Question: Can one be a disciple and not believe? Can one believe and not be a disciple?
Answer: Yes.
How can that be?
A disciple is one who follows the teaching or philosophy of another. You can call them teacher’s, guru’s or swami’s. I may be a disciple of say, Rick Warren (pastor of Saddleback Church, author of the Purpose Driven Life) because of the worldwide work he does for social justice and world peace, but that doesn’t mean I believe everything that comes out of Warren’s mouth or every project he launches. As a pastor Warren knows God’s Word I will listen to his teaching with confidence, but his instructions will not be the final word on doctrinal or theological issues. Jesus had many disciples, but not many believers. So, yes one can be a disciple and not a believer.
Being a believer doesn’t automatically make a person a disciple. Belief is a trust in the claim but doesn’t always translate into a commitment of following. I would suggest that the vast majority of Christians in the U.S. (and using that term I am saying born-again believers) are, at best, marginal disciples. They may attend church, give a tithe, but again, most of believers in the West are short on even these two basic activities of discipleship. Being a witness for Christ, demonstrating the fruits of the spirit is a greater indicator of being a disciple of Christ; gossip, having an unforgiving and bitterness in your heart toward your brother, dishonesty in business, covetousness, pride won’t keep you from being a believer, but it will be hard to sell your faith if you are riddled with these undiscipleship qualities.
After Jesus was crucified there was a rich man by the name of Joseph of who asked the Romans to let him have the body of Jesus to be buried in his own grave. The Bible calls Joseph a “secret disciple.” How long was a he a secret disciple? One year? Two years? We don’t know, but he was no doubt a believer who had not yet declared openly his faith in Jesus.
In Muslim and Hindu communities, where the family and social structure is deeply constrained, I believe there are thousands of secret believers, who are not yet disciples. Whenever anyone writes me and quotes the scriptures about how God’s Word demands open confession I remind them of the guy from Aremethia, or his friend, Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night (we still don’t if he ever became a believer). Yes, Joseph did come out of the closet, but the day of his declaration of discipleship wasn’t his day of salvation, he was a secret disciple before he was a declared disciple.
When I get notes about how we should be willing to die for the name of Christ or be ostracized from our family for His sake, I automatically discount it from anyone who does not come from inside the social/family structures of Hinduism, Islam or Buddhism.
And, quite frankly, even if you come from a fundamentalist Hindu/Muslim family and declared your faith openly risking life, limb and fortune and believe everyone else should do the same, I would still take you back to Joseph, Naaman, Nicodemous and make the argument that there is no standard universal pattern for discipleship or for believers. Many have indeed have suffered for their faith and I do recognize throughout history of the church the martyrs who paid a high price for discipleship. However, first and foremost for all true believers is belief or trust that Jesus is the Christ of God who gave His life for man’s salvation. How that belief is played out in action is as varied as those who call on His name. It may be in front of a church or at baptism; it may be in a one’s room all alone for years.
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