There's an old phrase from 2000 years ago: "the dust of the rabbi". When rabbi's and their disciples used to walk everywhere (like Jesus and his followers), the greatest disciple would be the one following most closely, listening to every word and watching every gesture. This one would, of course, be covered with the dirt and dust the rabbi's feet kicked up as he walked. His devotion would be indicated by his being covered with "the dust of the rabbi".

A disciple of Jesus must be like that. What that means is that the prime, first, overriding concern is doing what the rabbi teaches. Costly? Oh yeah. Look what it cost Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, and so many others (including the vast numbers of others who will never have fame or attention). To love, no matter what. To serve, no matter who. To speak the truth, no matter the cost. Jesus Himself was very clear about this: take up your cross (saying this at a time when that wasn't necessarily going to be a metaphor). Do we value anything above our devotion to Jesus and His way? Then we are not disciples, we are only believers.

Discipleship is a constant task, not simply a matter of joining a church. It is a work a "yoga' which begins one day with a decision and never ends.

Well said. Thank you.

OK, that is just freaky!

I recently purchased (just his past week) "Velvet Elvis" on CD and in it Rob Bell discusses the dust of the Rabbi, which I had never heard of before.

I googled it, and found it mentioned in a two part lecture he gave, which I posted on my blog.

I've come to look at Jesus in a whole new way and the apostles in a whole new way.

I haven't read Velvet Elvis, but have heard it highly recommended. Sigh. Another book to add to the growing pile.

And it was Rob Bell that mentioned the "wrestling with the angel" analogy. Hehehe. Another reason to get it. It's short, fwiw.

Of course, you're saying all these things already, so perhaps you don't need to read the book.

Slightly off topic, but this is why I find the stories of the disciplies of Jesus as well as of the Buddha so intriguing. I find myself saying, "Sheesh, would I have even gone as far as some of the 'worst' of the students of these figures?" Every story where a student misses the point, falls asleep, becomes cocky, or just freaks out and wants to run away gives an air of authenticity to those accounts that no other element of the stories could. I can only imagine what a book of the New Testament or a Buddhist Sutra based on my life and insights would look like. Extremely disappointing, pointless, and pathetic come to mind. I concur with the general assessment of the OP - nice post! Thanks!