In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set out on an ambitious expedition to cross Antarctica from sea to sea, but things did not go as planned. Before they could even reach the continent, their ship, the Endurance, became trapped in the thick ice of the Weddell Sea. For months, the crew lived on the ice-bound ship, hoping it would break free.
Eventually, the ice crushed the ship, and it sank, leaving the men stranded on the ice floes in one of the most inhospitable places on earth.
Despite these dire circumstances, Shackleton's leadership kept the crew together. He emphasized the importance of unity, morale, and mutual support. Shackleton ensured that everyone had a role and felt valued, and he made decisions that balanced the needs of the individual with the well-being of the group.
Shackleton's Focus on Community
Shackleton organized social activities, including communal meals, sing-alongs, and storytelling sessions, to keep the men engaged and connected. These activities were crucial because they provided a sense of normalcy and camaraderie in an otherwise dire situation. Shackleton also implemented a daily routine that involved rotating chores and responsibilities, which prevented any single individual from feeling isolated or burdened. By doing this, Shackleton ensured that every crew member felt like a vital part of the team.
Shackleton personally checked in with each member of the crew every day. He would visit each tent, share a joke, or offer words of encouragement. This personal attention not only boosted morale but also reinforced the idea that every man mattered and that they were all in this together. Shackleton's leadership created a close-knit community, where each man was willing to endure the hardships for the sake of his comrades.
Over the course of more than a year, the crew endured extreme cold, hunger, and exhaustion. Shackleton’s commitment to his men never wavered; he famously promised that "no man would be left behind." Against all odds, all 28 men survived and were eventually rescued after Shackleton and a few others took one of the lifeboats from the sunken ship, and made an 800-mile open-boat journey across the treacherous South Atlantic Ocean to secure help.
Community Is Key for Discipleship
Does anyone doubt that any one of the 28 men in Shackleton’s crew would have died if they had been alone?
In the same way, Christians may at times feel stranded in a strange and inhospitable world. We desperately need community to be able to survive (and thrive!) as disciples of Jesus in a world-system that is hostile to our values.
Mental Models of Discipleship
What is your idea of discipleship? How do you visualize it?
Mental models of discipleship matter.
My view of discipleship shifted in a dramatic way when I sat in a session and heard Dr. Stephen Gibson say, “The Dominant mental model of discipleship in the American church is a person in a spacesuit. We view discipleship primarily as a self-contained environment that protects from a hostile world.”
He went on to say that, because of this mental model, our churches have become collections of people in spacesuits. We waddle into church, wave at the other people in their spacesuits, exchange a few awkward hugs, and waddle back to our cars to spend another week in our disconnected, self-contained environments.
I was convicted. This really was too close to the way I viewed discipleship.
A better way to view discipleship and community
In contrast to the “spacesuit” model, the New Testament’s mental model of discipleship is “a baby born into a family.”
We know this because of the metaphors for spiritual life in the New Testament. It uses language like:
Born again
Drinking milk
Eating meat
Growing in grace
God our Father
Christ our brother
Family of God
Fathers in the faith
Little children, Young men, Old men
There are some other metaphors for spiritual life (teams, warfare, gardening) but this is the dominant one.
Your discipleship process should take this into account and attempt to counteract the radical expressive individualism that is characteristic of postmodern culture.
Community is not optional in discipleship
For disciples of Jesus, community is not optional. Obviously this is not true in every circumstance. There are exceptions, but you’re not one of them.
Notice that Jesus never gave his disciples any choice about community. To be invited to follow him WAS assumed to be part of the group… and a very diverse group (in some ways). His disciples came to follow him and discovered they were not the only ones chosen to walk with the Master.
And what a crew!
Some were extroverted, and some introverted.
Some were from influential families (John) and others were uneducated fishermen.
Matthew the tax collector… working for the Roman government.
Judas the zealot… trained to overthrow the Roman government.
Think there was any resentment there? Any awkwardness?
I’m quite sure there was.
Why would Jesus do this? Why would he insist upon his disciples being part of a community?
Four reasons discipleship must include community
1. Community reflects the glory of our Trinitarian God.
Love is inherently part of the nature of God, because God is inherently community - He is 3 in 1. You are not to be alone as a follower of God, because God has never been alone!
Now the way this expresses itself is different for introverts & extroverts, due to relational energy management… but alone isn’t an option.
2. Community teaches us to confront pride & idolatry in ourselves.
It does this primarily by confronting us with our own selfishness.
My impatience is not usually revealed in dealing with myself. It’s revealed in dealing with someone in front of me that is slower than I wanted.
My fragile joy is not revealed by dealing with myself alone, but my discovering how fragile it is when exposed to the preferences of other people.
The truth is, you (and your disciples) need to be a part of a community that requires you to do some things that you would not choose for yourself.
This becomes a powerful and sustained means of sanctification!
Community calls us to prioritize the value of Jesus over the over markers of belonging in the world-system around us. These vary, but commonly include:
Race or ethnicity
Money
Education or intelligence
Skill
Subcultural background
“Meritocracy”
Political affiliation
When this is hard to value Jesus more than these things, it reveals (at least) potential for idolatry in our hearts.
