Preface

Why We Exist: Gospel Purpose

Our mission statement at DGCC says the following:

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

This is why we exist. This has been DGCC’s identity from the time it was planted twenty years ago. This is our gospel purpose. And, by God’s grace, this will be DGCC’s gospel purpose for the next twenty years and beyond. The question is, though, what exactly do we aim to do in order to live out this gospel purpose.

What We Do: Gospel Pursuit

For the past several months the Vision Team here at DGCC has met regularly to pray and discern DGCC’s vision for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the Vision Team aimed to articulate what we do, that is, our gospel pursuit. And, by God’s grace, in our most recent members meeting, the Vision Team shared with our fellow members the vision we believe God has led us to. This statement below captures that vision.

We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture birthed this statement. Specifically, Ephesians 3:14–21 became the foundational text that informed and shaped this vision statement. I unpacked that passage over three previous posts: DGCC’s Vision Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Here I outline how we accomplish our vision or our gospel pursuit. We do so through our gospel practice.

Gospel Practice: How we do it

So our mission statement and our vision statement make clear what our gospel purpose is and what our gospel pursuit is, respectively, at DGCC. Our gospel purpose is who we are and our gospel pursuit is what we do. But how do we aim to do this? Our Vision Team at DGCC felt it was necessary to answer this question as well. So to go along with our gospel purpose and gospel pursuit, we also articulated our gospel practice to answer the question, “How will we glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit”? We, DGCC, will do this

By seeing Jesus together as a family.[1]

By sharing Jesus with one another as his disciples.[2]

By showing Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses in our neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the world.[3]

As you can hopefully see, to answer this question we aimed to not reinvent the wheel. The call of every Christian is twofold—(1) love the Lord God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength, and (2) love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34–40; Mark 12:29–31; Luke 10:25–28). These are the two most important tasks for us as Christians. We only know God and carry out this call through Jesus. The normative context for carrying out this call through Jesus is the local church.

The three-dimensional life of the local church of Jesus Christ is the natural ecosystem in which we live out the call to love God and love our neighbor. The church exists to joyfully love and worship God together in truth, to build itself up in love and in truth by ministering to one another within the body, and to spread the love of God and love for God in truth to the lost (John 4:23–24; Ephesians 3:10; 4:1–16; Matthew 28:18–20; 1 Timothy 3:15). Or, in short, the church exists to worship God, buildup one another within the body, and evangelize the lost.[4] In the past, we’ve expressed this three-dimensional purpose of the church here at DGCC as (1) expressing joy in Christ, (2) deepening joy in Christ, and (3) spreading joy in Christ. So this is what we aim to make our gospel practice. So you see, it’s nothing novel. It is the same, simple, reproducible gospel practice and rhythm that the local church has embraced since its founding.

In the last post, we considered seeing Jesus together as a family. Here consider sharing Jesus with one another as his disciples. In the next post, we will consider showing Jesus.

By Sharing Jesus with One Another as His Disciples

This gospel practice speaks to our discipleship within the body. That is, it speaks to the building up the body of Christ through our ministry to one another through sharing Jesus with one another. Through the gospel, God has truly, spiritually unified all believers and purified all believers in Christ  (1 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 2:16; 4:4). This unity and purity most visibly expresses itself in the life of the local church. And the gospel calls local churches to build upon that unity and purity—to live it out more and more, to grow in unity and grow in purity. We do this by building up one another in the love of Christ that we “may be filled with all the fullness of God,” that is, until we attain to “the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 3:19; 4:1–16).

“The fullness of God” and “the fullness of Christ” speak to Christian maturity. To that end, God has given us gifts to equip us for the work of ministry in order to build up the body (Romans12:4–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11; 27–31; 14:2; Ephesians 4:4–16; 1 Peter 4:711). And when we engage in ministry with one another and use our gifts to build up the body, we are more specifically building up one another’s faith in Jesus and the knowledge of God’s love for us in him (Ephesians 4:15–16). Indeed, Paul makes clear in his prayer for the Ephesians that the key to growing in Christian maturity, “the fullness of God,” is growing in the knowledge of God’s love for us in Christ (Ephesians 3:14–19). Thus, by our gifts we point one another back to the gospel and back to Jesus, who through the Holy Spirit gives these gifts to us in the first place. In this way, we share more than just our gifts with one another. We actually share Jesus himself. Indeed, the language of sharing Jesus in our gospel practice rises from this reality in Scripture.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul declares his eagerness to share both gospel of Jesus and himself with other saints.

