Discipleship . . . What's That?

What a phrase that could be thrown around at 100 different things, but what is it? Well, I am not going to launch into any deep philisophical discourse, nor am I going to unload a wealth of Biblical study information, I am just going to say a couple of things that give an idea of this kind of thinking.
First, discipleship is relationship! Period, that should be the end of our discussion, but it isn't. Discipleship is merely taking relationships to the next level.
Second, discipleship is hard. It is hard to have relationship at the center of what you do. Why? Becuase people are difficult. People do not have formulas or real working patterns. People are people. This means that they are hard to understand, hard to help and hard to relate to . . . sometimes! But with God's help and some determination to die to ourselves and live for Him loving His people we can do it.
Third, discipleship is Christianity. These two phrases are interchangeable. We don't think of them as such normally and I believe that this is why we have so many problems in our Christian world. To be a Christian, is to be like Christ. Christ spent the vast majority of His ministry time on this earth pouring His life into 12 men. 12. The multitudes came, but they were not His aim or focus. The Sermon on the Mount was given on the mountain to His disciples, the masses followed Jesus and He willingly preached, but His intent was to teach His disciples. Jesus was never after a crowd of people, but they were always after Him.
Finally, discipleship is life. A phrase that we throw around here at my church is "Doing life together." This is Christianity and Discipleship at its best. It is not some highly regulated program, it is not some overly difficult heavy burden to carry, it is not some unattainable mysterious thing that only a few people can ever experience, no, it is people loving Jesus, living life and loving each other. That is the call of Christianity. This is my call as a person. My life is to be devoted to making disciples of Jesus, however and whatever that entails!