If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.

John 8:31 (Amplified)

What we do as a church says what we believe is true about Jesus.

Without a sound Christology, Christianity is merely another religion, and those who embrace it are only churchgoers rather than disciples who take seriously Christ’s command to multiply disciples. There is a significant difference between a churchgoer and a disciple. To put it simply, while churchgoers gather inside a building, disciples gather around the person of Jesus Christ.

Churchgoers tend to equate their outward conformity to church rituals as having a relationship with Christ. In a way, churchgoers are insular because they have been conditioned by Christian subculture. They keep their faith to themselves and avoid their biblical responsibility to reach out to a broken world. But real disciples are more than observers or spectators. They have an actual relationship with the Lord. They know His voice and follow Him.

Abiding in Jesus's word means remaining securely rooted in Him so that, when the wind and waves of life rise to assail our faith, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. We will not only overcome and defeat those difficult circumstances, but they also draw us closer to Him in faith.

Knowing who Christ is helps us to put Christ at the centre of everything we do. Our innate desire to become rooted in Christ’s love and conform to His likeness—both personally and collectively—will be strengthened by the Spirit. We do not belong to ourselves anymore. We belong to God, and we belong to one another as members of God’s family. We are to love and disciple one another, just as Jesus commanded us.

If we do not disciple and release our brothers and sisters in Christ to be salt and light in our community—we will end up exploiting and misusing them to serve our own selfish ends. The worst thing is that we “spiritualise” God’s word to cloak our unspiritual intention.

Learn to grow well in Christ and you will bear incredible fruits for His name’s sake.