MISSION
Garden City Discipleship C u lt u r e
Depending on God to grow disciples deep & wide for God’s glory A guidebook for how we make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus
Garden City Discipleship C u lt u r e
Version 1.1 Copyright Š 2020 Justin Buzzard Design by Jason Jones All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. www. gardencitysv.com All Scripture quotations come from English Standard Version (ESV).
A GUIDEBOOK FOR HOW WE MAKE, MATURE, AND MULTIPLY DISCIPLES OF JESUS
Silicon Valley is both an amazing and exhausting place to live. Garden City
exists to give Life—to be a counterculture to the pressure, loneliness, and consumerism of this place. Whatever your story or situation, we invite you to discover Life in our family. But be warned: participating in what God is doing here will change you. People don’t stay the same here. Sparks fly when the real you encounters the real God among real people. We’re flawed humans finding good news to believe, a band of brothers and sisters to belong to, and a mission to live. Whether you join the Garden City mission for 3 years or 30 years, we aim for the living God to plant three ways of life in your heart that mark healthy disciples of Jesus: Receive Life, Grow Life, Give Life. You have an important role to play in this church and city, and we’re excited to be on this journey with you.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. - John 10:10
“A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace.”
Eugene Peterson 1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS P R E FA C E
01
I N T R O D U C T I O N On Discipleship
04
PA R T 1
Receive Life
PA R T 2
Grow Life
PA R T 3
Give Life
APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2
HABIT 1
S E L E C T I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
HABIT 2
L I S T E N , P R AY, O B E Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
HABIT 3
S TO RY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
HABIT 4
E N J OY A G R A C E - B A S E D I D E N T I T Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
HABIT 5
B E T H E C H U R C H — G AT H E R & S C AT T E R . . . . . . . . . . . . .
47
HABIT 6
LO V E G O D W I T H A L L YO U R H E A R T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
HABIT 7
LO V E YO U R N E I G H B O R A S YO U R S E L F. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
HABIT 8
D E S I R E & F I G H T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
69
HABIT 9
L E A D — W O R K & R E S T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
HABIT 10
G I V E T H A N K S , B E J OY F U L , G I V E G LO RY . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
HABIT 11
E N C O U R A G E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95
HABIT 12
M U LT I P LY—S E E K T H E W E L FA R E O F T H E C I T Y . . . . . . . .
99
Tools and Suggestions A Mature vs. An Immature Person
108 110
APPENDIX 3
The Orphan vs. Child of God Checklist
112
APPENDIX 4
Storytelling—How to Retell Other People’s Stories with the Big Story
113
INTRODUCTION WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT MAKING DISCIPLES?
Because life and death, heaven and hell, and the good of our city is at stake.
Jesus gave the church one mission: to make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). We exist to enjoy and spread the abundant Life of Jesus through making, maturing, and multiplying disciples. We’re on a dangerous mission to plunder hell and populate heaven and our city with Life-giving disciples. Discipleship begins when we respond to Jesus’ call, “Follow me,” and we believe this is the greatest purpose, mission, and adventure that
M E M O R I Z E (throughout this guidebook you’ll encounter Bible verses that are central to our Discipleship Culture that we encourage you to commit to memory)
humans can pursue.
Alan Hirsch 4
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”- Matthew 28:18-20
“The church should be one of the most adventurous places on earth.”
WHAT IS DISCIPLESHIP?
Saint Paul defined discipleship as “sharing the gospel and our lives” with
persons we feel affectionate desire for (1 Thess. 2:8). Discipleship is relational. Discipleship is transferring truth and love through relationship—forming intentional, adventurous friendships that make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus. Discipleship is an adventure that addresses both what people understand and how they live, content and conduct, one’s talk and one’s walk.
MEMORIZE
So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our lives, because you had become very dear to us. - 1 Thessalonians 2:8
WHAT IS A DISCIPLE?
Disciple translates the Greek word “mathetes,” which means “follower,
learner, apprentice.” Disciples are pilgrims who, like Abraham, spend their lives going someplace—traveling towards God and his call. A disciple is a follower growing in relationship with Jesus and helping others grow in relationship with Jesus. Disciples join together to follow Jesus and fish for Jesus (Matt. 4:19). Discipleship isn’t private, it is public—our relationship with Jesus influences the people and places around us.
“The discipling life is an others-oriented life.”
Mark Dever 5
W H AT D O E S G A R D E N C I T Y ’ S LO G O A N D NAME SYMBOLIZE ABOUT D I S C I P L E S H I P?
