MARKS OF A DISCIPLE

MARKS OF A DISCIPLE
Heb 13:1-6
"…be content with what you have…." (v.5).

AFTER THE WARNING ABOUT THE wrath of God (12.39) comes the call to love one another (v.1). To our author there is no incongruity: love and holiness reside in the same God and are expected of His people. The command to love is the "new command" given by Jesus to His disciples, and their love for one another is the badge by which they are to be identified (John 13.34-35).

Here brotherly love is to be shown to strangers and to prisoners. Written at a time when Christians were persecuted, the call was particularly relevant. There were travelling evangelists and believers fleeing persecution who needed hospitality. There were those arrested and put in prison. They and their loved ones needed care. The pagan satirist Lucian of Samosata observed that when a Christian was arrested, his fellows "left no stone unturned in their endeavour to procure his release. When this proved impossible they looked after his wants in all other matters with untiring solicitude and devotion". This could not but send a powerful message to the pagan world.

What about us today? Love remains still the most powerful message to the world of our faith. Someone said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." They are not very interested in what we have to say till they see it first in our lives. It is a fact in many testimonies of conversion that an unbeliever finds himself or herself drawn to God through the love shown by Christians for one another and for others. Do we bear the badge of Jesus' disciples?

Two other marks should be noted of believers: purity in marriage (v.4) and contentment (vv.5-6). On marriage, the author is probably addressing false teachings on two fronts. Firstly, there are the ascetics who consider marriage and sex evils to be avoided. Secondly, there are the sensualists who view sex as a pleasure to be exploited regardless of marriage. Both fail to grasp God's purpose for sex to be enjoyed within the bounds of a committed, secure and loving marital relationship.

On contentment, we are urged to keep our lives free from the love of money (v.5) which the apostle Paul calls "a root of all kinds of evil" (I Timothy 6.10). Many people mistakenly think that contentment is found in the acquisition of things that satisfy. But once we start on this premise, the road is unending. The more we have, the more we want. So it is rightly said, "Who lives content with little possesses everything." (Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux). Our "little" lies in the great promise of God, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (v.5). When we claim that, we have everything and contentment.

Do I bear the marks of a disciple?