Waste can be good

“When scarce resources become abundant, smart people treat them differently, [utilizing] them rather than conserving them. It feels wrong, but done right it can change the world. The problem is that abundant resources are too often treated as scarce.” – Chris Anderson, Wired

OK, I know I’ve just upset some of my efficiency-expert friends with this one. But it’s true – when it comes to developing relationships. What can seem to be the most un-relevant and unintentional moment towards spiritual formation can actually be a moment that will accelerate the process later.

There are times when the things members are doing – chatting about the weather, the kids, the latest sports teams – can be seen as very wasteful of your time. Yet they can also be the very thing creating the bonds of friendship that later are needed when the conversations turn deeper and more reflective, more vulnerable.

Leaders are task-oriented people. We want to accomplish things. They evaluate the day by how much was finished. My wife is exceptional with this. Most people plan to do four things, finish two—and call it a good day. She plans ten things, does seven—and then feels like she had a disappointing and unproductive day.

We do the same with our small groups. We have our start time, our end time, our timed-out minutes for discussion and prayer. And we strive to keep our segues clear, transitions quick—all to timely arrive at the end of our lesson at our group ending time, with a few minutes to spare to pick up the kids.

But here’s what we may be subtly communicating: grace is scarce. While we know time is a locked in commodity, grace can be seen and shown in different ways. It doesn’t arrive or reveal itself in the same ways, and we may miss the moment if we’re focused on the task at hand and not the opportunity for grace to be revealed in it. We have a God who is profuse and lavish with his dispersal of grace; we don’t need to skimp and be afraid to be generous with it also.

So when you’re sitting in your chair, ready to steam roll through the night’s agenda, and two ladies are catching up about the kids, you can feel the hairs on your neck rise. Your blood pressure elevates. You pulse quickens. Your brain kicks in and begins to re-calculate how much time each section is going to need, while your dwindling minutes tick away between two gabbies carrying on about pre-school or music camp.

Relax. Seriously, chill.

Now for some leaders, your biggest challenge is getting started and keeping the group moving in a timely fashion. If it’s 8pm, and you’re still on the ice breaker, then yes, you may not be utilizing your time well. Leadership is the challenge of balancing different, and sometimes even competing, values at the same time. So for you, work on the value of time, while you practice the value of people.

Leaders, here’s a tip: Make your task people. Make it part of your check list that you spend a good amount of time talking and listening to your members in settings other than the Bible study discussion. You could even separate it and make it before and after the meeting altogether.

May you enjoy the "wasted" moments of your time together spent in the abundant grace of Jesus Christ.

Take a moment and ask yourself...

These are 10 great questions to ask yourself in a moment of reflection and silence before God.

Each one touches an important area of your walk with Jesus.
 
Copy and paste them to your mobile device, print a copy, or read the article for further thoughts on each item:

• Am I progressively moving away from sin?

• Is God's Word food to me and am I spending time in it? 

• Am I worshipping as a lifestyle, both privately and corporately? 

• Am I demonstrating and sharing my faith regularly by what I say and how I do things?

• Am I stretching my faith regularly, stepping out of my comfort zone to a place where I depend on God? 

• Am I daily talking and listening to God in prayer? 

• Have I been alone with God enough to hear his voice? 

• Am I serving with the abilities God has given me? 

• Am I farther along in my relationship with God than I was a year ago? 

• Have I made myself accountable to other trustworthy Christians for my spiritual maintenance and growth?

Article 

Home away from home

Last year, I went to Ethiopia with one of our missions teams. We flew back afterwards and touched down at Dulles very early in the morning. This was my fourth trip abroad for a mission, so I was used to the travel involved.

What I found striking was that each and every time we’ve touched down on American soil after a trip abroad, most of the plane breaks out in cheers and applause for finally being home. It never fails. The land of the free and the home of the brave just causes an impromptu cheer for those of us returning to loved ones, families, and our homes.

It makes me wonder what heaven will be like when we finally get there. Some of us have been waiting for a long time, you know. Seventeen hours in the air can make one start to wonder if their new living room is going to be the flight attendant’s prepping station next to the bathrooms.


New citizens being sworn in...

