Disciple vs Follower

Jesus had 70 followers, among whom 12 were His “disciples”. Disciple is someone who’s disciplined, is a matured imitator of his Teacher. A follower is more casual in his approach of following the teachings of the Teacher. As I meditated on it, I felt that we can be either a disciple or a follower at any point of time – a disciple is a matured Christian having a close relationship with the Teacher (Jesus), while a follower lacks maturity. We reflect the characteristics of a disciple when we follow God whole-heartedly, and the moment we lose focus on God, we tend to become a mere follower. It’s the spiritual maturity that defines a “disciple”.

Let God work in us as we become His favorite disciples, as He molds us into the image of His Son Jesus.

Just outlined some attitude differences below:

Disciple vs Follower

- Disciple - Lord, teach me how to pray.

- Follower - Can someone pray for me?

- Disciple - Lord, make me more like You.

- Follower - Lord, please help me become like this, or like that

- Disciple - I trust in You, no matter the cost

- Follower - Desires to trust in God, but cost and the risk seem too high, keeps backups

- Disciple - Marvels at God's character and His ways

- Follower - Marvels at God's power and His wonders

- Disciple - Accepts God's chastening as it is God's love that disciplines His children

- Follower - Assumes God is punishing for their actions

- Disciple - God is his only priority, at all times

- Follower - God is one of his priorities in life

- Disciple - Loves spending time with God, as a close and intimate friend

- Follower - Spends time with God occasionally, more like a formal meet-up for placing requests

- Disciple - Neither worldly success, nor religion makes sense

- Follower - Sees worldly success as a gift from God, and religion as a way of paying back to him

- Disciple - Values the fruits of the Spirit

- Follower - Values the gifts of the Spirit

- Disciple - Loves God with all of his heart

- Follower - Loves the concept of God, and how He "fits" in his life

- Disciple - Knows and acknowledges human weakness; transparent with what he feels

- Follower - Rebukes human weakness and relates it to being unbelieving

- Disciple - No masks, brutally honest with God as with a close friend

- Follower - Thinks it's a sin to question God

- Disciple - Matured enough to not judge people by their outward appearance

- Follower - Criticizes people merely by seeing what they do or by hearing what others say about them

- Disciple - Set apart from the world; unable to tolerate the sinful and ungodly spirits

- Follower - Finds it quite amusing to mingle with the world and still stand for God

- Disciple - Learns to be led by the Holy Spirit, day by day

- Follower - Not much aware of how the Spirit leads and so takes decisions mostly by himself or by listening to others

- Disciple - Overwhelmed with emotions seeing God's directions and timing; Answerer excites them more than the answer

- Follower - Excited about the answers received from God; answers excite them more than the Answerer

- Disciple - Knows that he is highly valued, not by works, but by grace

- Follower - Often feels he needs to do something for God

- Disciple - Knows when it’s his time to fight, and when he is to stand still and let God fight

- Follower - Not really sure when to fight or whether to even fight

- Disciple - Is able to differentiate Holy Spirit's conviction from Devil's condemnation

- Follower - Unsure whether he's convicted or condemned; leading to rebellion or shame

- Disciple - Is loving towards his critics and says, "Lord, forgive them; for they know not what they do!"

- Follower - Is not able show love, to someone who hurts him and says, "Vengeance is from God"

- Disciple - Learns from the Holy Spirit to be like Jesus

- Follower - Learns from disciples or the people around to be like someone they admire

- Disciple - Knows that brokenness is valuable and it lets God's light to shine through

- Follower - Equates brokenness with weakness

- Disciple – Carries the cross and follows Jesus

- Follower – Does not think needs to carry the cross, as Jesus has already done it!