At VOX City Church, we use the language of identities and rhythms to explain how the Gospel transforms someone from the inside out.

Gospel Identities

When the gospel takes root in a person, it creates a fundamental change of identity. Those born into sin are reborn in Christ and become “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Exactly what does this change look and feel like? A Christian’s new identity can be viewed through multiple perspectives or “lenses.” So, we speak not just of a new identity, but also of our Gospel identities. The Gospel transforms us in a holistic way that can’t be summarized in just one way of speaking. Through the power of the gospel, we become learners, family, and servants.

LEARNER

Before the gospel changes us, we are enslaved to “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Ephesians 2:1-3). We act as our own gods, pursuing our own desires and committed to our own independence. But through the Gospel, we become “obedient from the heart” to Jesus’ teaching (Romans 6:17-18). We are changed into disciples, or learners – people 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 practice the disciplines of prayer, solitude, and reflection so that we can discern the leading of the Holy Spirit. We learn from the teaching, training, and wisdom of godly leaders and teachers. We create communities of discipleship so that we can learn from each other. And we engage the world around us so that we can relate, with relevance and wisdom, to those who share our cultural setting.

FAMILY

Before the gospel changes us, we are “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3). We are subject to God’s judgment because of our sin. But through the Gospel, we are adopted into God’s family (Galatians 4:4-7). We become his sons and daughters. We are no longer orphans, alienated from God and each other, but brothers and sisters in God’s family. As family, we live by the “house rules” given in Scripture. We look out for each other and care for one another. We are jealous for the honor of our Father’s good name (Matt 6:9). And we feel love and kinship toward those alienated from God, longing for them to be reconciled to our Father who created them in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:27).

SERVANT

Before the gospel changes us, we love to “follow the ways of this world” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Our sin, which feels like an expression of freedom, actually enslaves us (Romans 6:16). But in 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 joyfully submit to God (James 4:7), to qualified spiritual leaders (Hebrews 13:17), and to each other (Ephesians 5:21). And we cultivate a lifestyle of simplicity and generosity to show that we worship Jesus and not the idols of comfort, affluence, and success.

Missional Rhythms

LIVING OUT

We live out the gospel as people immersed in the culture around us. We want to “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12) The Bible assumes that Christians will actually be living life “among the pagans.” The Gospel empowers us to live as God’s “sent” people (John 17:18) – missionaries within our own culture. We are shaped by our culture, but not defined by it. We do not isolate ourselves from the world; instead we seek to engage the world around us for the glory of God and the good of humanity.

• Living out takes many different forms, including:
• Loving, blessing, and serving our neighbors in the culture
• Listening to the questions, objections, and concerns people have about God
• Hanging out “where people are” – joining the celebrations going on around us
• Paying attention to the dominant stories that have shaped the people we know, so we can learn how to tell God’s story in relevant and engaging ways
• Giving generously and sacrificially to meet the needs of others
• Working against injustice, oppression, and poverty in our city and in the world

INVITING IN

We invite others into community so they can experience the Gospel as they sojourn among us. “Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to Him. The Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2). In our cultural setting, many people have become jaded toward the message of Christianity. They are not willing to hear about God unless they can see the Kingdom of God in action. So we encourage them to journey alongside us and observe how the Gospel affects our patterns of living, relating, working, and worshipping. Anyone who’s curious about Jesus can sojourn among us, no strings attached.

• Inviting in takes many different forms, including:
• Practicing hospitality (opening our homes and lives to others)
• Eating meals together
• Cultivating generosity
• Gathering together in missional community