The DNA of Discipleship: Four Dimensions of Extraordinary Love
A Word from Pastor Hazen:
This past Sunday, we had the privilege of hosting Pastor Dennis & Colleen at GateCity Buckhead. He has been a mentor to me and a spiritual father to GateCity’s leader, Billy Humphrey. Pastor Dennis was not just a guest speaker, but a leader who has significantly helped shape the vision of what God is building in our community. In many ways, GateCity Buckhead is the spiritual grandchild of the ministry he began—Victory Church—35 years ago.
He didn’t come with theories; he came with battle-tested truth forged through decades of discipling believers and building the Church. This wasn’t just a sermon—it was a prophetic charge from someone in our spiritual lineage.
What follows isn’t just a message; it’s part of the DNA of our calling. I’ve asked Pastor Dennis to write this guest blog because what he shared powerfully affirms our vision to disciple and love the least, the lost, cross-culturally, and even our enemies—just like Jesus did. We’ve adapted the following blog to capture the heart of his message in a way we can return to and reflect on as a spiritual family in the seasons to come.
Here's Pastor Dennis:
When I walked into GateCity Buckhead, I was reminded of where Colleen and I started 35 years ago—with six people in a daycare (Billy Humphrey was one of them, and it was in his mother’s daycare!). And I want to say this clearly: Never despise small beginnings. What began in that humble setting has, by God's grace, grown into Victory Church—one church in four locations, with over 15,000 people gathering each week across Metro Atlanta.
But what has fueled that growth isn’t just numbers—it’s been a relentless commitment to making biblical disciples. Pastor Hazen didn’t ask me to share church growth strategies—he asked me to share the convictions that have carried us through every season. And after decades of leading, I’ve come to this sobering truth: Most churches are full of believers—not disciples. Believers attend; disciples transform the world.
The Great Dilemma
The majority of American churches are filled with believers, not disciples. People who show up, sing songs, take notes, and go home unchanged. They've made Jesus their Savior but not their Lord.
You cannot build Kingdom significance until you turn believers into disciples. Disciples turned the world upside down in Acts. Believers just take up seats.
The statistics are sobering: Less than 1% of church members ever lead someone to Christ. How do we get people out of their seats and into the world? From coming to church to being the Church?
The Foundation: Two Great Commandments
Jesus gave us the DNA for church growth in Matthew 22:37-39: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind—and love your neighbor as yourself.
Most of us excel at loving God. The challenge is loving people who are different from us, who don't think like us, who don't share our politics or mindset.
The Four Dimensions of Extraordinary Love
When you operate in these four dimensions, you become incredibly attractive to lost people. They'll ask, "How did you get like that?"
1. Loving the Least
Jesus painted a clear picture in Matthew 25: "For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me."
Early in our marriage, I met Cecil, a homeless man who had been on the streets for 33 years. After leading him to Christ, I heard the Lord ask, "Now what are you gonna do about this?" I took him in, gave him food and shelter, helped him through detox, and visited him daily at rehab. A year later, when Colleen's family wouldn't come to our wedding, I asked Cecil to put on a tuxedo and walk her down the aisle.
From that point on, the Lord made it clear: "Whatever you do in ministry, you will never forget the poor." No matter how big your church gets, make sure you're loving the least.
2. Loving the Lost
Large churches share one common characteristic: their pastors and congregations have a genuine love for lost people. Jesus made His priorities clear in Matthew 9:12-13: "Who needs a doctor, the healthy or the sick? I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."
We must decide: Are we going to be a church that coddles insiders, or one that loves outsiders?
Let me tell you a story that changed my understanding of loving the lost forever.
I was sitting in my house three years into our church plant, preparing a message on evangelism, trying to figure out how to get our people to actually share Jesus. That's when I heard the Lord say to me, "I have a lesson for you to learn before you preach this."
"What do you want me to do, Lord?"
"I want you to go cut your neighbor's grass."
My neighbor had been on vacation, so his grass had grown waist-high. But I had this tiny lawnmower, and it was going to take about three hours to cut his grass.
I argued with God: "Lord, I'm a pastor. I've got to prepare a message on evangelism, and you want me to take three hours and cut this man's grass?"
"Just go do it."
Here's what I've learned—there's something about saying yes when it's inconvenient, when it's sacrificial. It's a test. So I got up, told Colleen I was going to cut this guy's grass, and it took me three hours. I came back, prepared my message, and preached it the next day.
Three months later, I'm preparing another message when I hear frantic banging on the door. It's my neighbor's wife, beside herself.
"You've got to come over here, Dennis. Bill is losing it. He's throwing things. I'm leaving him. Our marriage is over. You need to come calm him down—you're the neighbor."
I walk into their house, and there's Bill on the floor beside his bed. Shirt off, sweat pouring down his face. Lamps scattered everywhere. His wife gathered the kids and left, leaving me alone with this broken man.
I'm sitting there: "Bill, calm down. Let me help you. We're here for you. I'm not going to leave you. Let me pray for you."
He looks up at me with tears streaming down his face and says something I completely didn't expect:
"Dennis, did you cut my grass?"
"Bill, we don't need to talk about cutting grass right now—"
"No, no. I need to know. Did you cut my grass? Why did you cut my grass?"
I told him the whole story. "I think for this moment right here, Jesus wants you to know how much He loves you. I cut your grass because I love you."
He starts crying. I pray for him. He receives Jesus right there on his bedroom floor, and comes to church the very next day.
Here's what I learned: When you serve people, it opens their hearts to the gospel. Instead of complaining about your neighbors, serve them. Take the time to love them!
3. Loving Cross-Culturally
Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1968, "11:00 on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America." Sadly, this remains largely true today.
Young people are dropping out of one-race churches because it doesn't reflect their multicultural world. When they come to church and see only people who look like them, it feels disconnected from their reality.
God calls us to build churches on Kingdom culture, not human culture. In heaven, there are no racial divisions.
4. Loving Your Enemies
This is the highest order of love, and the hardest. Jesus commanded in Matthew 5:44: "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."
Offense is the number one way God's power gets shut down in our lives. Jesus' response was always, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
In new church plants especially, offense can be devastating. People come from other churches where they were offended, thinking they'll find the perfect church. The only way to stay unified is being willing to love people who don't love you back.
The Result: Unstoppable Attraction
When a church operates in all four dimensions, you create an environment so attractive that people can't help but ask about Jesus.
In Atlanta, when we tell people we do humanitarian work—rescuing human trafficking victims, building orphanages, digging water wells—their response is always, "Tell me more. Why do you do that?" When we explain it's because we follow Jesus, they're often surprised: "All I ever see from Jesus followers is judgment. I want to know this Jesus you're talking about."
The Challenge
How many lost people are in your life right now? Not people who go to church, but genuinely lost people you're engaging with regularly?
If we can't answer that question positively, we've become too insulated. We've switched Christianity for church activity.
The world is watching. They're desperate for authentic love that crosses boundaries, serves sacrificially, and forgives unconditionally. When we embody these four dimensions of love, we don't just grow churches—we transform communities and change lives for eternity.
The question isn't whether we can build a church. The question is: What kind of church will we build? One that coddles insiders, or one that loves outsiders with the extraordinary love of Jesus?
The choice is ours. The harvest is waiting.
Adapted from a message preached on June 22, 2025, at GateCity Buckhead, and from Pastor Dennis Rouse’s book 10: Qualities That Move You from a Believer to a Disciple, Chapter 2.