Ten years ago (2012) Andy Stanley in his book Deep & Wide shared some key questions that he and the original staff at North Point Community Church in Atlanta began wrestling with as they were exploring the mission and strategy statement of their newly formed church back in 1995.
They were: “What should our discipleship model look like? What is our goal for the people who choose to partner with us in ministry? What does a mature believer look like? What role does the church have in developing Christ followers?“
“More than anything,” He goes on to write they “wanted to create a model that would actually facilitate spiritual maturity.”
They as a team had come to the realisation that the driving force behind most churches was not ‘spiritual formation’ (discipleship). They knew “that if they were not intentional, spiritual formation would get lost in the plethora of activities that tend to gobble up valuable time and resources.“
They had also come to understand that a growing relationship with Jesus, and with others focussed on true discipleship, was essential and that that was intrinsically linked with a person’s ‘level’ of faith and the development of such faith. Thus concluding “that the best discipleship or spiritual formation model would be one designed around growing people’s faith – true discipleship.
This was counter to what most of the group and those that they knew within the church had experienced growing up which was predominantly focussed on increasing people’s knowledge.
Therefore, Discipleship = Relationship Especially within the confines of a true Christian and faithful relationship.
Over the past week or so I have touched on The Importance of Discipleship and Effective Discipleship and today I want to draw our attention to this essential ingredient – Relationships.
You see, as we continue to assimilate societal and business approaches within the church we have again further compartmentalised aspects of discipleship and the myriad of relationships – especially mentoring, coaching, spiritual directors, counsellors and guides, Christian leaders, elders, pastors, ministers, officers, peer supports etc. etc.
“What makes Christianity unique among all other religions” according to Joey Bonifacio in his book The Lego Principle, is that “it teaches people how to grow in their relationship with God and with others.“
He goes on to write that “the goal of teaching is not merely to increase our knowledge of divine principles, rules, laws, and things to do but to grow in our relationship with God and one another.“
In referencing John 5:39-40 he continues “In today’s language it might have sounded like this, ‘You keep going to your Bible studies and meetings, thinking that by doing so you’re getting closer to Me. Yet you resist living a life in relationship with Me.‘
The idea behind all the teaching and learning is that the deepening of our understanding of God will result in a stronger and deeper relationship with Him and subsequently with others.
John Wesley warned about learning and not growing in relationship: “Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.” (The Letters of John Wesley: Letter to Joseph Benson November 7, 1768 – John Telford)
Brandon Cox, a former pastor @ Saddleback and founding pastor of Grace Hills Church in northwest Arkansas, and author of Rewired: Sharing the life-changing story of God’s love through social media says that; “Discipleship happens as God’s people show love, share truth and live life with one another, making new disciples along the way“.
Mark Hall, pastor and lead singer of Casting Crowns in his book Thrive: Digging Deep, Reaching Out explains that there are four essential disciplines in the area of growing as a believer – the first three essentials; worship, prayer and the study of Scripture the Bible stress. They need to be embedded into our spiritual DNA.
The fourth discipline which is often overlooked, he goes on to explain is something that Jesus elevated to be among His top priorities. Sharing life with others! Doing life together in community.
Therefore the building of relationships, with both those within the church and those outside the church are absolutely essential for each and every one of us.
So how are you doing at doing life together with others?
Within the context of the Salvation Army, Major Ivan Bezzant in his Leadership Jesus Way resource explores how to train and lead disciples, and challenges us that we need to take on a kingdom mentality instead of the prevailing club mentality which unfortunately persists in many churches.
This involves us as leaders within the church measuring discipleship by two things, determining how we are becoming more like Jesus, and doing life with the people we choose to associate with.
The above resource can be made available – if you’d like a copy email me @ perry.bray@salvationarmy.org.nz
You see, “Our relationship with Jesus Christ, should be grounded in prayer, Scripture, community and service, and this is central to everything else in our life. But our relationships with others are also important for our ongoing growth. Healthy, intentional relationships with other people can help you (and I) follow God”. (Purposeful Living)
As I’ve referenced previously there needs to be a reawakening for the need for effective discipleship ministries going forward and Alan & Debra Hirsch write that “to fail in discipleship and disciple making is therefore to fail in the primary mission (or ‘sent-ness’) of the church.“
As we have seen we also need to focus on our relationships and how we are going to build community with others, so that we can grow in our faith and speak into the lives of others. For discipleship = relationships.
So, as we return to a level of normality with restrictions being eased may we focus on one of the areas that needs a fair bit of work to establish effective discipleship for our people and build into the lives of others through our relationships.
Blessings ’til next time 🙂
The life and times of Perry... 