Since the release of Fight Clubs: Gospel-Centered Discipleship, the book has been viewed over 10,000 times and sold hundreds of copies. If you’ve read it, we’d love to hear from you at the new Fight Clubs Blog. What have you found helpful in your fight of faith? Where could you use some advice? Check out the blog and share some of your Fight Club stories, while reading the stories of others!

Gospel-Centered Motivations

We’ve reworked the title of Fight Clubs just for Resurgence readers in order to emphasize the gospel-centered thrust of the book. When a word like “gospel-centered” becomes ubiquitous, very often its meaning can be lost. We adopt the terminology without drilling down into its meaning. Gospel-Centered Discipleship drills down.

Chapter three focuses on various gospel motivations—religious affections, repentance and faith in Jesus, biblical warnings and promises, and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Grace upon grace for our discipleship. In the words of John Owen, God gives us “a train of graces” to fight our sin. And when these grace-saturated motivations become central, obeying Jesus becomes more joyful!

We learn to fight the fight of faith, not with legalistic rules but with gracious promises. We follow Jesus, not to impress God or others, but because Jesus has impressed Him for us. We become so acquainted with the Spirit, that sin becomes less attractive. This is the way forward in discipleship; it is the way of the gospel.

Forming a Fight Club

Instead of fighting or failing alone, the gospel calls us to join one another in the fight of faith. The book provides both a theology and a strategy to fight sin as the church—Fight Clubs. Fight Clubs are small, gospel-centered, fighting communities that encourage one another to beat up the flesh and believe the promises of God.

In these communities we can help one another uncover idols and recover Jesus. Three “rules” apply: 1) Know your Sin 2) Fight your Sin 3) Trust your Savior. Chapter five unpacks the “rules” of Fight Club. Read the book; form a Fight Club; and start fighting in the strength of the gospel.

Endorsements

Jonathan has done us a huge favour in writing this book. The best endorsement I can give it is simply that as I read it, a growing sense of wanting to fight sin grew within me. I want to be a card carrying member of a 'Fight Club' so that in community we can take sin seriously, encourage one another to believe the gospel deeply and pray for each other to respond to the Holy Spirit passionately. What else can I say? This is an excellent book. Buy it. Read it. Do it.

Steve Timmis // Co-author of Total Church and Co-Director of The Porterbrook Network

Fight Clubs is a timely book about gospel-centered accountability and age of anonymity and shallow relationships. Dodson has done a masterful job highlighting how the Holy Spirit uses gospel truth to give us new Christ-centered affections that dispel our thirst for sin. Moreover, he helps men see how they can come alongside each other to unearth the deeper sins and heart-idols that drive our more obvious sins. For those still playing at religion through surfacey pseudo-accountability, this book is a welcome killjoy. You'll never look at accountability the same way again.

Luke Gilkerson // Internet Director for Covenant Eyes

Fight Clubs addresses the core issues of a true disciple: identity in Jesus, worship of Jesus, community for Jesus and mission with Jesus. This book will help men understand the gospel and its call for believers to fight against following rules and fleshly desires by following Jesus.

Scott Thomas // Executive Director of Acts 29

Pastor Mark

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Being Gospel-Centered

The gospel has far-reaching implications for every Christian believer beyond salvation. Christians should live gospel-centered lives. Believers are saved by the gospel and called to live by the gospel. The gospel is for all of life. C.J. Mahaney says that believers should memorize the gospel, pray the gospel, sing the gospel, review how the gospel has changed their life, and finally they should continually study the gospel.

A Gospel-Centered Church

A gospel-centered church does not just preach the gospel. The gospel is not an addition to our ministry or even a beginning point; rather, the gospel must saturate every part of our church's life. A gospel-centered approach to discipleship is necessary to produce healthy Christ-followers and healthy churches. Each stage of our discipleship process should also be gospel-centered. From assimilation, to preaching and teaching, to counseling, to leadership development, the gospel must be central. Even our worship should be gospel-centered.

The church should reach lost people with the gospel through community outreach, personal evangelism, and missional living. The church should develop and grow disciples with the gospel through small groups, Bible study, service, and the teaching of spiritual disciplines. It should seek to reproduce disciples grounded in the gospel through leadership development and the mentoring of godly men who will become elders and deacons. Let the gospel be the heart of your church from beginning to end.

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When You're Not Gospel-Centered

The foundation of discipleship is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Churches fall into error whenever they move away from the gospel as their foundation. One of the causes of the lack of discipleship in contemporary churches is bad ecclesiology. The recent trends developing in North America, such as megachurches, seeker churches, and emerging churches, have brought the issue of ecclesiology to the forefront of debate and discussion for church leaders.

Un- and Off-Centered Structure

Many churches in North America have given in to the sin of pragmatism. They have a pragmatic approach to ecclesiology that focuses on church growth more than on church health, and on cultural accommodation rather than biblical faithfulness. Some churches have either adopted a hierarchical structure that resembles a corporate business, or they simply have no church structure at all. The result is that many churches produce consumers and not radical disciples of Jesus Christ.

The truth is that church structure is extremely important for the overall health of a local church and the discipleship process. Church leaders can use church growth principles to add people to the church; however, only the gospel can grow people into disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel Is the Center For Everything

Alan Hirsch reminds us that "Discipleship, becoming like Jesus our Lord and Founder, lies at the epicenter of the church's task. It means that Christology must define all that we do and say… It will mean taking the Gospels seriously as the primary texts that define us." Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves individuals is also the gospel that grows individuals through discipleship.

Understanding the Gospel

There is a need for a clear understanding and a rediscovery of the gospel in the 21st century. Jerry Bridges says, "The gospel is not the most important message in history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living their lives by it."

What is the gospel? The gospel is the declaration of the good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he died for our sins on the cross of Calvary. Simply put, there is no gospel without the sinless life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Tim Keller beautifully describes the gospel this way: "In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever."

To be continued.

Vintage Church

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