I remember one trip across the Atlantic after a mission trip to India. We hit turbulence somewhere around England, and endured it the entire way across the Atlantic till we landed in Washington. I was more relieved than excited to finally get off the plane and touch the terra firma. The flight was a disaster, but the end had come. The journey was over. We were home, citizens in our own country.

Paul writes in Philippians 3: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Aaron, in his part deux on Community, touched on the concept of being citizens of heaven. We are bonded together. We are fellow citizens, brothers and sisters in arms, having the same distinction as well as direction. In the far flung corners of the world, others who are fellow citizens with us can become close partners simply because of that common affinity.

So how much more do we owe it to forge the same kind of alliances with those with whom we are bonded to because of Jesus? Frankly, it should be a top priority while we are on earth to develop significant connections and relationships with others who are following Christ.

We are, in a sense, in a far flung corner of the universe, far from home. We owe it to ourselves, as well as our fellow travelers, to link up as early and often as we can, and to live our lives together in such a way that the world is drawn in to notice – not really us, but the presence of the God whom we serve.

I spent one summer in Bangkok, Thailand, which included the fourth of July. It was, frankly, the only time I ever got homesick that entire summer. Missing the celebrations I took for granted every year only deepened my desire to spend that time with others who’d want to celebrate our country's freedom with me.

The international school near the American Embassy hosted a day-long celebration culminating in a fireworks display at night—all for us lonely, home-sick Americans stuck on the opposite side of the globe who happened to live and work there. I never enjoyed an American hot dog as much as I did that day in remembering the home of the free and the land of the brave.

May we have forged in us the heart-felt desires of celebrating and sharing our joy with others who dream of arriving in the eternal land of the free and the home of the faithful.

The rhythm of practicing Jesus

As I listened to Aaron’s message today, I found myself at certain moments wanting to jump up and down, wave a huge neon-lit exclamation point high in the air, chanting “Yes! Yes!” I greatly resonated with his conviction that it’s not our resolves of self-driven efforts that will bring lasting change into our lives, but the frequent practice of habits driven by a heart moved with love, gratitude, and joy in what God had and is doing in our lives. The shift is from simply resolving to do good, to practicing habits that become virtues as they become embedded in our lives.

Quick question: name a place where you can practice these things on a regular, weekly basis. I have a big one for you: a small group. As you engage with others around that table or living room; share your stories, your struggles, your failures and pain; ask for prayer while praying for others—you are weaving the habit of deepening and sharpening your faith while anchoring it into the steady rhythm of your schedule. Not only that—by your willingness to carve out time and space in real time to practice your faith with others, you are securing a presence in both your private world AND public world to your Biblical values and convictions.

Did you know that in large part, the commands of Jesus Christ in the New Testament are relationship-based commands? Do an exhaustive read, and you’ll find twenty-one commands of things we are to practice (love, serve, encourage, forgive), and ten commands of things to avoid doing (slander, criticize)–all within the context of relating to others. Every writer of the New Testament includes a few in their letters to churches or people.

It’s hard to love when you’re isolated from people and live in your own bubble world. It’s tough to honor others when you have nobody to practice that on. It’s easy to accept others when it’s in the theoretical imaginations of your mind; but doing it with real people and personalities gets much, much tougher. Serving is easy and convenient when nobody is connected enough to you relationally to make it inconvenient and sacrificial to your preferences.

This is why I believe so firmly in our growth group ministry. It is the laboratory where you can practice the things you learn in a class at Living Word, or read in scriptures on your own. Remember in college when you had a class that had a laboratory connected to it as part of the requirements? You’d go to class, learn the information, then head to the lab to practice and flesh it out in real time.

The same goes for our spiritual life. We learn on Sunday morning or in our private reading, but until we flesh it out in real time and space, it doesn’t make much of a difference. When we get into the rhythm of practicing our faith, especially in relationships with others, we are challenged to depend on God and ask Him to give us the strength to love others in the ways He wants us to love.

Bottom line: the best place for you to anchor and embed these new desires and values, to forge a real-time and space faith is in a weekly commitment to a small group of friends and followers who are committed like you to asking God to reveal and confirm His purposes and practices in your personal and public world. It will also be the place, when you see them becoming real in your life, that will be the first to celebrate with you the transformation being a disciple of Jesus will make in you.

Inviting the Challenge

This is definitely not me...

