• Exclusive excerpts from Everyday Church, the new book by authors to Total Church, Steve Timmis and Tim Chester
• Over a dozen articles on a range of discipleship issues from Gospel-centered Theology to the Gospel & Neighbors
• 3 Great eBooks on Organic Discipleship, the Holy Spirit, and Gospel-centered Discipleship

A Generous Spirit is Hard to Find

My parents generosity continues to amaze me. Their stated goal, even during a recession, is to give generously, not primarily to their kids, but to God’s kingdom. This generosity isn’t a mere act but an act of worship. Their generosity has affected Christians and non-Christians around the world. It extends well beyond finances into (or from) a generous spirit. A mundane example from our vacation…

As a family of five, my family is the largest by far among my two brother’s families. Yet, I’m never made to feel guilty when Dad a picks up the restaurant bill for everyone. There are no cutting remarks, snide comments, or jokes about how many mouths there are to feed. In fact, a number of years ago my father told all of us: “Whenever we all meet for a meal, I’ll pick up the tab. Don’t feel like you have to offer to pay. It’s something I enjoy doing.”

Now, I realize that not everyone has this kind of financial liberty, but we all have the opportunity, every single day, to make others feel as though they are in our debt or as though they are in our blessing. We all have the power to make others feel judged or free, as an imposition or as part of the the family. We choose one or the other many times a day. We do it with time.

Generosity of Time

Are people made to feel as though they are robbing your precious time or do they walk away sensing they are free recipients of it?

My father is the CEO of a company, an elder in his local church, and is currently dealing with several emotionally taxing issues. Yet, he remains open, generous, interested in our lives. He listens and asks questions. He pauses to take great delight in is grandchildren. He pursues us in conversation. He plays tennis and enjoins topics of conversation unique to each person.

My mother is ever-present, serving in the background in silent generosity. Meals, dishes, shopping, and laundry, magically remain in order while everyone enjoys their vacation. She has plenty of vocational responsibilities. Yet, she anticipates the needs and preferences of nine to eleven people, and meets them. Blessing flows out from her.

Emotional Generosity

Generosity also has an emotional expression. Do we listen intently to others as they share their joys and struggles or do we secretly lie in wait to express our preference, experience, or current emotion?

Do people feel emotionally drained or strengthened when they walk away from conversation with you?

My mother is one of the best listeners I know, not because she is silent, or because she nods her head continually, but because her eyes tell me she is listening. And when she does speak, it is with understanding. She speaks, not to hijack conversation but to climb deeper into it, into your life. This is how she has deeply and effectively counseled so many women through so many crises. Whether it is a friend in a small group or a confused, broken woman who walked through the door of a crisis pregnancy center, Kaye remains generously present.

Generous Discipleship

Discipleship is about generosity. Take a mental stroll through the Gospels and you will find, again and again, Jesus giving generously of his time and emotions, even when he is exhausted or overwhelmed. As the multitudes press in, as the marginalized reach out to touch him, as his own followers puzzle over his identity, Jesus remains present, listening, giving, and speaking. With his eyes upon their hearts, he offers extended time and enriching presence.

Jesus is not distracted with “the kingdom”; he is present, building the kingdom. People are not an imposition; they are, very profoundly, his creation, his flesh and blood, his family. Jesus offers both presence and understanding as he climbs deeply into our lives. If Jesus was stingy, he would not have lived thirty-three years with us, three of which have spawned countless disciples and endless reflection.

Jesus’ life also teaches us that generosity requires sacrifice. Time, emotions, possessions, and energy must be subtracted from our lives if they are to be added to others. Jesus did not host events and call it discipleship; he hosted people and called them his own. Blessing poured out of him. From the backwoods of Galilee to wood of Golgotha, Jesus gave generously. This is grace.

Grace gives without demand, offers freedom not debt. Grace remakes men. It makes disciples of consumers, freeing us to spend our time and emotions on others. It reminds us that God has made so much of us in Christ, that we have much to give away to others. When Jesus died, he gave life. And to his disciples he says: Truly I say unto you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (Jn 12:24) Generosity requires sacrifice, but the life it nurtures invigorates both giver and recipient, such that we would say: “You don’t have to offer. It’s something I want to do. You have no idea how much I have received, and how much I love to give.”

While financial gifts can help many, it is the generosity of our own lives that will leave the greatest impression. Disciples of Jesus give generously. They leave an impression of grace.

• How do I make disciples in a context where people don’t believe in truth or God?
• When and how should I address ethical issues in discipleship (i.e. greed, racial prejudice, homosexuality, cohabitation).
• How can I make disciples without being programmatic?
• What is the difference between evangelism and discipleship?
• How can the church make disciples that teach everything Christ commanded?
• What does discipleship look like in everyday life?

How Will Gospel Centered Discipleship.com Help You?

