Five Pillars of Christian Living

Twice a year, Kona Coast Nazarene offers a Spiritual Retreat, a chance to get away, focus on listening to God’s voice in our community, and kick-off the beginning of our Discipleship Clutches.  A Discipleship Clutch is what we are calling our smallest gathering that makes up the backbone of our church.  Everything we do points toward growing as disciples of Jesus.  Our theory (and I first heard this from my brother) is that if you try to build the church you might get disciples, but if you make disciples you’ll always build the church.  Our Spiritual Retreat addresses the first five sessions for a full year of discipleship.  Essentially, Pastor Ryan asked a range of committed and fruitful Christians what they had wished someone had told them when they first started the Christian journey.  After seeing five themes throughout each conversation, five sessions were created for the Spiritual Retreat.

I had the pleasure of participating in my first Spiritual Retreat this past weekend, and Joy and I will join our first Discipleship Clutch in two weeks.  I have never formally been “discipled.”  Seminary teaches you a lot about theology, the church, social and political intersections with scripture, and culture, but it doesn’t necessarily make you more like Jesus.  So I am excited about finding myself under Pastor Ryan’s guidance during this time.  Eventually, everyone who participates in a Clutch will lead a clutch.  We take seriously that every disciple of Jesus is called to make disciples.  So much so, in fact, that if we aren’t reproducing little Jesus,’ we might have to reevaluate whether we are being faithful in our journey with Christ.   

So, I’d like to briefly outline the Five Pillars that KCN uses to ground the beginning of formal discipleship.

1). Practicing the Presence of God: Some may know this title from the work of Brother Lawrence, a monk who devoted his life to practicing God’s presence in the mundane activities of everyday life.  He wrote that “there is no sweeter manner of living in the world than continuous communion with God.”  But this is a very foreign concept in the church today.  We are so distracted by technology, work, family, and sports that we honestly don’t know how to dwell in the Presence of the Lord, much less do it while washing dishes or playing with our kids.  Living in communion with God takes practice; it takes intentional habit making work.

2). The totality of the Gospel movement from DEATH to LIFE.  This session actually starts with a type of spiritual inventory.  It dives deep into one’s family past, social experiences, addictions, abuses, relationships, etc.  It allows us to better see where we have been, where we are now, and where God is leading us.  Essentially, it gives us a picture of seeing all the places of our life with others that God longs to heal.  It also allows us to see where in our life God has already been active and working grace in our midst.  The Christian journey is one in which we move from death to life. This session allows us to broaden our understanding of salvation beyond the spiritual soul-saving realm and into the stuff of physical life.

3). Forgiveness.  The church often gives lip service to this one.  We read in scripture the power of forgiveness and recognize that it’s important.  But, few of us actually act as if another’s forgiveness is reliant upon us.  Jesus teaches that if we forgive any one their sins, they are forgiven; and if we do not forgive than our sins are not forgiven.  That’s a tough word especially in a world in which so many are abused, made victims, or hurt.  Forgiveness does not excuse, forget, or overlook the past.  But forgiveness does restore freedom.  Forgiveness makes room for possible reconciliation.  As MLK said, “He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.”

4). Koinonia.  This is the greek word for fellowship, community, and togetherness.  In a culture that celebrates individualism, isolation and loneliness overwhelm us.  From the moment of creation, we were meant for communion with God and each other.  Fellowship is the antidote to isolation.  Henri Nouwen writes that the “paralyzing sense of separation…constitutes the core of much of human suffering.”  Our communities are a collection of individuals who occasionally gather as individuals.  The Christian journey must foster authentic community.  

5). Testimony: Worship and Witness.  We believe people will come to a relationship with Christ through relationships with other believers.  One of the best ways to share the transformation power of resurrection is simply to share your story of transformation.  By witnessing to the grace of God in your life, by simply sharing your story of where God has worked, we become faithful witnesses.  And at the same time, we express a dependence on God to make it all possible, giving ourselves over to worship and praise.  This takes a particular understanding of your own life as it intersects with God’s story.  Learning to see God’s life in a dark world is the stuff of discipleship.  

I'd like to briefly add that this list does not exhaust the totality of Christian discipleship.  Again, this marks the beginning of our journey here at KCN.