The Affectional Level
When Cities Church first began, we tried to put into words what we wanted most for the people who would one day call this church home. I wrote a short white paper in 2014 that tried to name the kind of disciples we hoped to be and make. To the question, “What do we want for the members of Cities Church?”, I answered: “We want the members of Cities Church to become glad disciples of Jesus.”
The heart of that early vision hasn’t changed.
Our mission is still what it has always been: to make disciples of Jesus.
Our vision remains: to start and sustain a multiplying movement of churches.
But it’s worth saying again what kind of disciples we mean. Because when Jesus calls us to “make disciples,” he’s not after converts who merely agree with him, or workers who merely serve him. He’s after hearts that love him.
Notional / Practical / Affectional
In that document dated 2014-12-29, we described discipleship as having three levels — notional, practical, and affectional.
Notional means we know the truth.
Practical means we live the truth.
Affectional means we love the truth.
And the ultimate goal of discipleship — the aim of all our preaching, our groups, our serving, our sending — is that last one: the affectional level. That’s the highest level we’re aiming for as Jesus worshipers, joyful servants, generous disciplers, and welcoming witnesses.
Eleven years later, remember, this is a fresh way to talk about what it means to be a disciple. We envision men and women who are:
Worshipers of Jesus — living lives centered on his worth and glory.
Joyful servants — taking up the towel to love like our Lord.
Generous disciplers — giving our lives away to help others grow in Christ.
Welcoming witnesses — opening wide our arms to make Jesus known.
In a sentence, we exist to make joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life.
I hope you hear that to mean “at the affectional level.” I said that phrase more in the early years, and I want to bring it back. We don’t just want to fill our minds with right doctrine (though we do), and we don’t just want to get busy with right practices (though we must). But we want both of those to lead somewhere deeper — to the joyful, wholehearted embrace of Jesus as our greatest treasure.
Ultimately, we want to experience the gladness of belonging to Jesus in every act of worship, every initiative of service, every investment of discipleship, every word of witness.
Watch Those Ceilings
And if the ultimate goal is the affectional level, then we have to be careful not to create ceilings that stop short of it. Each level of discipleship — notional, practical, and affectional — depends on the others, and when any level is neglected or cut off, true discipleship stalls.
As pastors, we don’t want to cultivate minds that grasp the truth without lives that embody it. Nor can we be satisfied with busy Christians who serve without joy. The danger, common in every church, is to inadvertently build structures that only nurture one dimension of growth while stifling the others.
For example, we might urge our people to be witnesses — to draw in their neighbors and engage unbelievers — but then we call Community Groups ‘closed’ and fail to make space for new people to sit on Sundays. When that happens, we’ve unintentionally created a ceiling. We’ve said “Go!” with our words but “Don’t really go!” with our practices. (This is a big part of my burden behind offering a second service on Sundays.)
Our task as a church, led by your under-shepherds, is to continually build and adjust pathways for all three levels — to teach truth clearly, to create opportunities for real obedience, and to stir the affections that make obedience joyful.
When those pathways are open and clear, discipleship flourishes. When they’re blocked or neglected, it withers. None of this is simple or easy, but it is absolutely worth our best efforts. And I’m praying that God renew our hearts to lean into this next season together.