This is powerfully illustrated in this quote from CS Lewis:
When I first became a Christian, about fourteen years ago, I thought that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and I wouldn’t go to the churches and Gospel Halls; … I disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as I went on I saw the great merit of it. I came up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.
“Solitary conceit.” Those words go together! But so do “humility” and “community,” at least eventually.
I want to encourage you toward humility… including the realization that we are not worthy to clean the boots of those across the aisle.
3. Community teaches disciples to see, value, and cultivate the good in others.
Once we have begun the journey toward humility, we can be low enough to be truly helpful to those around us.
Once again, let me quote from CS Lewis in “The Weight of Glory.”
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors… Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.
It is all too easy to speak of loving our neighbor in generalities.
Left to ourselves, we will deceive ourselves and value the IDEA of humanity, but not actual humans. It takes specificity to learn to love, and differences to learn to love well.
4. Community teaches us to give and receive grace.
Community is valuable, because in it we learn to give and receive grace. This results in our coming to understand and appropriate the grace of God more effectively than we had before.
One of the most powerful "one another commands" of Scripture teaches us how this works. This is spoken of in James 5:16 (ESV), “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
Here’s a profound quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic “Life Together.”
“Why is it that it is often easier for us to confess our sins to God than to a brother? God is holy and sinless, He is a just judge of evil and the enemy of all disobedience. But a brother is sinful as we are. He knows from his own experience the dark night of secret sin. Why should we not find it easier to go to a brother than to the holy God? But if we do, we must ask ourselves whether we have not often been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God, whether we have not rather been confessing our sins to ourselves and also granting ourselves absolution...Who can give us the certainty that, in the confession and the forgiveness of our sins, we are not dealing with ourselves but with the living God? God gives us this certainty through our brother. Our brother breaks the circle of self-deception. A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person.”
Isn’t that profound?
Notice the submerged metaphor for sin that’s in James 5:16. In this verse, sin isn’t just guilt that needs to be forgiven, but brokenness that needs to be healed… and that healing is accessed through community – confession and humility.
We Must Cultivate Community to Make Disciples
For disciple-makers, creating community should not be a second-tier concern. It is not an optional add-on to the life of discipleship but rather a vital part of the process itself. Without a strong, loving, and engaged community, our efforts at making disciples will be significantly hindered. True discipleship happens in the context of relationships where people can experience and practice the love, grace, and truth of Jesus in tangible ways.
So, how do we go about creating this kind of community?
Well, it is both simpler than we might fear and more challenging than we might expect.
How Jesus Created Community:
Jesus modeled the creation of community through these intentional practices:
#1: Faithful Teaching
Jesus regularly taught about the importance of community, by principles, commands, and stories. Remember these:
“Love one another”
“Greater love has no man that this”
“Let the greatest among you be your servant”
Jesus frequently used teachable moments, like an argument while walking along the way, to bring up valuable teaching on what it meant to be a disciple in community.
#2: Regular Contact
Jesus maintained regular contact with his disciples. He was present in their lives, day in and day out. This wasn't about checking off a box on a to-do list; it was about being fully present and available. Through this regular contact, he built trust, understanding, and a deep sense of belonging. His disciples knew they could count on him, not just in moments of crisis, but in the everyday rhythms of life. This kind of consistent presence is vital for cultivating a community where discipleship can really happen.
#3: Shared Experiences
Jesus created shared experiences with his disciples. These experiences went beyond just formal ministry activities; they included everyday moments like walking together, sharing meals, camping, celebrating, mourning, and even performing humble acts like washing feet. Through these shared experiences, Jesus and his disciples formed bonds that went deeper than mere acquaintance—they became a family.
The truth is that people will forget many of your Bible lessons, but they will never forget the love and commitment they experienced through shared life together. People learn more about love and community by inconveniencing themselves for others than they do from teaching alone.
Mother Teresa was once approached by a young seminary student eager to learn from her wisdom by riding alongside her on a plane as she flew back to her mission in India. Her response was profound and simple: “You have $1,500 for the ticket? Give it to the poor, and it will teach you everything I would teach you.”
Learning by action works even better than words!
#4: Hospitality
Lastly, I would add one final essential piece to this: Jesus made disciples by requiring them to offer hospitality. As a homeless man, Jesus relied on the hospitality of his followers.
After his Resurrection, this practice of hospitality continued and became a hallmark of the early Christian community. Hospitality is more than just sharing a meal or offering a place to stay; it is an expression of love, a willingness to open one’s life to others, to share in their joys and sorrows, and to walk alongside them.
Action time: Let’s create community for our disciples
In today's context, cultivating community means embracing these same principles. It means faithfully teaching, maintaining regular contact, creating shared experiences, and practicing hospitality. By doing so, we create a space where discipleship can flourish, where lives are transformed, and where the love of Christ is made real in and through our communities.
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