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Welcome to Day 2114 of\xa0 Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Becoming A Radical Disciple 1 \u2013 Nonconformity \u2013 Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message \u2013 08/01/2021 Becoming A Radical Disciple \u2013 Nonconformity Over the past couple of weeks, we moved from radical choices, to a radical teacher, and now the title of this new series, \u2018Becoming a Radical Disciple.\u2019 Thinking of yourself as radical may make you uncomfortable.\xa0 For others, it may be empowering. So let\u2019s say I have a radical element in me, but I suspect that most of you also do in some area of life. \xa0 First, why am I using the term \u2018Disciple\u2019 instead of \u2018Christian?\u2019\xa0 It surprises many people to discover that the followers of Jesus Christ are called \u2018Christian\u2019 only three times in the New Testament. \xa0 Luke\u2019s comment in Acts 11:26 was that it was in the Syrian Antioch church where Jesus\u2019 disciples were first called \u2018Christians.\u2019 \xa0This is significant because Antioch was known to be an international community. Consequently, its church was an international community too. Therefore, it was appropriate that its members were called \u2018Christians\u2019 to indicate that their common allegiance to Christ overcame their ethnic differences. However, as a matter of trivia, the term Christian means \u2018Little Christ\u2019 and was used by outsiders in more of a derogative manner. \xa0 The other two occurrences of the word \u2018Christian\u2019 prove that it was beginning to be more commonly used. When Paul was on trial before King Agrippa and challenged him directly in Acts 26:27, Agrippa interrupted him. \u201cDo you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?\u201d Then the apostle Peter, whose first letter was written against the background of growing persecution, found it necessary to distinguish between those who suffered \u2018as a criminal\u2019 and those who suffered \u2018as a Christian\u2019 in 1\xa0Peter 4:16, But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! \xa0 Both words (Christian and disciple) imply a relationship with Jesus, although perhaps \u2018disciple\u2019 is the stronger of the two because it inevitably means the relationship of the pupil to teacher. During his three years of public ministry, the Twelve were disciples before they were apostles. As disciples, they were under the direct instruction of their teacher and lord. \xa0 In some ways, it would be better if the word \u2018disciple\u2019 had continued into the following centuries so that Christians were self-consciously disciples of Jesus and took seriously their responsibility to be \u2018under discipline,\u2019 which means continuing to learn. \xa0 My concern is that we who claim to be disciples are not serious enough in our commitment to the Lord Jesus, which will provoke him to say again: \xa0\u201cSo why do you keep calling me \u2018Lord, Lord!\u2019 when you don\u2019t do what I say? (Luke 6:46). For genuine discipleship is passionate discipleship; this is where my next word comes in. \xa0 So, secondly, why \u2018radical\u2019? Since this is the adjective I am using to describe our discipleship, it is crucial to indicate the sense in which I am using it.\xa0 The English word \u2018radical\u2019 is derived from the Latin root word radix. Initially, it seems to have been applied as a political label to people with liberal and reformist views....