Jesus told us to go and make disciples. (Matthew 28:19) So, what is a disciple?
A disciple is one who is being formed in the image of Christ, and who reproduces the life and ministry of Jesus in others.
When we seek to live lives as disciples, that life includes:
Loving God
Loving others
Living out of God’s abundance
There are 3 areas of activity that will help us to love God and others, and experience the abundant life God has for us.
These 3 areas areas of spiritual activity are: Deepening…Equipping…Engaging.
Deepening is about relationships – with God, self, and others.
Our foundational relationship is with God in Jesus Christ.
Through the Holy Spirit, we seek to become more like the person of Jesus in scripture.
Deepening is a continuing process of growth in relationship with God as Creator, Jesus as living being, and Spirit as empowering agent. Deepening our relationship with God leads us to:
- Experience the fullness of God in ever-deepening ways;
- Experience a deeper sense of one’s self as a reflection of the living Christ;
- A self-awareness that lets us better understand the work of the Spirit within us, and helps us better know what God is asking of us;
- Set aside our old self in order to more fully experience the presence of Jesus.
Deepening is also about growth in relationship with others in Community. This aspect of Deepening leads us to:
- Seek to be in relationship with a community of faith and be formed by the community of faith;
- Respond when the Community calls the disciple to become more like Jesus, and the disciple encourages those in the community to do the same.
Deepening helps us develop Christians relationships of depth, integrity, and truth.
Equipping is about preparation and has two dimensions:
Gifts/Call &
Skills/Knowledge
God gives us specific gifts that are unique to our own personal makeup. We participate and engage in action in the world through the gifts that God gives.
Equipping is about knowing and nurturing our gifts so we will better know and live out God’s call in our lives.
Equipped disciples need to know God’s story, understand the context in which they dwell, and have the skills necessary to carry their gifts into their surroundings. Scripture is the primary basis for knowing how we are to live in the world.
Engaging is about involvement in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
- By Engaging, we participate in the mission of redeeming all creation.
- Engaging is about God calling us beyond the walls of our congregations, it is our work in the world.
- As Wesleyan Disciples we understand that such Engaging has both spiritual and social components, as we are called to be the presence of Jesus in all places of brokenness — spiritual, physical, emotional, psychological.
At the intersection of these 3 areas is where we experience the abundant life of God.
