Gospel Centered Discipleship (VI)

Chapter 6: Communal Discipleship: The Three Conversions

There are three conversion Dodson talks about that are needed for us to allow us to become a true disciple of Christ. It isn't just that one day when you decide to turn away from sin and choose to follow God, but there are two more conversions that follow, the conversion to community as well as mission.

God granted us a community to be in, people to love, people who love, people who support, encourage and struggle with you as you fight and overcome obstacles together. Men and women who focus on God's love and grace rather than themselves.

"Instead of being the church, we have fallen into merely doing the church, and far too often our doing is disconnected from being."

I think especially as a someone brought up in the church, we know the routines, we know the right things to say, we know the sunday school answer, but growing and being rooted in the church and it's community is a different story. Dodson explains a concept he calls the "one-third gospel". "The one-third gospel is hardly the gospel at all. it focuses on Jesus' death and resurrection as a doctrine to be believed, not on Jesus as a person to be trusted and obeyed. The gospel has been reduced to a personal ticket to heaven."

We're going through a series called "The Cost of Discipleship" at our church, and we talked about how our faith has been reduced to a simple ticket to heaven, but its so much more. To truly follow Christ, to pick up your cross, deny yourself and follow him is way beyond all that.

Three biblical metaphors are used to demonstrate "that the three conversions of the gospel are not three options, but [are] three essentials that constitute biblical discipleship." The body, the harvest and the temple.

The body. Conversion isn't just on an individual level, it is actually communal. When we join the body of Christ with Jesus as the head, we become one with everyone else. "those who have been converted to Jesus are converted to his body, ... to reject our conversion to the church is to disobey the head and distort his body."

"A Jesus-centered community is an attractive community - a community that encourages, forgives, serves, loves, and invites non-Christians into its community."

The harvest. Christ is the Lord of the harvest and we are the field. There is growing, weed pulling, fertilizing, planting, and sowing all involved, and in the same way, we are rebuked, encouraged, prayed for and reminded as a group of believers. We grow together. We struggle and pull through the thunder and rain, the dry cold nights, and blazing hot days.

"Disciples should do, say, and try to feel what is best for others, not for themselves. Disciples of Jesus should regularly sacrifice privacy, convenience and comfort in order to love and serve others."

This quote not only is directed at us when we are in our community of believers, but also when we are not. When we share with non-believers, inviting them to church, to hear the good news, be ready to be uncomfortable, be willing to be transparent, and show them how God is working through your life, your struggles, your brokenness and your weakness to change the world.

The temple. Christ is our cornerstone, and we are the stones that rely on Him. "We are the stones, held together in Christ, made alive in the gospel to minister as priests to one another." Let us serve one another and promote each other's holiness. "Living stones speak about their life in Christ. They can't help it. ... When anyone becomes a disciple of Christ, the temple expands and a living stone is added. God's grand plan, from the beginning was for the garden-temple of Eden to expand throughout the whole world, to be populated with new stones who worship Jesus Christ, the great Cornerstone."

Dodson warns us not to get mixed up, that Jesus is Lord, not the church or mission, for when that happens, it becomes idolatry. Church and mission like everything else in this world will fail you but Christ remains.

"Every Christian must have their ideal community shattered before entering into true community. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Community and mission are second to Jesus' glory, but Jesus pursues his glory through community and mission."

verse of the day: Colossians 2:6

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.