By S. Crawley

God is doing something huge, and He invites us to participate.

We need to understand God’s invitation if we want to say "Yes". Otherwise, it's impossible to meaningfully want to join with Him ourselves OR pass that invitation on to others.

A Misunderstood Invitation

God's Gospel invitation is often framed primarily as an invitation to have sins forgiven, receive eternal life, and/or enjoy a more prosperous life. Each of these invitations distracts and confuses those we are inviting. These things might be by-products or consequences of God’s invitation, but they’re not the main thing.

God’s central invitation is for us to step back into a surrendered and trusting relationship with Himself - the loving Father King.

Two Scriptural images bring clarity and focus to this invitation. The image of Kingdom, and the image of Household. In an earlier post we explored the Kingdom invitation, which captures the reality of God's Kingship, authority and power. In today's post, we will look at the Household invitation..

The Household Invitation

The Household lens helps us appreciate God’s Father-heart for us and others.

God is deeply relational, gracious, and loving. He invites us not into a distant king-subject relationship, but an intimate family relationship. To be sons and daughters.

We very often get this wrong. Even as we actively step into God’s household, there are four distinct postures our hearts can take—orphan, slave, servant, or son/daughter. Only one of these is truly healthy and life-giving.

Here's a quick summary of what each posture looks like:

• “Orphans" don't really believe that they belong and are accepted. They are motivated by a desire to belong, but something prevents them from really believing that they do. They trust their feelings of rejection and isolation more than what God says. This can create a vicious cycle of rejection.

• "Slaves" are part of the household but lack security and freedom. They are not confident in their acceptance, fearing disapproval and punishment or expulsion. Fear drives their choices and their service.

• "Servants" know they belong in the household – their primary role is to serve. They have more rights and freedom than slaves, but not as much as full household members. They can be dismissed at any time and are conscious of this fact. Their work is motivated by reward, which could be a personal benefit or a desired impact or outcome.

• "Sons and daughters" have complete security and assurance that they are loved, accepted and belong in the household. This deepens their love towards the Head of the household, and their love means they are willing to make sacrifices. Their work is motivated by a desire to be close to the Father, to enjoy Him and bring joy to Him.

It’s important to acknowledge that we are all on a long-term healing journey from our personal wounds and brokenness. The reality is that we each slip in and out of these postures in the face of daily challenges and temptations.

However, there is only one invitation – His moment-by-moment offer to live in His household as His beloved children.

What's our response to God's Household Invitation?

To say "Yes" to His Kingship is to say "Yes" to His Fatherhood. God does not invite us to be orphans, slaves or servants. He invites us to be His accepted, assured and dearly loved Sons or Daughters.

We must constantly ask ourselves if we are saying “Yes” to this invitation.

What does "Yes" look like?

Saying "yes" to God's Kingdom-Household invitation is an important step, but it's not the end of the journey.

We face a continual battle against internal and external pressure and temptations to slip into unhealthy postures of thinking and acting. "Sonship" is a spiritual muscle that needs to be exercised and strengthened rather than a switch that can be flicked. The strengthening process is discipleship.

Earlier, we mentioned the three essential elements of discipleship: listen, trust and obey

Here are 5 practical steps that help ground us and others in the discipleship journey.

5 Practical Steps To A Lifelong “Yes”

1. Engage with the Word of God. Soaking in the Bible helps us deepen our understanding of God’s character and His story. However, this historical revelation of God is only part of the picture and we also need to:

2. Engage with the Spirit of God. Listening to what the Spirit is communicating through the Word and prayer connects what He is doing now with what He reveals in the Bible. “Listening” is not always easy, which is why we need to:

3. Practice. Continual practice trains us in discerning and  responding to what He is saying. Romans 12:1-2 and Hebrews 5:11-14 both indicate that discipleship is a process. We test, learn, practice, make mistakes, and grow – secure in the knowledge that our Father-King is big enough to handle our mistakes.
   This is tough if we are by ourselves, but achievable if we are:

4. In Community. Scripture assumes that we are building a personal relationship with God by doing these things together with other people. We encourage each other, learn from each other, and create opportunities to give and receive grace.

5. Repeat. This is a lifelong journey. There is no point of arrival – a continual invitation and journey into more as He does different things in us, our fellow travellers, and the places and communities He leads us to.

These 5 practical steps are a proven pathway to lifelong discipleship growth for both ourselves and those we disciple. They can be followed anywhere and may look very different depending on context and culture.

God’s Invitation – In Conclusion

Two powerful illustrations help us understand and respond to God's invitation.

The Kingdom invitation calls us to merge our lives with God’s kingdom and surrender ourselves to the active leadership of our Father-King as He works to bring healing and transformation in our inner and outer worlds.

The Household invitation calls us to live life as dearly loved and accepted sons and daughters, as our Father invites and involves us to join Him in His day-to-day work.

The key to saying "yes" is constantly engaging with Him through listening, trusting, and obeying in the context of the communities where He has placed us. Part of the challenge is working out what that needs to look like for different communities and/or different seasons of life.

In a future post, we will examine an example of a simple, replicable, and non-traditional tool that facilitates this process.

For Reflection

• A Scripture - Romans 8:12-17 & Galatians 3:23-4:7.

  - What do these passages tell us about God's Household invitation to us?

• A thoughtful question

  In this season of your life, what do the five practical steps look like in your personal discipleship walk? Are there any gaps?

• A possible application

Think about spiritually hungry people who dislike Western-style church services in the harvest field God has called you. What alternative ways could you help them engage in a "Listen-Trust-Obey" discipleship process?

Discipling the Urban Harvest provides practical insights and encouragement to walk with God in multiplying discipleship in an increasingly urban world - growing as children of the Father, serving the communities He has called us to, and discipling those hungry to know Him.