It’s no secret that rampant individualism and one–sided consumerism disguised as discipleship have greatly impacted our current culture’s spiritual formation. Between screens that distract us and screens that give us an illusion of interconnectedness, American evangelical priorities have become dangerously malformed, and a change in our approach is a necessity. How do we correct course and faithfully follow Jesus (together) as the forgiven family of God? How do we make God’s priorities our priorities?
Some of Jesus’ last word’s Jesus spoke to his disciples prior to his ascension involved what we call the great commission, a call to make disciples, invoking the triune God (Matthew 28:16-20). This final thought was a priority for Jesus, not an afterthought. Simply put, our commitment to discipleship and disciple making matters greatly to God. So, what is being a disciple/disciple maker, really? And what does the triune God have to do with it? How do we take the doctrine of the trinity seriously both conceptually and functionally? I believe the answer to these questions are linked, and that Jesus was purposeful in communicating them together. Often the doctrine of the trinity is intimidating and technical, but I’d like to show how thinking about it in the context of discipleship not only makes this doctrine more accessible, but it also adds great relevance to our spiritual formation.
Redefining discipleship, being and belonging.
Discipleship at its core is encouraging one another as siblings, towards the heart and things of God, with God. Perichoresis is an ancient doctrine that describes the dynamic interrelated nature that exists qualitatively between the persons of the trinity. Think of it like the theological underpinnings. I would argue that this doctrine isn’t a glorious irrelevancy relegated to the stuffy shelves of academic theology, but rather perichoresis is a God–honoring model for discipleship that our current culture is starved for. Imagine for a moment that instead of conceptualizing the trinity as an upright triangle, we should lay it sideways, imagining it instead as a swirling spinning top. Perichoresis shares the same root word as the greek word that means “to dance.” And it’s that swirling dynamic dancing interrelatedness that we can look to as a model for what our discipleship as the church should be like. Why is this so important? Because through a reclaiming of familial & relational language within the trinity that include a nonhierarchical, interdependent, and communal understanding of the triune image of God, imagining discipleship through the lens of the doctrine of perichoresis promotes accessibility and inclusion amongst the most marginalized saints, and kenotic love all around. This kind of perichoretic discipleship is emphasized through two contexts: our being and our belonging.
Classically, the language of sending/ procession and even begetting/ begotteness lend itself to communicating actions or verbs, rather than describing relationships. But if begotteness (for example) is descriptive of the relationship that exists between the eternal Father and the eternal Son rather than indicating an event of “begetting” that took place, then similarly we can describe discipleship through perichoretic reimagination. Often, discipleship is communicated in terms of “doing”– teaching, evangelizing, preaching. But discipleship is not a spiritual gift, it is a spiritual discipline for all saints. This includes children, disabled people, the elderly more. This means that to disciple and make disciples is central to who we are as new creations in Christ. We cannot limit our discipleship language to teaching, preaching, or tasks we do. We must expand it. Discipleship at its core is rooted in our transformed being in Christ, not our doing. Discipleship is not attached to our productivity or giftings. It’s not capitalistic, exploitive, or works based. It does not follow a particular system or formula. Discipleship is the harmonious way we exist in the world, with God and the family of God. Before we were reconciled to God, sin fragmented our relationships, and through our re-birthed natures, we are brought into union with Christ individually, but also communally (Eph 2:18-21). Discipleship understood perichoretically has an emphasis on dynamic relational harmony between God and God’s disciples, and between the forgiven family of believers.
Therefore, underscoring our siblinghood within the forgiven family of God is an essential attribute of discipleship and a primary part of our transformed identity. Like being, our belonging to God’s family is rightly understood through our shared siblinghood. This is a vehement rejection of hyper individualism, hierarchies, and power dynamics within the priesthood of all saints. Instead this concept encourages us to image the perichoretic way that the Father, Son, and Spirit interact amongst the Godhead, as historically affirmed by the counsels and creeds.
The relational fruits of the Spirit
This perichoretic quality, this harmonious goodness, should also mark the discipleship of those who are indwelled, empowered, and enlivened by the Spirit. Galatians 5 reads: “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self–control.”
Let us look at the context surrounding the fruits of the Spirit themselves. This passage in Galatians addresses a life that is walked by and through the Spirit, but it is describing the communal nature of that life. The themes present throughout Galatians include our rebirth into new spirit indwelled creations, our belonging to the family of God, and how we are to harmoniously and humbly function within the family of God, as siblings, with God. When we look at the fruits of the Spirit specifically, we can observe that every fruit listed is not merely an individual character quality– these fruits are best displayed relationally. I would suggest that this is because relational nature images the interactions present within the Godhead. When contemplating what it is like to bear God’s image and disciple one another towards what God is like, we must acknowledge that the fullness of a triune God cannot be imaged individually, but rather a more faithful understanding should imagine ecclesial and ecumenical mirroring of God’s harmony and unity within the Godhead, because of the empowering presence of the work of the Spirit.
