Discipleship requires pouring and refilling

Abi Miller reminds us that discipling others begins with following Jesus ourselves.

We live in a world of titles, roles and identities. For me, that includes daughter, granddaughter, sister, colleague and youth worker. If someone asked who you are, would ‘disciple of Jesus’ make your list?

In Matthew 28:19 and 20, Jesus makes discipleship central to our purpose: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’

What a challenge – to go out, spread his word and lead others to follow him! It’s a calling that many today take lightly. When Jesus said ‘follow me’ (Matthew 4:19) to his disciples, he wasn’t inviting a casual click to follow him on Instagram or Facebook. He was calling 12 ordinary people – fishers, tax collectors, sons and brothers – to leave everything familiar behind and reorientate their entire lives around him. Discipleship means saying yes before we see the full picture; these men had no idea what lay ahead, yet in faith and trust they chose to follow him.

A disciple – from the Greek mathētēs – isn’t just someone who believes. A disciple is a learner, a follower, an apprentice. It’s not a title we earn but a journey we enter – a daily walk of spiritual growth.

I recently returned from being on staff at the Central and Southern Scotland Adventure Camp. In the middle of the chaos, fun and sleepless nights, I found purpose: I was reminded of Jesus’ call to discipleship – not just for the campers but for us as leaders. Nurturing disciples of Jesus begins not with leading others, but with following Jesus ourselves. If discipleship is about learning to live like Jesus, that includes letting him restore us, teach us and lead us – even when we’re the ones pouring out.

During the final morning of worship, a young person approached me to pray with them about their home situation. I was so moved when this happened and truly felt God’s calling of discipleship in my personal life, because discipleship is about walking with others in their vulnerability, not just teaching from a distance. It’s about listening, loving and lingering – not rushing past the sacred moments that ask for our presence.

The Salvation Army’s ninth doctrine says: ‘We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.’ Discipleship isn’t a one-time decision; it’s the posture we hold, the surrender we choose, the transformation we invite day by day. That means tending gently to our own soul, not out of selfishness but out of stewardship.

Discipleship means making space for silence, for Scripture, for joy. It means letting Christ speak – not just through us, but to us. It’s OK to pause. It’s holy to receive.

The rhythm of discipleship includes both pouring out and being refilled. What does that look like in your daily life? Not just being someone who knows Jesus’ words, but someone who lives them. Not just being someone who goes to church, but someone who is church.

Fans admire and followers imitate, but disciples walk with – especially when it’s inconvenient, costly or quiet. Sometimes that journey feels dramatic – a bold moment of change. Other times, it unfolds gently, like a slow awakening. Either way, being a disciple should shape our deepest identity. It should inform how we speak, how we love, how we respond.

In Jesus’ day, disciples would walk with a rabbi, not merely to hear his teaching, but to learn how to live it. It was immersive. Embodied. Wholehearted.

Today, Jesus doesn’t just call us to believe in him. He calls us to follow him, to become like him and to surrender all to him. Then we can lean fully into the purpose he instills in our lives: to go and make disciples.

Would you name ‘disciple of Jesus’ among your core identities? Is discipleship central to your purpose? Do you make space to be filled up as well as pour out?