Our logo communicates the type of dis-
ciples we make. We grow disciples deep & wide— deeply rooted in God and widely branched to bear fruit and give Life to our city. The human story started in a garden (Gen. 1) and ends in a garden city (Rev. 22). We live in the middle of this big story, in a strategic part of the world that the first settlers called “The Garden City” because everything they planted flourished in our valley’s
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
temperate climate and fertile soil. Our church ex-
1)
ists to plant “trees” (Psalm 1; disciples, groups,
scribed in this guidebook as we gather and scat-
churches) who sink deep roots into and give Life
ter as a church, living intentionally and creatively
to our city, and who carry this DNA with them if
to expand our discipleship culture. The epicent-
God calls them to a new city.
er of our culture is a lifestyle of grace-powered
W H O C A N B E PA R T O F T H I S ?
Everybody! We desire everyone in our
church family, from the one-week-old Christian
We practice the Life-giving habits pre-
obedience, of acting on our 2 Discipleship Questions that help us listen to and take our next step with God:
to the well seasoned Christian, to play a role
What is God saying to you? What’s your next step?
in our discipleship culture. And this is for nonChristians too—we want non-Christians befriended and selected into discipleship relationships. 2)
We form groups of 3-5 people (same
gender, ideally from your Life Group or Serve Team; we don’t want to add something to your life, we want you to integrate this with your life) who practice these habits together for 6-12
“Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim.”
EUGENE PETERSON 6
months, then send people out to multiply this process. Ideally at least 1 non-Christian should be originally selected or eventually drawn into the group. These groups can be hierarchical and led “top down” by a lead discipler who runs point on discipling the group, or can function “side to side” as peer discipleship with group members at similar maturity levels. Whichever route you chose, somebody needs to be the primary leader to blaze the trail for your group and every group member can learn from everyone in the group.
“Churches don’t need programs so much as they need cultures of discipling, cultures where each member prioritizes the spiritual health of others…Really, the ‘how’ of discipling is not that complicated. It’s about doing life together with other people as you all journey toward Christ. We make friends and then walk them in a Christward direction.”
Mark Dever
WHAT ARE THE 4 CORE INGREDIENTS THAT FLAVOR OUR DISCIPLESHIP CULTURE? 1)
Developmental Journey/Adventure (Sanctification). Discipleship is a devel-
opmental journey. Every human is living a unique story, and their transformation is a process that requires grace, time, and nuance. We don’t view people as tasks on a to-do list, but as dynamic characters in a developing and redemptive story. Jesus is a radical person, and following him is an adventure full of peaks and valleys, feasts and storms, wins and losses, and “all things working together for good.” The apostle Paul teaches us that disciples “are being transformed…from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Sanctification is a process that most often moves at a developmental pace of one degree of glory to another (not 90 degrees), and has its share of difficulty. The process of growing up is rarely easy. 2)
Relationship (Love). A relational God created us to enjoy relationship with
him and one another. Relationships are the source of our greatest hurts and greatest joys. We mature, heal, and thrive only through relationships of love. The design and purpose of our church is not programs or accomplishments, but relationship, relationship, relationship. Garden City exists to draw you into a deeper love relationship with God, deeper love relationships in our church family, and deeper love relationships with unbelievers in our city. The quality of our lives depends on the quality of our relationships. At the center of our faith is a relational God who sent us a Person, not a program or an idea.
7
4 CORE INGREDIENTS (CONTINUED) 3)
Desire, Choice, Habits (Obedience). As humans we do what we want, so dis-
cipleship must attend to our desires and our choices/actions/habits. Our culture is built on Life-giving habits that a Holy Spirit-empowered disciple must desire and choose for themselves, around self-directed obedience to the Word of God. The grace of God empowers us to obey God. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Grace and active obedience are complementary. There is no faith without good works, and no good works apart from faith.” We don’t treat people like kids who need babysitting. We expect adults to be adults—responsible for their desires and choices. Our 2 Discipleship Questions are daily opportunities to, hopefully from a place of grace and desire, choose to listen to and obey God: What is God saying to you? What’s your next step? Our brains are geared toward habituality, so intentional habit building is central to transforming discipleship. 4)
Trust and Risk (Faith). Trust is the foundation of any healthy relationship.
The adventure of discipleship constantly presents us with big problems, where we have the opportunity to trust that our God is bigger and exercise the first three words of our mission statement: “Depending on God.” Humans risk, or we rust. We grow and the gospel advances only as we exercise fresh faith in God and take fresh risks to follow God into new territory. We don’t have a small God, we believe in a BIG God— therefore we trust big, pray big, and risk forward. Among the most important and repeated words of the Bible are: “Trust God.” We all hear “trust God” through our own experience of what it’s been like to trust people. Everybody comes to faith with some type of injury to their ability to trust. Our hope is for Jesus to use our community to bring healing here, and lead you into a life of deep dependence on God.
