Discipleship

Written by Trisha Khoo

In his book Radical, David Platt states that the megastrategy of Jesus is to make disciples. As a church, we believe it is important to be part of Jesus' strategy but we are keenly aware that only disciples can make disciples. That's why we have a goal to have everyone in some form of discipleship.

But most people would think as Christians, they are already disciples. The Bible, however, makes a clear distinction between one in the multitudes who followed Jesus but solely for the signs and miracles, and the disciple who intentionally followed Jesus to learn from Him. At CVCC, we desire to develop disciples, and we have laid out the core values of our discipleship initiative – accountability, body building and commission – to focus on that.

Accountability

When we became Christians, we all began running a race and while it may feel like a long drawn marathon at times, the good news is that we do not run alone. Our fellow Christians are running and pushing on together with us. The enemy is also on the prowl seeking to destroy us (1 Pet 5:8) and he throws fiery darts at us all the time (Eph 6:16); that's why mutual support is necessary to weather these storms together.

The Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jer 17:9) and the ego is inflatable (Gal 6:3-4). That is why accountability is so important. Left on our own, we will deceive ourselves into thinking we're ok.

In the final days, we know that many will be deceived, if possible even the elect (Matt 24:3-5,

11, 24). We are also told that many will fall away (2 Tim 4:3-4 & 2 Thess 2:3) and perish because they do not love the truth (2 Thess 2:10). Being in an accountability relationship allows for discussion of the Word, that issues and concepts can be clarified, so that we can guard against deception.

Body Building

As a church, our desire is to present everyone perfect in Christ (Col 1:28) and

that we will all come to a unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God (Eph 4:13).

Spiritual growth is a key focus for us. Through the discipleship groups, we hope that the teaching and equipping will go beyond the pulpit and go deep in the lives of the people here at CVCC.

Romans 12:5 tells us that "In Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others." We exist not for ourselves, but for the body and for each other.

On our own, we tend to be inward looking with a focus on self. But as we start to be involved with other people, pray with them and "do life" together, we build the body. And as the body of Christ is built, and as we show the world how we are able to be as one people united, loving one another, God is glorified.

Commission

Being commissioned simply means being sent. Jesus Himself was sent by God to bring salvation to the people and He tells His disciples in John 20:21 that He now sends them. As disciples, we must be ready to be sent by our Master. God is always at work around us and He wants us to be involved with Him. There are many ready platforms of ministry where God can already use us like in our personal relationships, our marketplaces, evangelistic outreaches, social concerns projects, hospital visitations, and the list goes on. The only prerequisite is a heart yielded to Him.