This winter, I went skiing for the first time in 25 years. I was very nervous, considering I had major back surgery four years ago. I’ve slowly tried to increase my activity range, knowing my ceiling is a diminished because of the surgery. To my surprise, things went better than expected. It turned out to be a pleasant day skiing the bunny slopes, reliving an old recreation I hadn’t done in decades – and my back held up nicely.

So we arranged for a second occasion, looking for another pleasant experience.

But this time, I wanted to challenge myself. So I worked up the courage to try out the intermediate slopes in the morning, and then after lunch headed over to the black diamond runs for the “experts”.

It was definitely a challenge! The top of the diamond run looked like a cliff as I peered over the edge, and instead of flattening out and cruising to the lift chairs, the hill never leveled out. Period. At all.

My thighs were burning half-way down the run, and all I could do to stay in control and keep my speed down was turn, turn, and turn some more. But with screaming leg muscles, each turn was met with great resistant.  What seemed like an eternity to the bottom was in reality only about 2 minutes. I spent a few minutes bent over, panting and thanking God for keeping me intact in one piece.

But I wasn’t done.

Instead of calling it quits, I went back up a second time to do a better run – and endured more of the same. But I was determined not to give up until I could master it.

At one point, I asked the lift attendant if I was the only guy skiing this section of the mountain. “At least you won’t hit anybody!” he yelled as I went by in the chair lift.

I think he was watching me ski.

As you’re enjoying this summer, I want you to begin thinking about this upcoming year. I want to encourage you to take the challenge before you coming up this fall with your small group.

The challenge is this: what is God’s direction and desire for this group, and am I willing to be used by Him in whatever way possible to help make that happen?

·         What is it that God wants to do in you?

·         What might he want to do in your group?

Spend a moment praying for each returning member. Ask God to reveal to you things like…

·         What comes to mind when you think of them? 

·         What do you perceive is their greatest need right now?

·         What blessings do they bring to your group?

·         What season of life are they in?

We have a blessed privilege – to provide an environment of relational health and love for God to use in transforming and developing the hearts and souls of your members.

As a small group leader, you play a critical role in helping make that happen.

Look ahead and take the challenge in having God rock your world this fall.

No Spectators Allowed

Chuck Swindoll once described American Christianity as the equivalent of a stadium filled with fans watching two professional sports teams play on the field below. “On the field are twenty-two men badly in need of rest, surrounded by fifty-thousand fans badly in need of exercise.” That imagery stems from a common myth that floats around many churches. It goes something like this: “the real work of ministry is done by the professionals. The rest of us are spectators.” Truth is, God doesn't want fans; He wants teammates actively involved on the field of play.

It’s a common temptation in many churches to conclude that the pastors and paid staff do the lion’s share of the work, and that the congregation is just the recipients or the spectators watching like a studio audience. The average person in the auditorium, according to this myth, is nothing more than the “water boy” who helps the team by ferrying supplies to the pros who are on the field sweating it out. This is a grand misconception, because this is not how God designed the church to operate. God wants all of us sharing and contributing and serving and discovering all the ways and outlets that our presence, gifts, strengths, etc. can be a useful tool for the work of ministry—and ultimately, the building of the Kingdom of God.

One of the things I LOVE about growth groups is that we attack that myth. We slice it and dice it. When all the members are sharing the responsibilities of a group’s welfare, we’re attacking it. When group members identify their passions and strengths and gifts to serve, we are skewering it. When members decide they want to undertake the role of becoming a leader because God is directing them that way, we are killing that myth. We are living out the way God has called us to live by actively engaging and contributing to each other’s spiritual growth and development.

Martin Luther exploded the Christian world in the sixteenth century with a radical new notion derived from the scriptures called the “priesthood of all believers”. I say radical and new because up to that time, people hadn’t seen this truth in scriptures (partly because it was only in Latin and most people couldn’t read, but that's besides the point).

What he meant was that every single follower of Christ was a priest (or priestess) of the King of Kings. What’s a priest do? Act as a go-between with God and man, communicating to each other the desires and wishes of the other. As we serve, engage, and share with our culture (our neighbors, family, friends, co-workers, etc) the good news of Jesus and a life lived in surrender to Him, we are acting as priests, representing the truth of Jesus to people who need Him most. Jesus is the chief priest, of course, acting as THE mediator between God and man. But we are partners in the process of spreading that opportunity to others.

