If you’ve been around GCC long enough, you’ve heard the words “discipleship through relationship.” It’s actually a shorthand version of our mission:
GCC exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ within a Christian community of love and service - disciples that worship God in all of life, and bear witness for Jesus Christ in words and actions.
If you know the core values of Grace, you will recognize that Gospel-centered discipleship, witness, worship and community are woven into the statement. We exist simply to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Discipleship has enormous consequences for everyone who says, “I follow Jesus”. We make disciples as a group: a Christian community called a church that is marked by love for one another, and service of Christ, our brothers and sisters, and our community. The result we seek in discipleship is worship: corporate worship on Sunday, but also, a worship of God that affects every dimension of life. And a true disciple of Jesus is a reproducer: we explain to others the devotion we have to Jesus, and we invite them to follow him as well. This witness can also expressed through deeds, where believers show their love for Christ by loving a neighbor in tangible ways, such as a meal or helping someone move.
You may recognize overtones of a well-known passage of the Bible known as “The Great Commission”:
ESV Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Jesus’ last instructions to his church were to make disciples of all peoples. That is his last word, and our top priority: discipleship through relationship. Now, let’s break that down even further:
What is a disciple?
The term “disciple” is the most common word used to refer to believers in Jesus. “Christian” was a term that came in use later, and may have initially been an insult that became a badge of honor. Disciple was not a category of Christian; a person was a disciple of Jesus or nothing at all! People were attracted to a religious teacher and began to devote themselves to his teaching. The disciples of Jesus went far beyond that, actually worshipping the teacher as God the Son. So a disciple is someone devoted to Jesus Christ. One cannot grasp or be grasped by the message of the gospel, and the claims of Christ, without becoming a follower of Jesus.
Clearly to be devoted to Jesus involves a concentration on his teaching. He used the phrase “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” There is a knowledge component of faithful discipleship. A disciple must learn the teaching of his master. We must learn all that Jesus taught both in the gospels, and through the Holy Spirit in the rest of the Bible.
But what does that have to do with relationships? Notice we are to “observe” his teachings. That is different than just knowing them. It seems the best way to learn observance is to be with others who are observing him. Here are some more thoughts about discipleship through relationship:
The chief mark of a disciple is love
ESV John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
The main characteristic of a disciple of Jesus is to love other disciples of Jesus. I must have discipleship through relationship because there is no discipleship without relationship! Unless I love other Christians, I show no evidence of true discipleship. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor and love our enemies. But a special emphasis of Jesus’ teaching on love was among his followers. We are to be a family of those who demonstrate the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13. Of course, none of us can think about this without feeling a call to repent of our lack of love for one another! Lord, make us clean inside!
God uses relationships with others to bring about growth
God uses the gifts and blessings of other followers of Jesus to make us more like Christ. Ephesians 4:1-16 is an excellent summary of this truth. We are to one another as the parts of our bodies are to the whole body. I need all the parts God gave me to work well. Likewise, to mature in my relationship with Jesus, I need others to help me. I need to do my part to serve and love them.
My own discipleship has reflected these values through the course of my life to the present day. I learned a lot about following Jesus from a man named Fred Truitt in college. He taught me the Bible, but he demonstrated what it was to be a brother in Christ to others. Stu Batstone helped Caron and I think about the implications of the gospel for every area of our lives. He started as a mentor and became a friend. There are a host of men at GCC that have been friend, shepherd and mentor to me. Men like Steve Shelby, Essen Daley and Tre Smith are other pastors in my life who have helped me grow.
Here at GCC, we recognize the biblical call to discipleship, and as a result, there is a lot of teaching, and a lot of relational opportunities. Foundations on Sundays at 9:15 is a key time for interactive teaching that has a relational dimension as well. Corporate worship is a mix of living out the disciple’s heart for worship, and learning about Christ from songs, Scripture, and sermons. Small groups help us grow in relationship, as we gather around God’s Word together. Our children’s and youth ministries are structured around these same values – an emphasis on biblical teaching in a setting that fosters deep relationships.
So come and join us in growing closer to Jesus and deeper in relationship with each other. “Discipleship through relationship” is more than a motto; it’s how we understand and live out our calling as the body of Christ. May God make it so here at Grace.