A WORD OF CAUTION
Before I get into the substance of my blog, let me caution you: Neither you, nor I, nor Dr. Tony Evans, nor Dr. Rick Warren can make a disciple out of someone one who doesn’t want to mature as a disciple of Jesus.
The heartbreak reality is that some disciples of Jesus are more enamored with idols (career, sex, spouse, hurts of the past, money) than Jesus; therefore, they miss out on all that the Indwelling Life of Jesus can produce in and through them for the glory of God.
THE 5 SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION
At Transformation Church, we affectionately call our members “Transformers.” As a leadership team, we have identified 5 primary spiritual disciplines that the disciples of Jesus practiced.
These 5 spiritual disciplines of spiritual formation mean NOTHING if people don’t live by the Indwelling Life of Jesus through the Holy Spirit’s power. Jesus living in us and through us is foundational to our discipleship or spiritual formation (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:28-29).
1. WORSHIP
All of life is worship–from going to work to going to school and everything else in life. We want to have an awareness that God’s presence and power is with us in everything that we do, and all that we do, we do to honor Him. (Romans 12:1-2)
2. CONNECT
God has always used people to draw people to Himself. Community is important because we need each other. There is nothing more awesome than a community of people alive to God and one another. At Transformation Church, we provide for community through our Transformation Church Groups (TC Groups), where Transformers connect to do life together, study and interact with the sermon, eat, pray, and encourage each other to live out the vision of Transformation Church. (Acts 2:24-47)
While our TC Groups are multi-generational, we also connect our children to the love of God and people through our TC Teens and TC Kids ministries. We also connect through servant leadership in ministry within TC and on mission in the community.
3. SERVE
As we love God completely (Upward) and ourselves correctly (Inward), we’re then compelled to love our neighbors compassionately (Outward). You have a gift that God wants to unleash in ministry and out on mission in community. Every Christ-follower is a part of the body of Christ! Therefore, you have a place to serve to be the healthy hands and feet of Jesus! (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 peter 4:10-11)
4. GIVE
We believe that a part of discipleship is what we do with the time, talent, and treasure (money and resources) that God has given to us. Disciples of Christ want to give because they realize how much God has given them. We’re generous because God generously gave us His Son, Jesus! As this truth transforms your heart, you’ll desire to give generously so that others can experience the life change that you’ve experienced. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
We believe the greater a disciple experiences Jesus’ grace the more radically generous they will become towards the local church, the poor, and charity.
5. INVITE
Through the power of Christ in us, we live an inviting life. Wherever we are, we realize that every human being matters to God, and we look for ways to invite people in our spheres of influence into relationship with Him, we invite unchurched people to worship with us on the weekend, and we invite them to out TC Groups. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:9; Matthew 4:19)
Transformation Church is a community of missionaries.
All of our systems, processes, and training facilitates our view of discipleship.
I hope I've helped you think more strategically about discipleship in your local church context.
For a more in-depth look at my view of discipleship check out my book, Limitless Life: You Are More Than Past When God Holds Your Future.
