New Foundation Church exists to make passionate followers of Jesus. This is a distillation of the Great Commandment, which Jesus explained in Matthew 22:37-40, and the Great Commission, which he gave to his apostles in Matthew 28:16-20. Consequently, although it will be articluated in different ways, this mission is shared by every church everywhere, and the Bible makes clear that organizations that do not make followers of Jesus are, in Christ’s eyes, no churches at all (e.g., in Revelation 2-3). Indeed, if New Foundation Church does nothing besides make passionate followers of Jesus, we will be successful as a church, and if New Foundation Church does everything besides make passionate followers of Jesus, we will fail.
To say that our church exists to make passionate followers of Jesus, however, is only the first part of the equation. We must also ask how our church will make passionate followers of Jesus.
When answering this question, many churches will talk about a discipleship pathway. This language is helpful because we immediately understand that one thing leads to another, and we are going somewhere. Put another way, we recognize that we must do this, and then this, and then this, and we will end up at godliness.
As helpful as this language is, however, it is also problematic. This is because the same language that helps us visualize discipleship as a process with a destination also creates in us an expectation that, if you do this, and then this, and then this, you will end up at godliness. In other words, attaining godliness is as simple as following these instructions, and if you have completed the instructions, then you have arrived. Put on your bathing suit and hang out at the pool for the rest of your life.
The more I read Scripture, and the closer I get to Jesus, though, the more I realize that discipleship is not like this. One reason for this is that we do not all enter the process at the same point. I mean, some first enter the discipleship journey when they meet the new lady at work who talks about Jesus, while others enter it by helping out at a soup kitchen. They have no idea about God; they just want to help people who are hungry. A second reason is that the path is rarely straight. You may be on step two when a sudden detour knocks you completely off track. Now what?
Perhaps the most important reason I have come to dislike the pathway language, however, is that we will not arrive at complete godliness this side of glory. Indeed, while many discipleship pathways leave churchgoers with the impression that, once they have completed all the steps, they have arrived, even the apostle Paul confessed in Philippians 3:12, “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.” Philippians was written late in Paul’s career. If the great apostle who wrote nearly half of the New Testament had not yet reached perfection, I find it impossible to believe that I have.
For this reason, New Foundation Church imagines a discipleship compass. A compass is used to help people orient themselves so they can determine where they are figure out which way they need to keep moving. Like a regular compass, NFC’s discipleship compass has four quadrants, each of which plays a part in helping us to draw closer to Jesus. Sometimes, we will find ourselves thrust into one of these quadrants. Other times, we must move deliberately in that direction so that we can continue to grow in grace and faith.
Over the next four weeks, we will talk about each of these quadrants, the role they play in our spiritual journey, and how they will help us accomplish our mission of making passionate followers of Jesus.