Discipleship Through the Lens of Jesus Christ
The Simplicity of a Life Centered on Jesus
Part 1 & Part 2
(English & Español)
July 15, 2026
Part 1 & Part 2
(English & Español)
July 15, 2026
In the first article, A Theology Through the Lens of Jesus Christ, I argued that Jesus Christ is the highest governing center of Christian theology because He is the fullest revelation of God, the fulfillment of Scripture, and the One in whom all things hold together.
But theology never exists for its own sake. It exists to lead us into life with God. That naturally raises a second question: If Jesus is the governing center of theology, should He not also be the governing center of discipleship? I believe the answer is yes.
Just as every doctrine finds its proper meaning in Christ, every aspect of discipleship finds its proper place in Christ. This means we should not merely ask, How do we become like Jesus? We must ask an even more foundational question: How should discipleship itself be understood through the lens of Jesus Christ?
I believe Jesus gives us the answer in a familiar story. Martha loved Jesus. She welcomed Him into her home and desired to serve Him well. Yet she became distracted, anxious, and troubled by many things. Mary chose another posture. She sat at His feet. She listened. She learned. Jesus said: “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” — Luke 10:42 NLT. Mary was not choosing inactivity over service. She was choosing the center from which all faithful service must flow. She chose Jesus Himself.
That is the heart of discipleship. The Christian life can revolve around many good things, or it can revolve around one great Person. Jesus Christ. He is not one more part of discipleship. He is the center that gives every other part its meaning.
One of the greatest mistakes we can make is to think of Jesus as one important part of the Christian life. He is not. Jesus is not one more part of discipleship. He is the center that gives every other part its meaning. We do not simply follow Jesus so that He can tell us what God desires, after which we move on to mastering the Christian life. Jesus is the Christian life.
He is the One we know.
He is the One we love.
He is the One we follow.
He is the One whose life is formed within us.
He is the One whose life is reproduced through us.
Jesus never said, “Master discipleship.” He said: “Follow Me.”
Many of us sincerely desire to grow. We want maturity. We want wisdom. We want effectiveness. We want fruitful ministry. So we begin adding the important pieces. We study the Bible. We practice spiritual disciplines. We develop ministry skills. We attend conferences. We read books. We learn leadership.
None of these is wrong. Each has an important place. The problem is not learning. The problem is beginning with the parts instead of the center.
We seek knowledge because we want maturity.
We seek methods because we want effectiveness.
We seek influence because we want impact.
We seek fruitfulness because we want to make a difference.
Jesus continually invites us into a different order:
Seek Me.
Know Me.
Love Me.
Remain with Me.
Learn My way of life.
We often seek the things Jesus wants to produce. Jesus invites us to seek Him first.
We keep trying to add all the parts. Jesus tells us to begin with the center. This reflects the order Jesus taught when He said: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” —Matthew 6:33 NIV. In its immediate setting, Jesus was speaking about the Father’s provision for daily needs. Yet the verse reveals a broader principle of the with-God life: Seek God first rather than anxiously pursuing everything you believe you need.
The same order applies to discipleship.
We do not build maturity first and then bring it to Jesus.
We come to Jesus, and He matures us.
We do not build effectiveness first and then ask Him to bless it.
We remain with Jesus, and His life becomes fruitful through us.
We do not pursue wisdom as something separate from Him.
We walk with the One in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found.
It is almost as though Jesus says: “Give Me the center of your life and pursuit. Remain with Me, and I will form within you what you need as you follow Me.”
Paul writes: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” — Colossians 1:17 NIV. Paul is speaking about Christ’s supremacy over creation. But the implication reaches into every part of discipleship. If all things hold together in Christ, then the Christian life also finds its coherence in Christ.
The Christian life is not meant to become a collection of disconnected doctrines, disciplines, ministries, and activities. It is one integrated life centered on one Person.
Scripture helps us know Christ.
Prayer deepens our communion with Christ.
Spiritual disciplines make us more available to Christ.
Theology helps us understand Christ more faithfully.
Ministry training helps us participate more wisely with Christ.
Mission joins us in the work of Christ.
Everything finds its proper place because everything finds its center in Him.
When everything in the Christian life is gathered around Jesus Christ, the result is a life that is both wonderfully simple and remarkably whole.
Here is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life: The inexhaustible Christ does not complicate the Christian life — He simplifies it. There is no end to His wisdom. There is no limit to His beauty. There is no bottom to His love. We could spend eternity discovering more of Him and never exhaust His glory.
