I love to read. I have stacks and stacks of books in my house. My to-read pile is MUCH bigger than my have-read pile. Some books I read over and over. One I’ve read every year for almost a decade. People give me books. “You should read this.” And it goes on the pile. There are books I get because everyone else is reading them. I call those my “ought to read” books.
There are books I read for fun. Books I read to grow. Books I read to prune. I have “inspired reads”. Books that I feel led by the Lord to read.
Then there are books I read to rekindle the fire. One such book is “The Fire that Once Was” by Frank “JJ” DiPietro. I read it in 2022 and it both moved and challenged me. This week I was inspired-less. I didn’t have anything I felt led to read and nothing else seemed to be calling to me, so I picked up The Fire that Once Was again and started from the beginning.
This book contains short biographies of a few dozen men and women of God in church history who have done incredible things and made astounding sacrifices, up to martyrdom, to advance the kingdom of God in the earth. It paints a picture of the consecrated lives they lived and the revivals God used them in. Without these men and women of faith, the Church would not be where we are today.
As I read their stories a couple years ago, I often asked myself, “Would I have done that? Would I have sacrificed that?” Their stories were sobering and challenging. And as I read through the introduction again, the author laying out his purpose in writing the book, he wrote this sentence that stopped me in my tracks this time around.
“My sincere desire is that these stories are convicted, inspired, and captured by the Holy Spirit, as were the lives of the disciples whose biographies you are about to read.”
Frank “JJ” DiPietro
Why would that make me stop? It didn’t the last time I read it. Throughout the introduction he had called them various things. Ambassadors for Christ. Soldiers of the cross. Saints. But in this kind of ordinary sentence, he used the word “disciples”.
Since I have read the book before, I was kind of skimming through the introduction. When he said “the lives of the disciples” it made me think not about the men and women in the book but of the famous 12 disciples of the Bible. I was a bit confused because I knew this book was not about the disciples, so I went back and reread that sentence and realized he was calling these men and women disciples. Having read their inspiring stories, I can unequivocally say they are truly disciples in every sense of the word.
But what stopped me is a question the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart and challenged me with.
Would you call yourself a disciple?
I know the 12 were legit disciples. I would surely call all of these in the book disciples. To me, it’s a weighty word with a lot of meaning behind it. And in that context, I’ve never really thought about it. I call myself a Christian. I call myself a follower in that I love the Word and try to live my life according to what it says. According to His example and teachings. I endeavor to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. I have a relationship with Jesus.
But a disciple? Would I call myself an inspiring, sold out, life-laid-down disciple? Would I put myself in the same category as the 12? As the men and women throughout church history written about in this book?
It wasn’t a question I could easily answer. It’s was a challenge.
I like to think I am. What does that even really mean? Disciple. Do we, like the 12, need to move into almost communal living? Leave our jobs and families in order to really follow Jesus and be considered a disciple? Of course not.
Discipleship isn’t something that was reserved just for those faithful few that got to be with Jesus while He was alive. He called them disciples. He trained them as disciples. He wanted them to BE disciples. Then He told them to go MAKE disciples. It was meant to be an ongoing process in and through the church until Jesus comes back for us. Thus there should still be disciples today.
So what is it? It’s for sure more than Sunday morning church attendance. It’s following. It goes beyond actions alone to motive of the heart. It’s not just what people see out in the open; it’s also what happens behind closed doors.
It’s following His example in every thought. In every action. In every hobby. In every decision. It means there isn’t any moment of our day or part of our life that doesn’t belong to Him. It’s not having any part of your life you can call “mine”. It means everywhere He leads, we follow, no matter what it costs us. Even if we’re tired. Even if we’re hungry. Even if we’re busy. Even if we’re insecure. Even if we’re afraid. Even if it requires sacrifice. Even to death.
He challenged me with this thought, so I’m turning around to ask you and challenge you as well. Maybe this is easier for you to answer than it was for me. Not would you call yourself a Christian? Not are you a follower? Dig deep.
Would you call yourself a disciple? Why or why not? I’d love to hear it.