New Foundation Church exists to make passionate followers of Jesus. If we do nothing besides this, we will be successful as church, but if we do everything besides this, we will fail. The question is, how do we do this?
In my last article, I introduced the concept of the discipleship compass. The idea is that a compass allows people to orient themselves so they can determine which way they need to keep moving. This is important because people do not start at the same place in the journey and discipleship is supposed to be a lifelong rhythm rather than a series of steps that you follow from one fixed point to another fixed point and then stop. Further, I told you that the discipleship compass has four quadrants, each of which plays an integral part in helping us draw closer to Jesus. Today, I want to discuss the first of these quadrants, which we call Connect.
In John 1:35-42, Jesus paid a visit to John the Baptist, who was baptizing people in the Jordan River. As Jesus passed by, John said to two of his disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God!” Immediately, these disciples followed Jesus. A few verses later, one of these disciples invited his own brother to follow, too, and then there were three. The next day, Jesus invited a fourth guy to follow him, and that guy went and invited a fifth. And just like that, four of Jesus’ first five disciples followed because of a friend.
Chances are, this is a familiar story. Indeed, for all the advances Christ followers have made over the last two millennia, church health experts Win and Charles Arn have observed, “Webs of common kinship (the larger family), common friendship (friends and neighbors), and common associates (work associates and people with common interests or recreational pursuits) are still the paths most people follow in becoming Christians today.”
This, however, was not the only relationship in play this this gospel scene. There was the relationship between the new Christ followers and Jesus himself. This relationship was just beginning, but it would alter the course of their lives. What started here as curiosity developed into respect for Jesus as a teacher. In John 6:68, it solidified into the conviction that Jesus had “the words of life” and the resolve to follow him even as the crowds fell away, and when they discovered that Jesus’ tomb was empty that first Easter, it altered the course of their lives forever.
Connect is all about building relationships. We build relationships with people we know who do not yet know Jesus. They build relationships with us and others in the church. We all build relationships with Jesus.
Connecting can happen on Sunday mornings, Tuesday nights, Saturday afternoons, and anytime in between. It happens through organized events (e.g., worship services), programs (e.g., Discover Group), impromptu conversations over coffee, backyard BBQs, sporting events, board games, service projects, hobbies, and virtually anything else you can imagine. In fact, it can happen anywhere and anytime as long as we are deliberate about building relationships with unsaved people, with each other, and with Christ.
Indeed, connecting must happen if we are to fulfill our mission of making passionate followers of Jesus. Consider, it is a key component of our +1 Initiative (i.e., we will engage or connect weekly). It is the hallmark of Christ followers in John 13:35. And it is the very heart of the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37-40.
So what will you do to connect today?