Yet His inexhaustibility does not scatter our attention. It gathers it. It does not give us countless competing pursuits. It gives us one. Jesus Christ. Christian maturity is not moving beyond Jesus into more advanced things. Christian maturity is spending a lifetime discovering that everything was always found in Him. The deeper we go into Christ, the simpler the Christian life becomes because all its riches are found in one inexhaustible Person.
If Jesus is the center, what place do Scripture, spiritual disciplines, theology, and ministry training have? The answer is not to abandon them but to restore them to their proper place. The goal of discipleship is not to become highly skilled at Christian practices. The goal is to become so deeply acquainted with Jesus that every practice becomes another way of knowing Him, becoming like Him, and participating in His life.
Bible study helps us know Christ.
Prayer brings us into communion with Christ.
Worship teaches us to delight in Christ.
Spiritual disciplines make us increasingly available to Christ.
Theology helps us understand Christ more faithfully.
Ministry training helps us serve with Christ more wisely.
These things do not compete with Jesus when they remain rightly ordered around Him. They become servants of our relationship with Him.
The issue is not whether we learn. The issue is where the learning begins and what holds it together.
We do not study merely to become knowledgeable. We study to know Jesus.
We do not practice prayer merely to become disciplined. We pray to commune with Jesus.
We do not learn ministry methods merely to become effective. We learn to participate with Jesus in what He is already doing.
Practices are not destinations. They are pathways into deeper life with Christ.
This helps explain one of the most remarkable statements in the book of Acts. Peter and John stood before the most educated religious leaders of their day. These leaders recognized that they were unschooled and ordinary men. Yet they were astonished. Luke gives one simple explanation: “...they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” — Acts 4:13 ESV.
Their greatest qualification was not merely what they knew. It was Whom they knew.
They had watched Jesus.
They had listened to Him.
They had been corrected by Him.
They had obeyed Him.
They had learned His way of life.
Their knowledge had become embodied through relationship. They had spent time with the Wisdom of God Himself. This does not mean the disciples stopped learning. It means all their learning was gathered around the living Person of Jesus.
Jesus described this process through the image of a vine and its branches: “Abide in Me… Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” — John 15:4–5 ESV. The branch does not produce fruit by concentrating on fruit. It remains connected to the vine. Fruit grows from abiding.
We often seek fruitfulness directly. Jesus tells us to abide.
We seek impact. Jesus tells us to remain.
We seek effectiveness. Jesus tells us to follow.
We seek maturity. Jesus tells us to learn from Him.
This does not make us passive. Branches draw life from the vine and then bear fruit. In the same way, life with Jesus produces obedience, learning, service, and mission. But the order matters.
Fruit does not create connection. Connection produces fruit. Being with Jesus is not preparation for the real Christian life. Being with Jesus is the center of the Christian life. Everything else grows from there.
This is why discipleship can be expressed so simply:
Be with Jesus. To be with Jesus is to abide in Him, listen to Him, and share life with Him.
Become like Jesus. To become like Jesus is to allow the Holy Spirit to form His character and way of seeing within us.
Live as Jesus lived. To live as Jesus lived is to participate in His love, obedience, and mission.
Everything else belongs within these three realities.
Scripture helps us be with Jesus.
Spiritual practices make us available to His transforming work.
The Church helps us become like Jesus together.
Ministry training helps us live and serve more faithfully in His way.
Mission becomes the overflow of His life within us.
This framework is not simple because there is little to learn. It is simple because everything we learn is gathered around one Person. It is not simple because there is little to do. It is simple because everything we do flows from one center. Jesus Christ.
We spend much of our lives seeking maturity, wisdom, effectiveness, influence, and fruitfulness. Jesus invites us into a simpler pursuit:
Seek Me.
Know Me.
Love Me.
Remain with Me.
Learn My way of life.
Everything else will find its proper place.
We do not seek maturity, wisdom, effectiveness, or influence as our highest pursuit. We seek Jesus Christ. As we remain with Him, He faithfully forms within us everything necessary to know Him, become like Him, and participate in His life.
That is why discipleship is wonderfully simple. Not because there is little to learn. Not because there is little to do. But because everything is gathered around one Person. The One in whom all things hold together is also the One in whom the whole Christian life holds together.
The deepest theology therefore leads us into the simplest discipleship:
Be with Jesus.
Become like Jesus.
Live as Jesus lived.