The result of the Spirit at work in us is unselfish concern for others that images God’s own unselfish concern displayed within the Godhead. The triune God does not hoard love, God unabashedly and limitlessly distributes it. The joy that exists between Father Son and Spirit is evident in and through their creation. This is why there is beauty, play, and wonder. These things are best enjoyed together. Just as we wonder at the beauty of a starry night with our children as they ooh and ahh– so does our heavenly Father with the eternal Son. They enjoy joy. God smiles. The Father, Son, and Spirit delight. As such the peace that exists between the Father Son and Spirit is not the peace that one pursues through a yoga practicum or individual spiritual guide. Peace within the Godhead is harmony. Similarly, the peace that exists as evidence of God’s work in our lives and relationships is not the absence of conflict, it is the presence and pursuit of shalom between people. Peace to God is not stillness, or rest. It is interdependent harmony. Patience, “not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting” is present within the relations of the father son and Spirit, as their interactions this side of creation’s restoration are determined to reflect God’s character. Just as the Son was patient to endure his earthly suffering and fulfill his earthly mission, and just as the Spirit is patient with us as we continually return to the cross for forgiveness over and over, The Father, Son, and Spirit are unhurried. They are unrushed, certain of their divine control, and patience reflects the pace and tone of their work. What about ours?
Let us keep going! Let us continue to imagine what the Triune God is like. We know God is kind to us, but the Father, Son and Spirit are the ultimate depiction of kindness amongst one another. They cannot be kind absent of one another. This is why the Godhead is not merely independent of creation, they are interdependent of one another. The kindness of the Father towards the son, and the Son towards the Father, and the Spirit sending and preceding to and from them and towards and amongst us is an absolutely wonderous thought. All of this, all of creation was birthed from the kindness of the triune God. And one day, kindness will be what is left. It is noteworthy that goodness in the ancient world would not have been understood in individual objects or people– but in the betweenness. The goodness that exists between the father son and spirit is the kind of goodness that the ecumenical church should desire to exude with, for, and to one another. Goodness is not limited to moral proclivity, it is found in unity, harmony, and shared flourishing. Good is not something we are, it is how we are to one another.
While discussing faithfulness, the word faithful does not merely describe the action of a believer possessing faith or professing it– but faithfulness should describe the posture of our relationships. This kind of faithfulness is not instagramable, it is evident in the real-life real world. It is experienced. To truly live faithfully means we must show up to our lives filled with and full of faith for one another. Repeatedly, trustworthy, and true. Faithfulness is not how we identify, it’s descriptive of the lives we live. Our God was faithful before the world was breathed into existence because the Father was faithful to the Son, trustworthy and true. The Spirit was an agent of faith, proving dependable and reliable. The ways in which the Father son and spirit interacted weren’t merely attributes untested, they were the ways in which they existed before the creation of the universe.
The evidence at Christ at work in and through our relationships is gentleness, just as the Father is gentle in his interactions with the Spirit and Son. And as the godhead is a unified and inseparable whole, so too are the omni–gentleness of the Spirit and Son first amongst one another, and now to, for and through, all of creation. The call towards gentleness isn’t weak, it isn’t optional. Gentleness is power under control. Similarly, divine self–control describes the way in which the Father, Son, and Spirit mutually submit to one another in love. Self–control isn’t merely abstaining or holding back, it’s refusal to let the self–rule. That refusal is paramount to how the Father, Son, and Spirit resist self, so much so that they do not exist as “selfs” but rather a unified harmonious interdependent whole. The body of Christ, the church, is charged with letting go of all selfishness and choosing interdependence within the family of God.
The bottom line
A highly individualistic faith will reduce the fruits of the Spirit to achievable goals, and ethical values. But the truth is living as the forgiven family of God, imaging our Triune God requires working towards ecclesial harmony. Why does all this matter?
No matter our eschatological leaning, we can agree that ecumenical the church, past present and future will one day exist in harmony under the kingship of Jesus. Eternity involves a meal with a family that we all belong to, and our understandings of God’s triunity directly affects our understandings of eschatology, whether we realize it or not. How we exist as the family of God on this side of eternity, the quality of that perichoretic “how,” serves as an embodied apologetic for the communicating what our God is like. As we seek to encourage one another as siblings, towards the heart and things of God, with God, may we remember the way we make disciples in and through our relationships is often far more important than what we believe, say, or even do. Perichoresis is a challenge for us all to pursue true goodness, harmony, unity, and shalom within this family, while imaging the Triune God in and through our relationships.
As always, thanks for being here and supporting my work. So glad you’re here.
