In last week’s blog we talked about how community relates to discipleship. This week I want to look more closely at exactly how Jessie Cruickshank explains the process of growth-oriented discipleship in her book Ordinary Discipleship.
Jessie uses the process of the hero’s journey as an outline for discipleship. The hero’s journey is a 7-step adventure that we go through multiple times throughout our lives. Here are the steps:
- Be an ordinary person.
- Answer the call
- Team with others
- Learn new things
- Feel the struggle
- Experience revelation
- Live changed
When I first saw this description of the discipleship process it was so clarifying. We can go through this process with our finances, relationships, and especially in our journey with God. In Ordinary Discipleship,Jessie encourages readers to be sensitive to the voice of Holy Spirit calling us into seasons of growth. Once we respond, bring others into our struggles, and learn about who God says we are, we experience a measure of breakthrough. This also begins the tension of change. We need connection with Jesus to receive mercy and grace to sustain change as we grow.
Ordinary Discipleship gives many practical insights and tools within each of the larger steps of the hero’s journey. The Life Model components of relational brain skills, Immanuel lifestyle, and multigenerational community can be easily woven into Jessie’s hero journey steps. All three components provide a structure for community going after intentional discipleship.
We all desire a sense of belonging. We want to belong to a community that truly helps us receive joy, build hesed, and models maturity to so we can grow into people who love like Jesus. Seeing our own journey more clearly helps us ask for what we need from the people around us. We can confidently say things like, “Hey I need support around this area of growth” or “I need to learn something new to change how I think God sees me and experience meaningful repentance” or “Can you continue to encourage me to hear from Jesus about this situation?”
I want to encourage you in your season. You can do this! Jesus is with you in every step. He sees the parts that feel complicated, immovable, or lonely. You are not alone in your hero’s journey. We also have fathers and mothers in the faith that have gone before us, endured hardship, and experienced growth. Their legacy gives us hope for our own journey. By committing to your process, you might just become the encouragement someone else needs! As you continue into this year, keep your head up and keep making the small, yet meaningful steps forward to become your best self with Jesus.
For more info on Ordinary Discipleship, connect with Jessie on social media:
Website: OrdinaryDiscipleship.com
Instagram: OrdinaryDiscipleship
Instagram and Twitter: Yourbrainbyjess
Buy the book HERE
