Many people today see this and are inspired. They see that they too can be forgiven for all of their sins and lead a better life. Being a disciple today is nearly the same as being a disciple in the time of Jesus. As a disciple today you still have to have a true belief in God and to follow the word of Jesus. This is also true for disciples 2000 years ago. Christians today do not suffer as much as they did in the time of Jesus but in some countries Christians do get persecuted and even attacked or killed. The first twelve disciples are not so sacrificial and some probably wouldn’t give their life for God. However, there are still Christians who would do anything for God but this is only a small percent of Christians.
I don’t think that anyone can be a true disciple of Jesus because they are not fully Christians and don’t know enough about the religion to give their whole life up as a sacrificial Christian. Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King made very large sacrifices to become apostles of God, King gave his life in an attempt to stop racism and Mother Teresa left her family and way of living to help those in need in India. They both showed that it is possible to be a disciple of Jesus if you have the will power and strength. But these weren’t really disciples but apostles (a person who is sent). Many people let them fall so deeply into temptation that it is hard to get out of it and it is hard for them to stop and say what they are doing is wrong. All of the time this comes down to how scared they are to make the self-sacrifice. In England, a rich country, it is hard for people to give up luxuries and stop being greedy. A common saying is, ‘No matter what you’ve got, you always want more!’ and this is very true in a lot of cases. In the same way as what was said earlier, these people are not disciples and are not prepared to learn fully about another religion.
Many Christians go to great lengths to help the needy, they may move to a specific area of a city where there are people who are in need of help. Some may move to different countries where the needs are far bigger. Volunteers may take time out to help the poor by helping in soup kitchen or other forms of assisting.
Many Christians put income towards people who are less fortunate. They may give it directly to preach the teachings of Jesus and faith, they can do this in many ways; conversation, inviting non Christians into church, going from door to door, many people feel obliged to work abroad preaching etc… All of which are inter-linked and Christians try to do these things to be a disciple.
Anybody can be a disciple of Jesus specially if they believe in Jesus Christ. Christians are monotheistic believer. A teacher can be a disciple of God because she may or may not teach R.E. when ever she pray to God then she will be a disciple of God. A social worker who is helping other people will be a disciple of God. A Doctor who will do whatever he or she can do to help a sick person, i.e. if he came across of treating his enemy he will put aside his feeling about him or her and will help that person, whoever she or he is, a mother telling a story from a bible to her child. As I said any one can be a disciple of Jesus as long as he or she keeps their faith and belief about God.
Zandra Flores
11 Fisher