Be The Church
Habit 5 of the Discipleship Culture Guidebook is an important part of our discipleship walk, and our radical difference from the world as believers in Christ - our Being the Church! (Catch our peek into Habit 4 here). In Habit 5, we begin Part II of the Guidebook, “Grow Life”. In this section of Habits, we will look at ways we grow alongside one another in the Church and put our foundational roots into expressive action! This action begins by belonging.
Western civilization, particularly American culture, is steeped in individualism. By default, we approach God, life, and others with an individualistic lens. But following Jesus leads us away from a mere individualistic identity into a corporate identity. We belong. We belong to God and we belong to God’s church. Jesus died for the church, and the local church is his Plan A (there’s no Plan B) for gathering his people and making himself known. Who are we that God wants to involve us in his redemptive plan for Creation?? His people! We are the Church, the bride of Christ. We do this role primarily by practicing inviting, gathering, joining, and then scattering.
If the Church is God’s Plan A for reaching His people on this Earth, then church is not optional or additional to a relationship with God, but at the very core of it! We don’t do church as much as we are the Church, and it is by involving others and inviting friends that we grow this community. It should be here that people are truly known and loved, a reflection of God’s unconditional love for us, in a community that looks very different from any other. It’s still a community of humans – we like to tell people right away that if they stay here, they will hurt here – but we are God’s Church nonetheless. However, this happens on many more days than Sundays…
“Jesus came to create a people who would model what it means to live under his rule. It would be a glorious outpost of the kingdom of God, an embassy of heaven. This is where the world can see what it means to be truly human”
- Tim Chester
In Silicon Valley, we spend more of our week scattered, rather than gathered, as a church. Most of our hours are spent in our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools. This is God’s brilliant design—he’s already put each of us in strategic places throughout our city to represent him as we live our ordinary lives with gospel intentionality, do our work, love people, and step into opportunities he creates for us.
If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to work through our Membership Handbook here and consider making an official commitment to join our church family. In our individualistic and transient culture, making this covenant is one of the most countercultural and life-giving decisions you can make. Whether you see yourself here for 30 years or just 3 years, we encourage to make this commitment and be all in with our very special and very imperfect community.
Take a look at this sermon by Justin from last year on Habit 5:
Here is the full Habit 5 in the Guidebook to flip through, too:
We also want you to have access to the whole Guidebook if you don’t already, so below is a link to download it. We have a physical Guidebook for you too, so you can scribble down your thoughts and prayers and dive into the resource in a Lifegroup! Just email Alayne and we will get you a copy!