Believer-Disciple-Servant-Leader

Dec 8, 2023 | by Joel Jacobs

I recently came across some excellent definitions of some basic Biblical principals and the Lord immediately began to show me awesome revelations about my personal walk of faith, but also how to encourage others in theirs. I saw the connection of believers, disciples, servants, and leaders. How each works perfectly with one another when we allow God’s will to manifest through us. Let’s start with the foundation of all them…the believer.

Romans chapter 10 speaks about how righteousness was determined when the law was established through Moses; by PERFECT adherence. However, Paul says “BUT…” the righteousness based on faith in Jesus Christ is completely different. Paul makes his case in verses 6-10 by using God’s very own declarations that were recorded by Moses and written in Duet. 30 starting at verse 12. Paul brings it together by declaring “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That right there is the starting point for everyone, becoming a believer. Therefore, a believer is a person who believes, trusts in, relies on, and obeys God’s Word. That’s just the starting place though.

After one declares they are a believer, the next step is to grow into a disciple. This is so important that a person doesn’t just stop at believing. In Matthew chapter 28 Jesus made a command “Go therefore, and make disciples….” That wasn’t a suggestion. All believers are commanded by Jesus to be made into disciples, and he gives two important components of being His disciple. One is being baptized (“…baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Water baptism is a public display of the believer’s faith in Jesus, and a symbol of our unity with Christ. The second is observing all things He (Jesus) has taught and commanded (“…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded.”)

If you noticed I was intentional about using the words “grow into” and “made.” That’s because being a disciple is not just something you suddenly become. It’s constant, a new way of living. Therefore, a disciple is a believer who builds their life on the teachings and principles of the Lord Jesus. We all go through different types of seasons in our walk of faith, but the more and more we earnestly seek Jesus and strive to base our life wholly around Him, the more we grow into and are made into His disciple.

Next, as a believer continues growing and being made into a disciple, their life starts to be molded completely and wholly around Jesus, and His goodness is abounding in their life, the disciple SHOULD want to see others receive the same revelations that changed their own life. They SHOULD want to see God’s goodness multiply through others. When a disciple makes this realization, they then step into a servant. A servant is a disciple who willingly and joyfully manages their life, time, and resources for the Kingdom of God. When a disciple grows and steps into being a servant, they become more of a giver, and less of a consumer.

This is as repeatable as you will allow it to be. As a believer, if you continue to diligently seek the Father’s complete and total will for your life, new truths are continually revealed. Every time you find a new truth, a new revelation, and you BELIEVE it in your heart and confesses with your mouth…”Praise God! Yes Lord, that is for ME. I receive that!” you become of BELIEVER of that new truth. Now you can add that into the framework of your life as a disciple. As the fruit of being a disciple manifests in your life, it will continuously transform how you serve the kingdom. Are these connections becoming clearer? It’s a transition focused more on addition than subtraction. Certainly, there are areas of your life that you will need to be subtracted, but what you will find is many of those subtractions happen by default because of the additions.

Lastly, all three, believer to disciple, disciple to servant, all flow towards being a leader. A leader recognizes and accepts the responsibility of their influence on others. This isn’t to say every servant in a particular ministry is called to be a leader in that ministry by way of a pastor, etc., but everyone is called to be a leader in their life in some way. If you’re a husband and father, those first three will help you be the leader of your family that God wants you to be. If you are a wife and mother, I’m sure there are other wives and mothers that are in your circle you can have Kingdom influence. No matter what your age, no matter what your current life circumstances are, God wants you to lead with Kingdom influence.

I hope this blessed you, and I encourage you to examine yourself and wherever you see your current state in that continuum, strive to grow to whatever God has next for you. God may have something waiting for you that you never fathomed would be possible.

Love you all,

Pastor Joel