Question of the Week #10: What is our approach to discipleship?
What is Centre Church’s approach to discipleship? What does it even mean to be a disciple?
Well, we talk a lot around here about our mission to love God, love people, and serve the city in Jesus’ name—it’s CRUCIAL to our discipleship process…but what does that mean?
Well first, let’s DEFINE discipleship. One author puts it like this:
“Discipleship is about setting our eyes on Christ and continually moving toward him.”
That’s it. It’s not just about believing the right things or attending church—it's about movement. Transformation. Becoming more like Jesus. Which leads us to the next question – what is it that PROPELS US toward Jesus. What takes us from being fans of Jesus to being followers of Jesus?
One way to think about it is to think of discipleship as like driving a car.
You might be pointed in the right direction—but if your engine isn’t running, you’re not going anywhere. That’s discipleship. We might think we’re looking at Jesus, but if we’re not actively moving toward him, we’re not growing as disciples of Jesus. We’re static. We’re stagnant.
So what is the engine that propels us forward in discipleship? I want to propose to you that it’s OBEDIENCE. Obedience is what moves us forward. Jesus said in John 14: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Obedience is how we love Jesus. Not to earn his love—but because we’ve already received it.
Ok, so we’re saying that discipleship is the process of moving towards Jesus. We’re saying that obedience to Jesus is the ENGINE that propels us forward in discipleship. And I’d suggest that the FUEL of that obedience engine is LOVE. You see, 1 John 4:19 says that “We love because he first loved us.” God loves us. We love back. And the more we love God, the more we trust him. The more we trust him, the more we obey him. The more we OBEY him, the more we grow as disciples. Does that make sense?
Discipleship is the process of being fueled by love for God and propelled forward by OBEDIENCE to God, in order to GROW in God.
At Centre Church, we’re trying to grow as disciples in three simple ways: loving God, loving people, and serving the city in Jesus’ name.
Let’s start with loving God:
This starts with personal time with him—prayer, worship, and digging into our Bibles. Sunday services help, but they’re not enough. It’s about understanding the wonder, and majesty, and glory, and splendour of our Great God.
But it’s also about loving people:
You see, discipleship is relational. It doesn’t stop at personal devotions—it spills out into the way we treat each other. Our faith is a RELATIONAL faith. We were created for connection. Now, that might look like joining a life group, getting into mentoring relationships, or simply showing Christlike love to those around us through forgiveness, hospitality, and unity. Really, that’s between you and God! So we love God, love people, and serve the city in Jesus’ name.
We know that Jesus DIDN’T say, “stay put and be comfy”—he said, “go and MAKE disciples.” God and serve the world. God and feed the hungry, serve the poor, the downtrodden, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan, the broken, the lost. So a big part of discipleship is learning how to serve our community in Jesus’ name. It’s an outworking on the love we’ve received and the obedience we’re striving toward.
Here's the thing:
We believe if someone is growing in these three areas—loving God, loving people, and serving the city—then they’ll NECESSARILY be moving forward as a disciple of Jesus.
And if obedience is the engine, and love is the fuel…how do we check the health of our discipleship? I want to suggest that there are eight factors we might call dashboard lights—eight indicators of healthy spiritual growth. These come from a Lifeway study on spiritual maturity…here they are:
Healthy disciples are engaging with the Bible
Healthy disciples are obeying God and denying self
Healthy disciples are serving God and others
Healthy disciples are sharing their faith
Healthy disciples are EXERCISING faith
Healthy disciples are seeking God
Healthy disciples are building meaningful relationships
Healthy disciples are living unashamed of Jesus
Now these aren’t mandatory checkboxes—but they are signs that we’re growing. In a nutshell, this is our approach to discipleship. It’s not always easy for sure, but man, what a joy it is to be living in line with the will and ways of God. Let’s be people who love God, love people, and serve the city—in Jesus’ name.
See you for next week’s question of the week! If you have any questions you’d love for us to cover, contact us as info@wearecentrechurch.ca
