I have had church on my mind a great deal recently.
Not only my church family, which I miss when I am abroad, but the ekklesia itself: the called-out body of believers, the global church, the Body of Christ.
Last Saturday we published a blog about not neglecting to gather together, and the importance of maintaining close connection with the Body of Christ. In many ways, that is Proximity Discipleship in action. We draw near to Jesus, and we draw near to one another — long enough that love has time to take a visible shape.
Scripture does not treat gathering as a mere habit. It treats it as a visible mercy. When the saints gather, the Lord gives us a weekly reminder that we do not belong to ourselves — that we do not follow Jesus alone.
Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV)
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
This past Sunday I was blessed to worship with and share the Word of God among our brothers and sisters here in Southeast Asia, preaching in the church of one of our ministry partners.
Throughout the service, I found myself moved by the small acts of worship — the things within a regular Sunday gathering that we perhaps take for granted back home. What struck me most was the way worship itself transcended language. Half a world away, in a different time zone from nearly all whom I love most dearly, the foreign felt far more familiar than I expected.
The same hymns were sung, though in K’Ho and Vietnamese. Even the rites — the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed — were familiar in their own ways, shaped by the same faith, uttered toward the same Lord.
I was moved to a deep gratitude for worship itself: for the right and the freedom to gather together every week and see the Body of Christ. There was a remarkable comfort in the raising of hands and the singing of praise — gestures that unify every believer, regardless of tongue or soil. While language and culture may change the sound and shape of worship around the world, one thing remains constant: we are unified in the body of believers. That is a holy and beautiful thing.
After the service concluded, we stopped for lunch at one of my favorite little noodle shops, overlooking the Lien Khuong River. The shop is run by a fellow believer — a Christian family, warm and generous.
Yet here, the image of corporate worship breaks down.
This family has worshiped underground ever since the war years, gathering as a single family unit in the quiet of their home. I fully believe that their intimate worship is every bit as holy and set apart as what I experienced that morning in the church. God is no less present in a living room than in a sanctuary.
And yet, having just come from corporate worship — the kind we were created to enjoy together — I could not help but feel a quiet pang of sadness for my friends. Not pity. Sadness. The sadness of knowing what they are missing, and knowing that they know it too.
On Monday we began the long-awaited Proximity Discipleship Seminar.
We currently have 25 pastors and ministry leaders gathered here, representing four provinces and five different ethnic minority groups from across the south and central highlands of Vietnam. They have come eager to learn — first, how to draw closer to Jesus themselves, and then how to go out and make disciples of others.
During our first day’s sessions, I returned to the foundation: the last command Christ gives us in Matthew 28 is to go and make disciples. But we cannot carry that command well unless we are first disciples ourselves. This is the heartbeat of Proximity Discipleship. We draw near to Jesus so that we become more like Him. Out of that nearness, we draw near to others — long enough, and close enough, that they too begin to want to draw near to Him.
We walked through what it means to count the cost of obedience — what it means to say yes to Christ — and how that obedience finds its shape in the examples of Abraham, Moses, the apostles, and Christ Himself.
Today’s sessions turned the lens inward: how do we become disciples of Christ? I focused first on nearness to Him, and then on nearness to the ekklesia — a gathered community of disciples walking together toward the same Lord.
As we continue through the remainder of this week, my hope and prayer is simple: that every pastor and leader in this room would leave as a closer disciple of Jesus than when they arrived.
And as they depart and return to their home provinces — to the highlands, the valleys, the villages where their people live — my prayer is that they go prepared. Prepared to make disciples of others. Prepared to draw near, and to invite nearness in return.
Perhaps one day, those who have only known worship in secret will gather openly with the Body of Christ they were created to belong to. That is the vision that drives this week. That is the vision that drives this ministry.
Thank you for your continued prayers and partnership. I will keep you updated as the week unfolds.
From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:26-27