Can You Ever Have Too Much Bible Study?
A friend once suggested to me that some of the discipleship methods we had been taught in college and seminary were creating Christians who were "100 verses overweight". It's a funny mental picture, but it's also probably a sad reality. I am sometimes afraid that we have churches full of people who know the Bible from cover to cover but have no idea how to live it out.Small Groups should be the lab where people figure out how to live the things they are learning. A Sunday (or Saturday) sermon which feeds your mind is great, but what you do with it is most important. Hopefully, your small group is helping you to digest the teaching, and then invest it in your daily living.
The other day I came across this blog post about a group who couldn't invest in their neighbors or community because they were too busy with nightly Bible studies. Studying the Bible is great, but at some point, you have to put it into practice. I've summarized some of the content below, but you can read the whole thing at Holiday At The Sea.
I overheard a conversation the other day that set me to thinking quite a bit. There was a couple who was trying to schedule an important event that would equip them to serve “the least of these.” Except they were having lots of trouble finding a night that would work for them because, as they said: “We have a different Bible study every night of the week.”If left to myself, I tend towards an intellectual life. I could easily study theology all-day every day. But, I’ve come to be convinced that I already know a lot of Bible that I don’t live.I can’t help but think of Jesus saying in John 14:15 : “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” and James powerfully reminding us that “pure and undefiled” religion is to care for widows and orphans (James 1:27 ). In fact, James takes it a (few) step(s) further and says that if we hear God’s Word but don’t do it, our profession of faith is worthless (James 1:19-26 ).Somehow, we’ve created a culture where our “devotion to God” can actually prevent us from serving God. This is an odd predicament because I deeply want people to know what God’s Word says. But I also want people, including myself, to have an environment, a culture, where God’s Word is not just theoretical but lived out.Heaven forbid the study of God’s Word prevent us from living out God’s Word.
Community Is Not About Comfort
These are some great thoughts from the Disciple Making Leaders blog:
“Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.”
—John 13:1b
Jesus showed His disciples the “full extent of His love” by taking up a towel and wash basin and scrubbing their feet. He then instructed them to follow His example.
This snapshot from the life of Jesus and His disciples reminds me of some very important principles…
First, Jesus did life in a small group. Jesus didn’t take a towel and basin into the multitudes. He took His towel and basin to His small group. Jesus had compassion on the masses, but the full extent of His love was demonstrated to those with whom He had a relationship. Are you close enough to a small group of people that you could wash their feet? Is your life filled with a handful of relationship that are so close you want to express the full extent of your love?
Secondly, Jesus served those with whom He shared community. Community is not about us. It is about others! Jesus did not give himself to community so that He could get something out of it. Jesus gave himself to a small group so that He could serve them. When was the last time you did a tangible act of service for someone in your small group?
When you walk as Jesus walked, your life is characterized by community, and serving others becomes a priority in your life.
Daily Prayer
Lord, give me eyes to see people’s needs and hands to help meet them.
Are Small Groups Really Just Cliques?
I'm a firm believer in the potential of small groups. I believe spiritual formation happens best when we are willing to share life with and submit to a small group of people who will lovingly build our character and help us be attentive to the work of the Spirit in our lives. But there are dangers in small groups. I recently came across a blog post which discussed the fine line between healthy small groups and unhealthy "cliques." Below are some excerpted statements from that post. You can read the entire post at The Spiritual Formation Blog.
- A while back, I blogged that healthy small groups are friends. I’m not sure why, but this has recently become the most popular post on my blog. Debra commented,
- Small groups often divide the church into cliques. The group forms, bonds, and no new people stand a chance of joining them. The more groups there are, the more segregated the church. New people see this right away, feel like an outsider, which they are, and don’t go back.
- A healthy community is never a closed clique. It is open, inviting, welcoming, outward-focused, and missional. Healthy community fulfills all of the Great Commandment by loving God, one another, and our neighbors as ourselves.
- Jesus led a small group and... said about himself, “I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” (Matthew 9:13 , The Message)
- I love the way Richard Peace put this in his classic book, Small Group Evangelism:
- In a successful [healthy] small group, love, acceptance, and fellowship flow in unusual measure. This is the ideal situation in which to hear about the kingdom of God. In this context, the “facts of the gospel” come through not as cold propositions but as living truths visible in the lives of others. In such an atmosphere, a person is irresistibly drawn to Christ by his gracious presence.*
- Debra described unhealthy small groups as what we might call “holy huddles.” The problem is not in the huddle itself, however. Every successful team needs a safe place to huddle, to put our arms around one another, catch a short breather, and encourage one another before running the next play to accomplish the team’s mission.
What do you think? How can a group avoid becoming inwardly focused? How important is it for a group to be missionally-minded? Should every group be open to newcomers all the time? Where is the balance?
7 Things You Can Do to Make Your Group More Formative
At Calvary, we talk about growing small groups that are "formative, caring, and missional." Our desire is that every person in every group is being formed into the image of Christ, that they are being cared for and using their gifts to care for others, and that they are partnering with others to accomplish the mission of Jesus in the world.
What makes a small group into a "formative" experience? This is certainly not an exhaustive list. But here are a few elements that when present will aid in a group's formative journey.
- dedication to finding the best representation of truth possible
- communal sensitivity to the moving of the Spirit
- humility to avoid authoritative posturing and proclamations
- acceptance of Scriptural authority...being mindful of appropriate interpretation
- openness to new ideas and new paradigms
- desire to be corrected and re-formed
- ability to live with tension (mentally, socially, spiritually, etc.)
I believe that as group members bring these character traits and goals into group gatherings, they will find that their experience of being formed to the image of Christ is much more intense.
4 Answers You Need About Every Member of Your Group
The following is a blog post by Rick Howerton (you can read the whole thing here). It's a great reminder of what is REALLY important for small group leaders to be thinking about. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the details of planning, growing, and leading our groups that we forget our primary job is to help disciple these friends of ours. Rick suggests four questions we ask ourselves about our group members:
1. Is he or she a follower of Christ? If a small group leader realizes that a group member has not yet crossed the line of faith and become a Christ-follower, the leader needs to 1) make the most of every opportunity the Holy Spirit creates to voice the gospel to that group member, 2) watch the group member closely during group meetings and capture a transformational moment when it occurs, 3) carefully answer any question the group member has and bathe that answer in the person and story of Jesus. 4) Integrate the Gospel into every group conversation when it is possible and appropriate.2. Is there a past experience the Enemy, Satan, is using to hold the group member captive? Some group members are Christ-followers but the Enemy is using a past experience or past experiences to keep the group member from realizing the joy and peace that Jesus promised. Past experiences might include ongoing verbal, physical, or sexual abuse by a family member or someone else, a group of high school friends defriending the group member, a church spiritually abusing, etc... Satan uses such experiences to demean the person and destroy the new heart one receives when adopted by God. Realizing whether or not a group member is in this situation will explain their attitudes and reactions to many conversations and will make it possible for the group leader to point them toward the help they need that can aid them in their movement toward freedom.3. Is he or she proactively on a journey toward Christ-likeness? Many believers received Christ and are active in church but are not proactively striving to become Christ-like. When a group leader is aware of spiritual apathy that group leader then begins to do whatever is necessary to motivate the group member to be involved in spiritual disciplines, spend time conversing about the things of God, and slowly move the person toward a walk with Christ that is real and passionate and transformational.4. What can I do to help the group member take the next step? Once a group leader is aware of the answer to the three questions you just read, the group leader must ask herself/himself how they can help the group member to commit to taking whatever the next step is for them. Helping group members commit to next steps is the first step toward transformation that is real and eternal.