Unfortunately, no single book or series of books can sufficiently address all these kinds of questions. Meanwhile, new questions continue to arise from the unique challenges of being a disciple and making disciples in context. The vision of Gospel Centered Discipleship.com (GCD) is to meet many of these needs by making discipleship resources available at one site. The values that shape our resources include:

• Culture-sensitive
• Practitioner-tested
• Gospel-centered
• Community-shaped
• Mission-focused

GCD.com is a long form resource site that will electronically distribute Articles, eBooks, and Curriculum on a host of discipleship issues, all from a gospel or grace centered perspective. Contributions come from a collective of proven gospel-centered practioners addressing a myriad of discipleship issues. It’s been great to see excellent content come in. The site launches Summer 2011.

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FOLLOW us on TWITTER to keep up with progress and get some great discipleship tweets.

More to come…

This material is used in training our City Group leaders. We will be releasing our training material in our new website in early Feb. An earlier version of this series ran earlier this fall on my blog.

I’m excited about training our new leaders again this January on this material, so that we call serve the church well, get beyond “bible answers” and “man that sucks” responses to hard questions and the struggles people face. This material will also be worked out into a book eventually. Feedback is welcome. With you for gospel-centered disciples!

Austin City Life is hosting a one-day Marriage Retreat right here in Austin next Saturday (Nov 20)! We’d love for you to benefit from the wisdom, godliness, and gospel-centeredness of the Wesley’s marriage! All are invited to register but do so soon!

TALKS:

1: “How Marriage Works”

2: “Tear this Wall Down to Build Your Marriage Up”

BREAKOUTS

#1

Being a Married Man

Being a Married Woman

#2

Fights Worth Fighting

REGISTER HERE

Bruce Wesley is the founding pastor of Clear Creek Community Church in League City, Texas. Bruce is devoted to planting gospel-centered churches, building strong marriages and raising up leaders for the church of tomorrow. He and Susan have been married for 27 years.

Below I set up some important quotations from Carson’s chapter that help us clarify just what the Gospel is.

The Kingdom Gospel vs. The Salvation Gospel

Some have identified a “Gospel of the Kingdom” in contrast to a “Gospel of Salvation.” Carson explains why a distinction between the “individual” and “communal”, the saving and the kingdom gospel is artificial. His main point is that the Gospel of the Kingdom is something that is heralded by Jesus on his way to complete the Gospel Story. In other words, the Gospel of the Kingdom announced by Jesus in the Gospels can only be announced because of where Jesus is headed in the Gospels, namely to the cross and to the resurrection. To interpret it otherwise is backwards hermeneutics. He writes:

That is why it is so hermeneutically backward to try to understand the teaching of Jesus in a manner cut off from what he accomplished; it is hermeneutically backward to divorce the sayings of Jesus in the Gospels from the plotline of the Gospels. p. 160

Are the Narrow & Broad Two Gospels?

Carson then enters into a discussion of the narrower and broader foci of the Gospel. He points out that the narrower focuses on Jesus’ story (cross/resurrection) and the latter focuses on what Jesus’ story has secured (kingdom/new creation). Some have protested that there is too much focus on the former and that we need to focus more on the “gospel of the kingdom.” Carson points out that this reasoning assumes there are two gospels, to which he replies:

But this means that if one preaches the gospel in the broader sense without also emphasizing the gospel in the more focused sense of what God has done to bring about such sweeping transformation, one actually sacrifices the gospel. (emphasis added) p. 162

The Gospel is not Just for Non-Christians but for Christians

Preaching the gospel, it is argued, is announcing how to be saved from God’s condemnation; believing the gospel guarantees you won’t go to hell. But for actual transformation to take place, you need to take a lot of discipleship courses, spiritual enrich- ment courses, “Go deep” spiritual disciplines courses, and the like. You need to learn journaling, or asceticism, or the simple lifestyle, or Scripture memorization; you need to join a small group, an accountability group, or a women’s Bible study. Not for a moment would I speak against the potential for good of all of these steps; rather, I am speaking against the tendency to treat these as postgospel disciplines, disciplines divorced from what God has done in Christ Jesus in the gospel of the crucified and resurrected Lord. (emphasis added) p.165

What is the biggest mistake the church is making when working to make disciples?

I can’t answer that question definitively. However, the dearth of suffering, the absence of hope, the trivialization of the Spirit, and the lack of mission among disciples of Jesus is terribly concerning. We have tried to minimize suffering through convenience, eliminate hope through self-made retirement, reduce Jesus to redeemer of the past, and surrendered any sense of discipleship as a call to die to ourselves that others may live. Instead, discipleship has been reduced to having a good marriage, handling finances well, raising good children, securing a future, and knowing your Bible. Our mission is very different than Jesus’ mission, our lives very different than Jesus’ life. This should scare us.

Read the rest of the Interview

This is just the beginning of a discipleship resource site. We will be adding new books and resources this year. It currently features Fight Clubs, a way to promote grace-driven discipleship in your life and church. Some of the current features include:

• Blog, Twitter, and Resources page that include articles, audio, & video.
• An IN CHURCHES page that links to examples of other churches implementing Fight Clubs.
• Preview the Book, order a Sign, or check out the FAQ.

On that note, check out the new beta version of the www.gospelcentereddiscipleship.com website!