The Gospel and the Five Identities of a Disciple | E5S1

23/06/2025 19 min

Listen "The Gospel and the Five Identities of a Disciple | E5S1"

Episode Synopsis

What is a disciple? In a general way, “disciple” just means being a follower or student of something or someone. As Christians, we mean that we are followers or students of Jesus Christ, which is a very special kind of disciple. If you’re a disciple of anyone else, the entire focus of your discipleship is about what you do. You are measured by your own work against the standard of your master’s work.But being a disciple of Jesus isn’t like that at all. Jesus has already completed the work of a disciple. He’s the perfect human, and he has gifted his perfection to you before you even thought about growing as his disciple. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not about what we do; it’s about who we are in Christ. It’s not about action. It’s about identity.At The Summit Church, we realized we needed a way to talk about our identity in Christ, to give us a way to describe who we are in him and who we are becoming as whole disciples. We identified these five identities of a disciple to help us do that:Worshiper: seeks to know, love, and obey God above all elseFamily Member: lives with the local church as familyServant: gives of themselves for the good of othersSteward: uses their time, talent, and treasure to know God and make him knownWitness: proclaims Christ in word and deedThese identities are not random or isolated, but are unified in Jesus. So growing as a whole disciple is growing more into Christ and becoming more like Christ.ResourcesSummitchurch.com/disciple