Dust & Discipline Lesson Thirteen - Becoming a Modern Disciple
A Sneak Peek Into Our Dust & Discipline Series - Full Lesson
Today I’m offering something a little different.
This lesson is part of our Dust & Discipline series, which is normally reserved for our Vault and Founding Members. But I wanted to give all of you a glimpse into what we’ve been building together. Not just information about Jesus, but formation under Him.
Because understanding first century discipleship only matters if it changes how we follow Him now.
So what does it actually mean to become a disciple today?
Not in theory. Not as a label. But as a lived reality.
Discipleship Is Apprenticeship, Not Affiliation
In the first century, a disciple was an apprentice. A talmid did not simply agree with a Rabbi’s teaching. He attached himself to the Rabbi’s life. He watched how Scripture was interpreted, how prayer was practiced, how conflict was handled, how mercy was extended.
Discipleship meant proximity.
The modern danger is that we substitute affiliation for apprenticeship. We identify as Christians. We consume sermons, read books, listen to podcasts. But our lives remain largely arranged around our own instincts and ambitions.
Becoming a modern disciple requires something far more intentional. It requires allowing Jesus to set the pattern for how we think, speak, forgive, spend, lead, rest, and love.
That kind of formation doesn’t happen accidentally.
The Necessity of Intentional Formation
Discipleship is not self-directed spirituality. It is guided formation.
In the Jewish world, disciples attached themselves to a Rabbi whose interpretation of Torah they trusted. They didn’t drift between teachers based on preference. They committed. They submitted to a particular way of reading Scripture and living it out.
And that model challenges us all today.
We live in an age of endless content. We can sample a dozen teachers in a single week. We can build a theology from fragments. But formation requires coherence.
To become a disciple today means placing yourself under consistent, faithful teaching. It means finding a teacher who handles Scripture with care, who respects its history and context, who refuses to flatten out difficult passages to make them comfortable, who neither sensationalizes nor softens what the text actually says.
It means learning from someone who is more interested in your depth than your applause.
Discipleship flourishes under wise guidance. It withers in isolation.
Obedience as Alignment, Not Performance
One of the deepest misunderstandings about discipleship is that it’s about performing for God. In reality, it’s about alignment.
When Jesus called people to follow Him, He was inviting them to align their lives with the reign of God. That alignment showed up in concrete choices. It shaped relationships, finances, speech, and priorities.
And modern discipleship still works that way.
It’s easy to agree with Jesus’s teaching in principle. It’s harder to allow His interpretation of Scripture to reorder your instincts and your habits. It’s harder to forgive when you’ve been wounded, to choose integrity when compromise would be easier, to practice generosity when scarcity feels safer.
Discipleship is measured less by what we profess and more by what we practice.
Depth Over Speed
We often want rapid spiritual growth. The Gospels show us something slower and more honest.
The original disciples misunderstood Jesus repeatedly. They asked the wrong questions. They wrestled with ambition and fear. Yet in it all, they stayed close.
Modern discipleship requires patience with the process. Growth unfolds through repetition, correction, reflection, and practice. It requires space to ask real questions without shame and space to wrestle with Scripture without rushing to tidy conclusions.
A good teacher won’t give you easy answers to avoid tension. A good teacher will walk you through the tension so that your understanding becomes rooted rather than reactive.
Formation takes time.
Living What You Learn
Information without embodiment produces spiritual pride. Embodiment without understanding produces instability.
A modern disciple integrates both.
When you study the kingdom, you begin to look for where God’s reign challenges your own. When you study Jesus’s halakhah (His lived interpretation of Torah… how He walked out God’s instruction in daily life and called His disciples to do the same), you begin to notice where your habits diverge from His. When you study the Word through His lens, you begin to see Scripture not as ammunition, but as formation.
Discipleship becomes visible in ordinary life. In how you speak when no one is applauding, in how you respond when you’re wrong and in how you steward influence, however small.
The world doesn’t need louder Christians. It needs formed disciples.
Choosing to Be Formed
Becoming a modern disciple requires a decision.
You decide that Jesus’s interpretation of Scripture carries more authority than your preferences. You decide that transformation is worth discomfort. You decide that depth matters more than novelty.
And you decide not to do it alone.
Discipleship grows in community and under faithful teaching. It grows when you commit to a place where Scripture is handled carefully, where context is honored, where questions are welcomed, and where spiritual maturity is the goal.
If this lesson has stirred something in you, that stirring isn’t accidental. It’s an invitation.
Jesus still says “Follow Me”.
The call hasn’t changed. The path is still narrow, but it is rich. And the dust of the Rabbi still settles on those who choose to walk closely enough.
Reflection Questions
Where in your life have you substituted affiliation for apprenticeship.
What would intentional formation look like for you over the next year.
How do you choose teachers, and what qualities matter most in that choice.
Where is Jesus inviting you into alignment rather than agreement.
What step would move you from curiosity into commitment.
Bible Study Questions
Read Matthew 28:19–20. How does Jesus define making disciples.
Read Acts 2:42. What practices shaped early discipleship.
Read Hebrews 5:12–14. What distinguishes maturity from immaturity.
Read 2 Timothy 2:2. How is faithful teaching passed on.
Read Psalm 1. What does sustained formation look like over time.
Download the Lesson
I am now making these lessons available as PDFs for those who may want to print them and insert them in a binder. I will be working on previous lessons as well so check those soon if you wish to download them.
If this study stirred something in you, share it with a friend who might need it too.
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Previous Lessons
Dust & Discipline Lesson Twelve - The Kingdom of Heaven in Jewish Thought
Dust & Discipline Lesson Eleven - Jesus and Torah
Dust & Discipline Lesson Ten - Women in Jesus’ Ministry
Dust & Discipline Lesson Nine - The Disciples... Why These Guys?
Dust & Discipline Lesson Eight - Jesus and Table Fellowship
Dust & Discipline: Lesson Seven Parables: The Rabbi’s Secret Weapon
Dust & Discipline: Lesson Six The Beatitudes as a Manifesto
Dust & Discipline: Lesson Five - Rabbi, Prophet, Messiah
Dust & Discipline: Lesson One: What It Meant to Follow a Rabbi
Dust & Discipline: Lesson Two - The Yoke of a Rabbi
Dust & Discipline: Lesson Three The Rabbi and His Disciples
Dust & Discipline Lesson Four - Hearing Jesus Through Jewish Ears
About the Author
Diane Ferreira is a Jewish believer in Yeshua, a published author, speaker, seminary student, wife, and proud mom. She is the author of several books, including The Proverbs 31-ish Woman, which debuted as Amazon’s #1 New Release in Religious Humor, as well as Holy, Hormonal and Holding On.
She is currently pursuing her graduate degree in Jewish Studies in seminary, with her favorite topics being the early church and Biblical Hebrew. Diane writes and teaches from a unique perspective, bridging her Jewish heritage with vibrant faith in the Messiah to bring clarity, depth, and devotion to everyday believers.
When she’s not writing, studying, or teaching, you’ll find her curled up with a good book, crocheting something cozy, or playing her favorite video games.
Thank you! God bless you!! 💘💘💘💘💘💘