Holy Crap, This is Working
A systematic look into our church's discipleship pathway and why (I think) it's working
Last night, our church gathered around the following image and discussed our responses to it:
For one of our women, the image brought her back to a handful of memories throughout the last week as she had found herself being “welcomed” into several different environments filled with various groupings of people. “I knew somebody who knew somebody at each event…” she explained. “And while I was happily invited into each space, it was interesting to notice which ones I truly felt welcomed into— the one’s where it felt like I actually belonged.”
But it was what she said next that would become an instant marker and stamp of progress for us as a church:
“I was thinking about what truly makes a space welcoming and how do we as a church go about building a space like that for others?”
My heart sang. My eyes misted. And within the pit of my soul there came a whisper of accomplishment, of progress, of success:
“Holy crap, this is working.”
Form day one, a goal and intent of this church plant of ours has been to disciple and form individual believers for the work and call of ministry. I am a big believer, cheerleader, and aggressive advocate of the priesthood of all believers and as much as constant abuse, scandal, and moral failures have been a part of my desire to plant a church that was free from the structures that prop up such systemic toxicity, the institutional church’s consistent failure to support and form active disciples of Jesus has always been my greatest driving force.
Forming participants instead of consumers.
Forming relationships instead of programs.
Forming practices instead of preaching styles.
Forming fruitful lives instead of numeric growth.
This has always been what I have cared most about.
And In that simple sentence from one of our most faithful women, she (unknowingly, of that I am positive) identified herself clearly as a participant in the work of ministry. She began to wrestle and weigh what practices we might have to ensure are in place to build genuine and fruitful relationships with those we seek to welcome into the midst of our Body. In that simple sentence, this woman exemplified everything our church has set out to do, to become, and to form. So, once again, I say from the depths of my soul:
“Holy crap, this is working.”
What’s working? A Glimpse Into Our Discipleship Pathway
Before getting into any practicals here, I want to point out the reality that ultimately what is “working” here is the Holy Spirit. Her’s is the work that goes so far beyond any discipleship program, practice, or method and is the work we get to see fruit of week after week.
So then, much of the discipleship pathway that we have implemented and follow as a church isn’t so much about doing, teaching, or instructing, but more so about making room for the Spirit to work.
It has been 10 months of scheduled silences, predetermined open sharing, intentional unplanned discussions and well-controlled chaos. 10 months of creating a space for the Spirit to make use of that space however she may please. 10 months of ensuring such a space can remain moldable, adaptable, and unconstrained by time.
I have had to learn how to plan for freedom, what needs to be controlled in order for people to get to exist uncontrolled, and when to give direction toward a path that even I can’t ever fully see the end of.
It has been the most sincerely Spirit-led ministry work I have ever been a part of, and here is what it has looked like so far: