Discipleship - Community, Privatised Faith and the Gospel

The solution to a privatised faith is not to make it public (e.g., posting on social media about how Christian you are). Instead it is found in the proclaimation of the Gospel in word and deed. Ranting about your faith will not improve its content. Carrying the Gospel and living out its fruit will build faith- not merely in yourself but also in those around you.

Community had become a buzzword- a solution for all ministry problems. However It is not a magic bullet. It is not an alternative to the centrality of the Gospel. Although discipleship takes place in a community, the proclaimation of the Gospel should still be the main ingredient, the central focus of discipleship.

When community becomes the focus, we will naturally encourage people to "join join join, commit commit commit, serve serve serve" with the hope that they will grow due to a stronger sense of personal ownership. Had it worked? My experiences suggested that it hasn't. It is a mistake to assume that just because people are integrated and chummy, they will be better positioned to be discipled.

Disciples are forged in the crucible. The daily surrender, dying to self, taking up the Cross and following Christ - leaning upon Christ and standing upon His finished work on the Cross- while facing personal and professional challenges at home, in the office, on the streets, in the church and other places. Many of these do not occur within the comforts of a community. In fact, they might bring discomfort to the community, very much like how a sprain pains the body. However in sharing the pain, the body becomes more resilient and strengthened.

Disciples have a "spark" - a vivid passion to know Christ and to make Him known. They have an unusual take on personal calamities and claims to the pressures and pleasures of life. They exhibit life, vibrant and active, an ongoing focus that simulaneously keeps them grounded in their life and their heads up in the heavens. They have a certitude concerning "Christ in us, the hope of glory".

And what more could they possibly do? They talked about Christ, but their actions had probably spoken louder about what they believe in and whom they live for. In essence, their lives proclaim the Gospel.

And it all comes full circle. A privatised faith marginalises God to a small part of our existence. The solution- proclaiming the Gospel- awakens us to the fullness of life which is hidden in Christ.

Actually come to think of it bro, I think this post needs a bit more sharpening first.

I agree wholeheartedly with you regarding that community alone mustn't be the focus. The person of Christ must be the focus. Yet His intention is that the channel and results of His redemptive work is the Church, which is His Body on earth today.

In fact, Jesus Himself considers that whatever you do to His Body, you do unto Him. Like what he said to Saul when he persecuted the church: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" And also, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did / did not do for the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did / did not do for Me."

Furthermore, I think the part about moulding and training really does take place within, not just without, the community. The role of the community is for us to love one another as He has loved us. "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." And Ephesians commands: "Be completely humble and gentle, bearing with one another in love... Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace..."

If we think we are "integrated and chummy", the test will come when crisis strikes. Will we rally together as one in Christ and gather together to pray — and pool our resources together? Etc. 

Also, how diverse are our communities? Do our communities reflect the unity of the Spirit, or natural uniformity?

Thus, community is essential for showing that we are His disciples. "Love one another as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." 

The problem that I've seen in many communities is that we don't practice what Scripture already teaches about how to live in community. We fall back to the world's patterns of communities instead of learning from Acts, Romans 12, 1 & 2 Cor, Ephesians - from what I understand, tell us the kind of attitudes and things we can do to build a powerful growing community in which people can be encouraged and discipled in the faith.

Discipleship MUST be expressed in the individual life AND the community life. You cannot have one without the other. It's like clapping two hands and asking which hand clapped first.

In the role of discipleship, how then do we measure our growth? One thing I've learnt is that the NT talks primarily of faith in God and love for people. It's not really possible to measure love for God, whom we cannot see. But we can more readily assess our faith in God, and love for others whom we can see.
Yet as you pointed out, community is no magic bullet. If the community (I refer to the church) loses connection with the head, which is Christ, then the community fails.

Thus this gives us hope. 

If an individual disciple follows Christ wholeheartedly, the fire from his/her faith can stir the hearts of many people in the community. And if the community sets their heart on exalting Christ as supreme and the gospel sufficient, then by God's grace, cold and hurting individuals may be warmed and healed and inspired again by the love of Christ revealed through His Body.

And so, Christ will be exalted, whether one or many. But ultimately, His intention is that His disciples will become one - just as a body has several members playing different functions, but all belonging to the same body. That one day, Christ's prayer for the universal Church - as C.S. Lewis put it: "the Church... through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners" - will finally be answered in full when He, the Lamb, comes for His Bride, beautiful and spotless, without blemish or defect.

