart, and it starts with yielding and surrendering to God's control of your life.
Thanks again for commenting, I pray that God continues to bless you and your ministry.