THOUGHTS ON DISCIPLESHIP by Willard, Stott, and Warren
Dallas Willard in his book "Divine Conspiracy" states: "....discipleship is real-life apprenticeship to Jesus." If we are students of Jesus then we must be with him. If I am an apprentice, a disciple, that means I must be with him to learn from him, how to be like him.
To take an illustration from ordinary life; a child learning to multiply and divide numbers is an apprentice to his/her teacher. Children are with their teachers learning from them how to be like them. The same would be true for a student of piano, or voice, or tennis. The "being-with" by watching and hearing is an absolute necessity.
Rev. John Stott in his book The Contemporary Christian
Writes: "discipleship is a many faceted lifestyle, an amalgam of several ingredients. In particular, it includes worship, faith, obedience and hope. Every Christian is called to worship God, to trust and obey him, and to look with confident hope towards the future." It is our duty to worship God in public and private.
Rick Warren states: "You were created to be like Jesus. This is your destiny. From the very beginning, God's plan was to create human beings to reflect His image. God announced his intention at Creation: "Then God said, "let us make mankind in our image and likeness."
(From a sermon by Clarence Eisberg, Casual Discipleship...Not an Option, 6/24/2010)