John 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
True... The community (in this case, the body/church) is the locus of discipleship. One will struggle to search the Scriptures and find lone disciples (except in extraneous circumstances). This is because discipleship takes place in the context of love, forgiveness, accountability, spurring one another ("all the more as we see the Day approaching")- all these do not occur in isolation.
I guess it's about the foundation (the Chinese term it as "出发点") of discipleship. Community-building is often framed as the top priority. Practically speaking, it is an important component if we are mission-driven... serving various people groups requires manpower and diverse skill-sets.

The problem starts when we set community as the benchmark in our ministry. The indicators of community include attendance, participation, volunteerism, etc. When this benchmark is not performing well, the ministers become discouraged or paralysed trying to fire-fight. 

But what if the Gospel is ascribed its rightful place as the defining feature of discipleship? The picture changes. The ministers will be more focused and intentional to build character and spiritual maturity instead of bonding activities and recruiting people for service. This harkens to an adage "God is more interested in who you are rather than what you do". This is not to say that the latter are not important. However focusing on the former will reorientate us and compel us to explore ways to help people grow. We will not simply aim for the low hanging fruit of chumminess. 

Although they are not mutually exclusive, it is easy to slip into glorification of the community rather than Christ the Chief Cornerstone.
Hmm. I think we would have to be careful with the understanding of the term "community" here. We must not forget that community is nurtured via seemingly mundane activities such as gathering together, eating together, and so on. Acts 2:42-47.

The indicators of true community are things like where we encourage one another, pray for one another, serve, honour, visit when sick, etc and so on. Learning how to resolve conflicts and so on. 

The reason many of us have become discouraged is because we have inadequate ideas of Christian community.

Here, we can take heart that Christ came to show us too how to live together in true community. 

I agree with you wholeheartedly about ministers reminding them about character and spiritual maturity. But we must make sure we do not fall into the trap of dichotomizing a commitment to Christ and relationships with one another. 

The Gospel has a corporate dimension to it. The gospel is about God redeeming everything for us and in us and through us, especially relationships. Peace with God -> peace with one another.

If a person has truly grown in Christ, it will be demonstrated by how humble, gentle, patient, compassionate, gracious, etc he is with others.

The Church, then, is the practical outcome of the Gospel. The local churches are planted by disciples making more disciples. And the more disciples are made, the more clearly the local expressions of Christ take shape. The fullness of the Gospel is more than just making disciples of Christ; the fullness of the Gospel is about us disciples building local prototypes (ie local communities of Christ-followers) (if I may so use this word) of the universal Church on earth. And the Church, in all its local expressions, is to permeate the entirety of human society, like salt in food, light in darkness, yeast in dough, wheat among weeds, and demonstrate the redemptive power of the Gospel, whether through signs and wonders, through mercy ministries, through art, through science, etc... and most of all, through loving one another as He has loved us. And so, the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name, will be exalted and we will be known to be His disciples.

And then one day, Christ will return, and He will set all things right. The broken will be restored, the dead raised, the perishable clothed with the perishable, and the mortal with immortality... and the Church will finally be unveiled for all her radiant glory and beauty, like a bride being unveiled. "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Cor 13)

Such is the hope held out in the gospel that we can take heart, when we behold our present communities and groan.

I totally am with you that Christ must be the cornerstone of the Church. But I'm concerned about how many of us have been "spiritualizing" our faith till it is not expressed in tangible ways towards one another - a total violation of Scripture. They believe that the path to maturity lies in the acquisition of more and more Bible knowledge, but have no channel to put what they learnt into practice. Thus they end up living pedestrian lives and wonder why they are not experiencing the fullness of life in the Spirit, and why no signs or wonders, not much difference, etc.

The Church is His Body. If we love Christ, we must love His Body too - to the point of being willing to die for one another. That is Christ's standard - will we who claim to be His disciples tweak His command to fit our own standards?

I hope to help do my part to bring balance back to the overly individualized version of Christianity that has alienated many young people of our generation today. Christ must be exalted above all creation; Christ must be recognized as the Head of the Body; and the Church must be recognized as His Body and His Bride.

I'm just saying that we need to see how we can build up the kind of community that glorifies Christ by demonstrating visible unity in Him. 

Can meditate on Romans 15.