Fight Club

by Jonathan Dodson

Too Busy for Faith
In my busyness to defend or advance the faith, I have often struggled with losing my faith.

With the collapse of Christendom, there is no end to the need for a fresh articulation of historic Christian faith. In an increasingly post-Christian environment, we find ourselves rightly occupied with creating new Christian vocabulary, innovating new church expressions, and articulating the gospel for fresh cultural questions. We must defend the faith. Furthermore, shifting cultural sands have also called the American Church to advance the faith through social action.

The needs are limitless. Rampant poverty, nuclear arms proliferation, genocide, preventable disease, urban sprawl, homelessness, marital crisis, human trafficking, and on and on and on. We must advance the faith among the needy. However, if we are not cautious, we run the risk of losing our faith amidst our attempt to defend and advance it.

Building Our Faith
Building our faith should precede defending and advancing it. The gospel is most certainly theological and social, but it is also personal and communal. Consider Jude's exhortation to "build yourselves up in your most holy faith" (1:20). So, are we building up our faith in Christ or have we become too preoccupied with promoting the faith?

Planting a new church in urban, post-modern Austin, I have struggled to fight for personal faith. The demands of growing a church out of nothing in the rocky soil of a highly tolerant, irreligious city are immense. Every day I have to fight the early morning urge to go to the task list, the internet, email, or blog before I go to Jesus. My iPhone doesn't help. In order to keep myself in the love of God and fight for personal belief in the gospel, I need the gospel and the community of faith even more. I've needed people who will fight with me for faith, not just for "the faith."

Fight Clubs
So I started a Fight Club. This Fight Club became about promoting gospel-centered discipleship, groups of two to three men or women fighting the fight of faith. Fight Clubs promote a radical peer-to-peer discipleship that steer away from legalism and license. We are small fighting communities that fight for faith in the gospel, brothers and sisters in Christ who fight not for perfection but for faith in Jesus. We fight to believe that Jesus is more precious, satisfying, and thrilling than anything else his world has to offer. Surrounding myself with people who fight with a faith that works through love (Gal 5:6) has been critical, joyful, and helped me to endure.

I've discovered that fighting for faith actually fuels our fight for "the faith". The mission goes forward in greater strength when I'm keeping the gospel central. Fight Clubs went viral in our church. The stories of strengthened faith and mission are remarkable. Perhaps you consider starting your own Fight Club, not merely for the faith but for your own endurance in Jesus.

Comments

Comments are now closed

ALSO BY JONATHAN DODSON

ALSO IN CHURCH