What is a disciple?

A couple of the things I have heard lately really have me questioning what really does it mean to disciple someone. I heard a quote that said when the only tool you have is a hammer than everything looks like a nail. I think the church has one tool - it's programming. Suddenly everything has to fit into that. I am not saying programs are bad things, but I think they may be a part of the process and actually a smaller one than we would like to believe. I also heard Reggie McNeal, who actually I think also had the hammer quote, tell a story about flying into his local airport. It is not a nice one and something that he somewhat begrudgingly endures because it is a necessary part of the trip. But here was his point, the airport is not his final destination. He said airports are a part of the process but not the final destination. The airport is something that helps you get where you want to go. He said churches are supposed to be like airports, but sometimes we think we are the final destination.

I seem to be hearing this constant challenge recently that suggests that discipleship is not what I think it is. Oh maybe at some high intellectual level I might philosophize it differently, but they way I act is that is all about butts in seats for programs. Why do I consistently fall into this trap? At another conference a rather wild gentlemen from New Zealand suggested that what we call discipleship is actually just socialization. Here's what he meant - a lot of times we are more concerned with how someone new conforms to our social values such as how we speak or act or look. I am not saying those things are not important at times, but it is not discipleship in the sense that someone is growing closer to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So all of this is stretching my idea of what this discipleship thing should be about. Here is one of the things it is - I forget who said it, but it basically was discipling involves foregoing my right or role as the expert and becoming an encourager for what God is doing in someones life. I think it is messy and involves being ok with it not looking neat or orderly or what I always think it should look like. I am continuing to wrestle with the question. So I wonder, what do you think? What does it mean to disciple?