Student or Disciple?

Are you a disciple or a student of Christ?

Disciple, right? That's the term we use because that's the term used in the Bible. But a disciple is much more than a student, even more than a follower. 

I've been learning T'ai Chi for a little over a year. I'm picking up a few hints about Chinese culture along the way. Discipleship and lineage is very important in the Chinese culture. Our T'ai Chi school is the Yang-style of T'ai Chi, which refers to lineage. Those who started the school were disciples of Master T.T. Liang.

Master Liang's daughter, An-Le, writes an introduction to the book, "Lessons with Master Liang," by Ray Hayward. In it she says this:

"My father explained to us how a discipleship/family relationship works. After passing through a formal ceremony, Ray became my brother. The "Old Chinese" way was that disciples would take care of family members. Ray was closer to my father than Joseph and I, closer than a son or daughter...People will dispute the facts, but I know who my father's disciples are...[Ray]was always there for my dad...My father had many good students, but he only had two disciples, Ray Hayward and Paul Abdella."

There are several things we can see in An-Le's account that teach us about discipleship.
   *Disciples are counted as family.
   *Disciples can be closer to the master than family members.
   *Disciples are to care for the master's family members.
   *Disciples are devoted to the master.

Are you a student or a disciple of Christ?

Ponder this with me today.