Identities

The gospel is the news that because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can be pardoned for and turn away from our rebellion against God and joyfully give allegiance to King Jesus forever, the one who is restoring and renewing his people and his creation.

When the gospel takes root in a person it creates a fundamental change of identity. Those who were formerly God’s enemies become his children. Those whose hearts were dead toward God are made alive in him. Those born into sin are reborn in Christ and become “a new creation.” Just what does this change look and feel like? Because the gospel transforms us in a holistic way, it can’t be summarized with just one way of speaking. So we use three. We are:

Learners

When we trust in the gospel, we start to become “obedient from the heart” to Jesus’ teaching (Romans 6:17-18). We are changed into disciples, or apprentices, who want to come under Jesus’ teaching, submit to his ways, and learn what it means to live life for his glory.

As learners, we study the Bible to understand what God has said. We pray so we can discern the ways God’s Spirit leads us. We learn from the teaching and wisdom of godly leaders. We create communities of discipleship so we can learn from each other. And we engage the world around us so we can relate with relevance and wisdom to those who share our cultural setting. (Luke 2:52; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-13; 2 Timothy 2:2)

Family

Through the gospel, we are adopted into God’s family (Galatians 4:4-7), becoming his sons and daughters. We are no longer orphans, alienated from God and each other, but are now brothers and sisters in God’s family.

As family, we live out the rich, organic portrait of activity we see in Scripture: serving one another, carrying one another’s burdens, being devoted to one another, submitting to one another, accepting one another, honoring one another, greeting one another, being of the same mind with one another. We also love those who are alienated from God, longing for them to be reconciled to our Father who created them in his image. We aim to live with each other in such a way that the world would know what God is like, because we are jealous for the honor of our Father’s good name. (Genesis 12:1-3; John 1:12-13; Romans 12:10-16)

Servants

Through the gospel, God delivers us from our slavery to sin and self so that we can freely serve him by the power of his Spirit (Romans 6:18-22). Released from self-absorption, self-concern, and self-worship, we can joyfully die to ourselves in order to love and serve others, just as Jesus did (Luke 22:27).

As servants, we see all of life as service to God. We seek tangible ways to love and serve others. We meet the needs of our city through acts of compassion, mercy, and justice. We cultivate a lifestyle of simplicity and generosity to show that we worship Jesus and not the American idols of comfort, affluence, and success. (Matthew 20:25-28; 25:31-46; John 13:1-17; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Peter 2:16-17)

Read more about how we live out these new identities through the rhythms of everyday life.