Practicing the Way with Ben Radnidge - Our Community

There’s a moment in our conversation with Ben Radnidge that lingers long after he says it.

It’s when he compares our church language to UFC martial arts. He explains that he knows all the terms - armbar, kimura, rear naked choke and can even tell when a fighter is seconds away from being caught. But if he stepped onto the mat with someone who actually practices, he’d be done in twelve seconds.

Then he says it:

“I understand the language, but I don’t know how to do it.”

It was funny. But it was also painfully honest. Because Ben wasn’t just talking about UFC.
He was talking about the Church.
About how easily we fall into saying big, spiritual things without ever learning how to live them.

We talk about discipleship…
but are we discipling?
We talk about Jesus at the centre… but is He actually the reference point of our decisions?
We talk about reaching the city… but are we practicing the way of Jesus in a way the city can see?

Ben’s challenge is gentle, but it cuts deep:
The fruit of the Spirit must become the measure of success.
Not attendance.
Not noise.
Not language.

The Spirit’s work in people’s lives, love, joy, peace, patience is what reveals whether we are practicing what we say we believe.

This conversation is full of conviction, but it’s also full of hope. Ben isn’t calling the Church out, he’s calling us forward.

Forward into a faith that is lived, not laminated.
Forward into discipleship that looks like apprenticeship, not just amens. Forward into a unity that grows out of shared obedience, not shared jargon.

If the Church on the Gold Coast wants to see renewal, it won’t start with better language.
It will start with people, pastors and everyday believers, who decide to practice the way of Jesus in the hidden places of life.

And maybe that’s the invitation in this episode:

To close the gap between what we say…and what we live.

To become people who don’t just know the words but have learned the Way.