So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

Sharing Jesus with fellow saints is bound up with the sharing of ourselves. Elsewhere Paul makes clear that the sharing of his spiritual gifts with fellow saints ties directly to encouragement in and increase of faith in Jesus for both those with whom he shares and himself (Romans 1:11–12). Indeed, sharing Jesus is what builds up the local church in unity and purity and, thus, shapes the church more into the fullness of Christ. Therefore, in all aspects of our church life we desire to and aim to share Jesus. And of course, we aim to do this with one another.

Scripture makes clear, that the life of the local church is marked by loving, serving, and sharing Jesus with one another. We are to

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10)

Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16)

welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you (Roman 15:7)

through love serve one another (Galatians 5:15)

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32)

encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Thus, we desire and aim to share Jesus with one another just as the church of Christ has always done.

Finally, and importantly, we do this as his disciples. Indeed, it is this love toward one another in Christ that marks people as Jesus’ disciples.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).

And in this way, we have come full circle. The local church is made up of disciples who make disciples. All of our sharing Jesus to build up one another in the body of Christ is the gospel practice of discipleship. This falls in line with Christ’s commission to his disciples to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). As God’s people, we are followers of Jesus—disciples. And we desire to grow more and more and conform more and more into the likeness of Jesus. Therefore, we disciple one another through sharing Jesus with one another. And the normative, natural ecosystem for discipleship, by God’s design, is the local church. Therefore, we lean into this reality by saying, we aim to share Jesus with one another as his disciples.

Sharing Jesus with One Another as His Disciples

So taking this aspect of our gospel practice and adding it to our gospel pursuit, we at DGCC joyfully treasure Christ and prayerfully pursue Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit by sharing Jesus with one another as his disciples.

[1] “seeing” Exod 33:18–19; 34:5–9; Isa 6:1–5; Ps 27:4; John 14:810; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:6; “family” Gen 12:3; 28:14; 2 Sam 7:12–13; 1 Chr 17:11–14; Ps 22:27; 87; Jer 32:39; Mark 3:31–35; 10:29–31; Acts 3:38–39; Rom 8:15–16, 29; Gal 3:28–4:7; 6:10; Eph 2:19–22; 1 Tim 5:8; Heb 3:6; 1 Pet 2:5

[2] The various Greek words that convey  “sharing” occur often in the context of the faith community. That is, Christians share in Christ with one another in the faith as disciples. And therefore, they share with one another Christ, his gospel, his good gifts, etc. For example 1 Thess 2:8—So, being affectionately desirous of you we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” Christians, then, as disciples share Christ through love, service, and building up one another. For examples of this concept see: John 13:34–35; 15:12, 17; Acts 2:42–47; Romans 12:3–13; 15:7, 14; 1 Corinthians 12:4–7, 25–26; 13; 14:1–3, 12; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 5:13; Eph 4:1–16; 5:19, 21; Colossians 3:1–4, 12–17, 18–25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 4:9, 18; 5:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Titus 2:4–8 ; Hebrews 3:13; 10:25; James 5:16; 1 Peter 1:22; 4:8–10; 5:1–5, 19; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12; 2 John 5

[3] “showing…as witnesses” particularly the Greek φανερόω (show, make known) often occurs outside the context of the faith community. That is, Christians “show” Christ and his gospel to those in the world, those outside the faith and outside the Church. For example, “But thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads/shows (φανερόω) the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. Also, “all peoples”; and “witnesses”; Genesis 12:1–3; 22:15–18; Leviticus 19:18, 34; Psalms 22:27; 87; Isaiah 49:1–7; 52:7; 61:1–2; Joel 2:28–32; Matthew 5:16; 9:37–38; 10:18; 24:14; 28:16–20; Luke 21:12–13; 24:45–48; John 1:7–8, 15, 32, 34; 3:11; 13:35; 15:26–27; Acts 1:8; 2:22; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39, 41, 43; 13:31, 46–47 (cf. Isa 49:1–7); 26:16; Romans 1:16; 10:9–10, 14–15; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 1:6; 1 Peter 3:15–16; 2 Timothy 2:15; 4:5

[4] Time Challies offers simple, helpful, and thoughtful insight that cuts through the common misconceptions of the day regarding the local church. See “What’s the Purpose…of the Church?”.