Followers vs. Disciples

Someone once wrote explaining the difference between a follower and a disciple:

It is impossible to be a follower of Christ without being a disciple.

It means that one is a camp-follower, without being a soldier of the King.

One is not pulling one's weight, or playing one's part. One is simply a hanger-on in a great work. One is a talker and not a doer.

Once someone approached a famous professor about a young man, and asked:

So and so tell me that he was one of your students. Is that correct?

To which the professor replied:

That man did indeed attend my lectures, but believe me he was never a real student of mine.

It is one of the supreme handicaps of the church that in it there are many people who follow Christ at a safe distance. But very few are real disciples. That is people who actually do what he said.