The Why and How

Over the past 50+ years in America, the Christian church has undergone a seismic shift.

 

The context of Christian faith, including the very definition of what it means to be "Christian," has been radically altered. The exploding obsession with politics, political power, morality, culture wars, and religious control has resulted in a near-complete departure from the actual teachings and example of Jesus and his earliest disciples.  In foundational ways, "the gospel" has been re-written and so entangled with earthbound values and priorities that it bears almost no resemblance to the Good News of the Kingdom that Jesus preached.

This departure has left many sincere hearts adrift, wounded, and confused, trying to make sense of the glaring contradictions. 

 

It has erected a huge barrier of animosity, misunderstanding, and misrepresentation between Jesus and those outside the faith.

 

The agonizing process of deconstruction these conditions have created has led some to walk away from the faith altogether.  

 

It has left millions of others aching for Truth, Reality, and Life in the Kingdom of God, free from the toxic baggage that has accumulated around the name and person of Jesus. 

 

21st Century Disciple is our humble yet heartfelt effort to reclaim what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in the here and the now. More than anything, we want to experience the Life he promised and intentionally pursue becoming LIKE him - as we like to say, to become Jesus with Skin On - for a hurting world.

 

To that end, we created an entity whose existence has a singular purpose: our transformation, from who we naturally are, into the character of Jesus. Because at its very foundation, that is what being a disciple IS.

 

We believe that process requires three foundational things:

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First, it requires accepting that our hearts are telling us the truth and that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way faith and the church at large operate today. And that the ache you feel deep inside for "more"; more reality, more authenticity, more experience daily of God in Christ, is valid.

Second, it requires sound, creative teaching that positions the Life and teachings of Jesus as the interpretive lens for understanding the balance of the New Testament and that incorporates intentional experiences which amplify and anchor that learning in the soul of a disciple.

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Finally, it requires a community. And not just any community, but a community made up of passionate disciples who intimately share this Journey, and who are committed to Transformation. Disciples who encourage, challenge, and support each other, and create a safe space for addressing the realities of living as a disciple of Jesus in the here and now. In short, we're just trying to be what the Body of Christ was always supposed to be. 

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Addressing these three fundamental needs is the DNA of 21st Century Disciple. It's what we're about, and it's all we're about.

 

If your heart hungers for transformation and to live in the reality of the Kingdom of God, free from the toxicity of the prevailing religious culture around us, well, you found others like you. And we'd like to welcome you to the Journey!

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