How Does Discipleship Work At Highlands?
At Highlands, growing as disciples is a primary value for us. Jesus followers in the Bible were called disciples, so we are sticking with that terminology. The disciples in the New Testament were growing in their understanding of Jesus as they engaged with him in his mission, so we believe the context of mission is where disciples are made.
It is important for us to define exactly what we do and do not mean by discipleship.
Let’s start with what we do not mean. In American churches, discipleship is often understood as a very personal, almost selfish endeavor. It often sounds like this:
“I want to learn to read and understand the Bible so that I can grow in Christ and then God will bless me. I want to understand my spiritual gifts so that I can find where I fit in the church so that I will be happy. I would like to serve others occasionally so that I can feel good about what God is doing in me.”
Do you hear the subtle selfishness in these statements? It makes discipleship all about that person, rather than the person they are supposed to be following. It is discipleship for personal gain, which, isn’t discipleship at all.
Here is what we do mean
Christian discipleship is about Jesus. We were made to mirror the image of God, and in Christ, we see the “radiance of God’s glory” and the “exact imprint of God’s nature” (Hebrews 1:3). So following Christ is about rediscovering God’s original intention for us, which is to reflect his glory as seen in Jesus. Practically following Jesus will mean that we learn to fight sin through repentance, and belief in the gospel. Christian discipleship is living out the simple rhythm of repentance and faith. The 16th century reformer, Martin Luther said that the whole life of a Christian is one of repentance. This means that throughout our life we will seek to uncover the things that we love more than Jesus at any given time, repent of them, and learning how satisfying Jesus alone can be for us. At Highlands you will learn to fight sin, and be the person God intends for you to be.
Our strategy for discipleship is pretty simple as well, and is designed to make the most out of the ways we learn. We do discipleship on three levels.
Sunday Worship Gatherings
On Sundays, large groups gather together for worship through singing, taking the Lord’s Supper, prayer, scripture reading, and through hearing the Bible preached. In these large group gatherings, we are equipped to live a life of service to Jesus, the church, and the world. As much as we love these weekend gatherings, there are certain aspects of the Christian life that can only be fleshed out in smaller group gatherings.
2:42 Life Groups
During the week, our gospel communities gather in various ways and at various times. These communities are groups of between 6-20 adults plus children who have committed themselves to share their lives together. Its really ordinary life lived with gospel intentionality. There is more on the rhythms of gospel communities in another part of your guest packet. While the groups usually has a formal gathering, smaller groups within that group may get together for meals, projects, or just to hang out. These groups practice many of the “one-anothers” of Christian discipleship such as praying together, encouraging one another, bearing one another’s burdens, etc… In the gospel communities, we are able to learn from one-another is so many ways. Often just by watching another man love his children well, I can learn his ways by watching him, or by watching others serve well, I can learn to serve well too. In order to get the full impact of gospel community life, we must covenant to share more of our lives with each other.