“God is a God of adventure, and a life well lived, a life of discipleship, must be one that can take risks as we courageously follow our Lord…Life, and particularly life in God, will always involve dynamic movement, growth, development, change, participation, adventure.”
Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch 8
WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT FROM JUMPING INTO OUR CHURCH’S ADVENTURE OF MAKING DISCIPLES? On the one hand: Danger. Opposition. Conflict. Spiritual warfare. Hurt. Pain. Loss. To be sinned against. Shock, sadness, betrayal, anger. Messiness. Discomfort, discouragement, chaos. Frustration. Suffering. Death. Lament. Failure stories.
On the other hand: Excitement. Joy. Laughter. Growth. Healing. Discovery. Breakthrough. Learning. Intimacy. Impact. Lifelong friendships. Wisdom. Comfort, encouragement, clarity. Peace. Gratitude. Receiving and giving forgiveness. Redemption. Resurrection power. God’s guidance and provision. Answered prayer. A real experience of Ephesians 3:20-21. Rest. Success stories. Celebration. Singing. Hope.
“Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”
William Carey
To sum it up: Have human-sized expectations of humans, and God-sized expectations of God. Have fallen-world expectations of a fallen-world (and an imperfect church), and new-creation-sized expectations of our God whose redemptive kingdom has broken into this world and is making all things new. As you pursue this discipleship journey, things won’t go exactly as you planned, but you can trust God’s bigger and better plan. What we are developing in people is a lifestyle for a lifetime, “a long obedience in the same direction.”
“By definition, an adventure is a journey with an uncertain outcome.”
MEMORIZE
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20-21
9
HOW DO WE MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF OUR MISSION?
Through people taking next steps in making, maturing, and multiplying dis-
ciples of Jesus. A key observable metric for us is people engaged in this discipleship process and seeing people “graduate” from Discipleship Groups after 6-12 months of journeying through this guidebook in order to multiply new groups that will make, mature, and multiply disciples. We celebrate next steps that are easy for the whole church to see and measure: baptisms, inviting more people to gather with our church, growth in church membership, planting a new Life Group or Discipleship Group or church, etc. We also celebrate next steps that the whole church family might not see, but that a smaller group of the church will see: confessing sin, reconciling a broken relationship, sharing the gospel, taking a risk in the workplace, working through this guidebook, etc.
Our motto here is “better, not perfect.” We’re not chasing perfection. With
each new day of following Jesus we’re simply seeking better—to take a next step that leads us deeper into abundant Life. Things will not go exactly as planned and we will make mistakes as disciple makers. That’s okay and to be expected. Look at Jesus’ original disciples—they often said and did stupid things. But Jesus met them in moments of failure and turned them into discipleship moments that produced new insights and growth.
“Certainly we should be very active in seeking God, and Jesus himself called us to ‘ask, seek, knock’ in order to find him. Yet those who enter a relationship with God inevitably look back and recognize that God’s grace had sought them out, breaking them open to new realities.”
Tim Keller 10
HOW IS THIS GUIDEBOOK ORGANIZED?
This guidebook has 3 parts, each organized around 4 habits, for a total of
12 habits. We chose 12 because this is a number of biblical significance (12 tribes of Israel, Jesus chose 12 disciples, etc.) and allows space to cover fairly comprehensive ground (Alcoholics Anonymous works through a whole recovery process in 12 steps, etc.). But, this guidebook is incomplete. It doesn’t guide us into everything there is to know about discipleship, instead it leads us into 12 habits—12 ways of living—that have the potential to produce a major difference in our world and give someone a core framework for a lifetime of discipleship.
Each habit/chapter contains: • An introductory paragraph about the habit • A biblical text to study, and related verses to memorize • Several suggested ways, methods, or tools for practicing the habit • Some key quotes, allowing you to hear from diverse voices • A one-sentence summary of the main takeaway • And recommended reading for those who want to dig deeper
Optionality and Freedom:
This guidebook is built with options and freedom. We’re all different, and we
want you and your Discipleship Group to pursue the most Life-giving way to practice the habits and works through the content of this book. Have fun blazing your own trail through this guidebook, and share with the whole church how God is meeting you here—you’ll likely have something to teach all of us that will inspire and equip us. Add your maturity, wisdom, leadership, and resources to this guidebook to increase the depth and width of our discipleship culture. This is the 1.0 version of our guidebook, and your input could help shape our future 2.0 version.
HOW DO I START, WHAT’S MY NEXT STEP?
Turn the page and start with Part 1 and Habit 1: Selection.
“Jesus asks nothing of us without giving us the strength to perform it. His commandment never seeks to destroy life, but to foster, strengthen and heal it.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer 11