A Truncated Discipleship
From the outside, my spiritual life might look healthy and sound.
My doctrine is correct and I carefully monitor it. I am “preaching the gospel to myself,” and I am established in the habit of repenting not only of my sin but also of all my DIY devices for managing my sin.
I am finding my identity in Christ and not in my performance, and I am consciously and intentionally dependent on the power of God’s Spirit.
My spiritual knowledge – the “Know” – is sound.
Check.
My spiritual disciplines are established and habitual, both corporate and personal. I engage with Scripture on a regular basis, not only reading God’s Word but reflecting on how to apply it to my life.
As for prayer, all four components of the ACTS pattern are present in my prayer life: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.
My corporate disciplines include participating in weekly worship, using my gifts to serve God’s people, and regularly supporting my local church with my finances. I’ve become a member of my fellowship, and I even attend the quarterly business meetings.
My spiritual habits – the “Grow” – are sound.
Check.
From where I stand, everything looks good.
But if that’s all there is to my faith, it’s anything but sound.
In fact, a faith that is satisfied with “Know” and “Grow” alone is truncated, even distorted.
If sound doctrine and stable spiritual habits are all there is to my walk with Jesus, I have a long way to go in understanding the Jesus of the Bible.
The Jesus of the Bible wasn’t inward-focused. In fact, he made it a point to reach out to the left-out and the marginalized.
And think of the final instructions he left for his followers: “make disciples of all the people-groups.” That was the last thing he said before he returned to the Father.
This means that as vital as the “Know” and “Grow” are, maintaining correct doctrine and establishing spiritual habits are not the main point: I know and grow so that I can go.
So if “Go” is vital to a healthy Christian life, what does “Go” look like?
The “Go” of healthy spirituality has two overlapping components: disciple-making and service.
Disciple-making: I see every relationship as an opportunity to draw others closer to Christ.
a. Evangelism: I am cultivating relationships with neighbors and co-workers, creating the space and depth that will support spiritual conversations where I can explain how the Good News about Jesus has changed my life.
b. Missions: I support and encourage the effort to take the Gospel to the nations in a variety of ways (prayer, financial support, participation in short-term trips, perhaps considering long-term cross-cultural ministry).
c. Discipling other believers: I am personally investing in the lives of other believers, helping them to move toward maturity in Christ.
Service: I am looking for opportunities to use my spiritual and natural gifts and passions in service to the people who are already in my life, beginning with those who are closest to me. This life of service will look different in different believers’ lives:
a. If I am married, I see my marriage as an opportunity to disciple and be discipled by my spouse. I want my marriage to be shaped and animated by the Gospel; this means that there will be a lot of confessing and apologizing and forgiving and restoring in my marriage as my spouse and I both “pay forward” to one another the grace that God has shown us in Christ.
b. If I am a parent, I see my parenthood as a sacred charge to disciple my own children. This means that I will see correction and discipline not just as opportunities to instill values but even more as opportunities to express the Gospel: we will often fail, but God is gracious. And even when He disciplines us, He chastens to heal and restore.
c. As a member of a local fellowship, I am committed to using my gifts and abilities to serve other believers in my fellowship. Disciple-making is a team sport, and I want to use my gifts to make my unique contribution to the way my fellowship encourages all of us to trust and obey our Lord.
d. As a member of my community and neighborhood, I look for opportunities to serve my neighbors and co-workers/classmates. A servant spirit can go a long way toward opening the door for spiritual conversations with people who are far from God.
As a confirmed, card-carrying introvert, I must admit that this list of characteristics looks nothing like me. I could very well be satisfied with a truncated faith that is satisfied with sound doctrine and stable habits.
But Jesus has called us to more. He’s called us to look outward, to engage with the outsider, to extend grace to others because he has dealt so graciously with us.
And, thank God, that is precisely what His Spirit is aiming to do in us and through us.
He will, as He promised, “carry on to completion the good work He has begun” in us (Phil 1:6).
He will, by the power of His Word and through the work of His Spirit, take this reluctant introvert to a place where I can engage freely and naturally with others and invite them to share in the grace that I have found in Christ.
Persevere.
Paul Pyle
Discipleship Pastor
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