Discipleship in Community

Community is a buzzword in this generation’s Christian church. However, I believe that’s for an important reason. We were made to live in community. The first church in the Book of Acts was a community. We were created to be with others, not alone. Our creator put a craving for community and belonging within each of us.

Establishing Community

Community takes work. For those of you who are feeling lonely, which I’ve come to realize is so many of us, I would encourage you to take the first step. Yes, it’s hard and scary, but it’s also worth it. Yes, you may be rejected, but look to Jesus as your source of acceptance and try anyway.

Send the text inviting that friend to coffee, invite that couple over for dinner, see if you can meet that mom at the park with your kids. This is step one. Then you have to take step two: Dive in. Go deep. Be vulnerable.

I know, I’m giving you hard things to do, but if you remember who you are—an image bearer of the Almighty, deeply loved, made to be exactly who you are—then you can step out in his confidence if yours is lacking. Open up, share your story, be completely you. This can and should happen over time as trust is established, but if you’ve connected with someone multiple times and you’re still talking about the weather, you’re not diving in. Establishing community takes effort. It doesn’t just come on its own.

My husband and I moved thirteen times in our first fifteen years of marriage. A few of these moves were intra-city, but for the most part, we had to reestablish community every time. At first we were kind of terrible at it. We lived in Denver for two years early in our marriage, and it was quite easy to leave when we did. Aside from family, most of our relationships were relatively shallow. We hadn’t done the work. We hadn’t opened up or asked others to do so.

God has matured us so much since then. I’ve written before about the neighborhood barbecues we throw. Our last name is Wiebe (pronounced “Weeb”), so we play on the common mispronunciation of our name (“WeeBee”) and call the barbecues “We Be Grillin’.” We invite people we know locally and have them bring meat to grill for their family and a side or dessert to share. We work to open up and ask questions and really get to know our neighbors. We’ve lived here only three years, but our eldest daughter, Ellie, was able to raise $300 for her sixth grade trip in the space of a month by doing odd jobs, all through these relationships. Why? Because our neighbors know and love her. They are happy to support her. They’ve been in our home. They’ve broken bread at our table.

We believe in community, and we know the work it takes. But the point of establishing community isn’t just to acquire friends or neighbors from whom you can borrow sugar. We were meant to live in community because God made us imperfect. We were meant to disciple one another to become more like Jesus.

There is, of course, a place for one-on-one discipleship. This is when I sit across the table from a friend and we encourage each other to become more like Christ by looking to God’s Word and sharing our life experiences. There is nothing wrong with this, unless it’s the only discipleship occurring. The issue with only one-on-one discipleship is that the person I’m discipling may become like me—with all my sins and faults. The beauty of discipleship in the context of community is that we all disciple one another, ultimately pointing one another to Christ.

Churches have so many names for small groups these days—fellowship groups, Bible study groups, city groups, life groups, care groups, and missional communities. No matter what your church calls them, this humble church planter believes they are crucial to authentic and Christ-centered discipleship. These groups should be where people can come together to be family, where we observe enough of the lives of the people in the group to be able to speak into their sins or areas where they could be pointed more clearly toward Christ. They should be places where we are working out our faith together, sharing our struggles as well as our successes. If you attend your church only at the weekly gathering, I encourage you to take the brave step to go check out one of the smaller groups.

Our call to be disciples (a lifelong journey) who make disciples (a lifelong calling) is clear in Scripture. Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV) tells us, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This was a collective call to the disciples and followers of Jesus. During Paul’s ministry, he was rarely alone. We were never meant to go it completely alone.

So gather your tribes. Build your community. Find other believers who share the calling of discipleship. We need not agree on every point in the Bible. We can have doubts. We can have questions. But ultimately, we can point others to Jesus through our differences. That is the beauty of discipleship in community. It takes your strengths to cover my weaknesses, and it takes my strengths to cover yours—all so we can point others to the only One who can truly save.

Amy Wiebe is a Jesus follower, wife, mom of three, church planter, finance director, and lover of sarcasm and deep conversation with friends. She also loves camping, rafting, skiing, sewing, and having people over. Amy blogs with her husband at fringechurch.com.