We follow in the tradition of this principle today as we recognize that at the foot of the cross, we are all equal in God’s eyes. There are no second class citizens in the Kingdom of God. Every one of us has been bought with the same blood of Christ through his death.

Not only that, God has gifted each of us with some kind of gift or talent to bless and love other people around us. Whether some of us have five talents, ten talents, or just one or two, the point is that we are to use them. They are a blessing from God, and are meant to be used to bless others. When we discover and serve in them, we receive a strong sense of fulfillment through the glory of God by doing what He’s designed us to do. There’s great spiritual symmetry when we are surrendered to God and serving others in love.

Keep in mind, it’s only when the entire body is actively serving that the body of Christ is completely healthy. If only part of the body is working properly, the rest of the body feels the effect of it. This is why it’s so important to bring up this principle, and encourage as much as possible a fuller involvement by every member in your group, because the vitality and healthy of your group and our church depend on it.

Where is God at work?

What a powerful question. It raises eyebrows, begins the internal scan around the soul or the quick survey around the ministry. It can be a great reflective question to sit with and ask Him to reveal it to you. It even formed the basis of a book called Encountering God.

The goal of the question is to see where He is at work around you, celebrate that in delight, and possibly join Him in partnership. The beauty of it is that it’s a creative and flexible approach to evaluating oneself, because like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Nobody may see what you see, and could level the same kind of conclusion you make. But you see it, and you rejoice.

Sometimes, He’s moving mountains and shaking foundations, like Elijah at Mt Carmel or Samson in the great temple at Dagon. Big stuff: earth-shaking, highly visible, public and life-defining for many.

But other times, He’s the gentle whisper in the wind, speaking tenderly and quietly through the moments. Nobody else notices or gives pause. But you do.

There are so many areas in our lives for God to move in, that any time He makes a move, we’re glad and appreciative. Like an old eighteenth century farmhouse badly in need of repairs, our hearts and souls crave the continual work of the Spirit in molding and making us more like Jesus Christ. And not only for us – we love hearing Him at work in others, and celebrate vicariously with them.

I greatly enjoyed hearing someone recently tell me where they saw God at work around them. They shared how as this person was praying, he had the strong sense that God was especially listening to him while he poured out his heart to Him at that moment. He’s never experienced that before. It was a highlight of his week. I was overjoyed to hear that.

I did some reflection last night, and here are a few noteworthy moments that were special for me.

• During a recent spiritual direction session last week, I had a great moment with a directee as we discussed God’s great love for us. I sensed the Spirit was using this to speak deeply to them in very intimate ways. It was a powerful and rewarding time for me.

• On Monday night, as I taught at Conversations, God was at work in us in the room as we reckoned with the state of our desires, and had some profound moments with that. It was rewarding to see God use me in that way.

• On Wednesday night, as I successfully said ‘no’ a couple of times to my daughter’s delicious chocolate brownies because I am forgoing desserts late at night. The Holy Spirit helped me say no, because there’s no way on God’s great earth I could say no to her brownies on a normal night. God was giving me a strength of will that was surrendered to Him.

Where is God at work in you? Where might He be at work in your group? What do you see in people now that you might not have a few months ago? Where is Jesus peeking through the cracks in their life?

Just remember - It's not always in the places or moments or ways we're expecting. In fact, I've said before that:

“People miss opportunities to see God do amazing things because it comes dressed in awkwardness and looks like a crisis, resistance or insecurity.”

Don't be afraid to look. And be a man or woman of courage and bravery once you do. I want to encourage you to ask God to reveal His Work to you. He will if you ask.

May your heart be overjoyed by the realization that He’s been at work in some very key, very powerful ways in your life and the loved ones around you and in your group.

Growth Group Leader Training - March 3 & 10

 

Ramp up your group experience

 

Are you currently a member in a growth group?

 

Looking for a way to contribute significantly to your growth group?

 

Thought about facilitating lessons within your group, or even leading a group in the future?

 

If you’re sensing God is nudging you to consider helping with leading a group, the upcoming GG leader training is coming at the right time.

We’re looking for people who want a front row seat in helping others be transformed in their relationship with Christ.

It’s definitely a way to activate your faith. You will come away having a very clear idea of your group’s direction and purpose. The least that will happen is you’ll now become the best member any group could have – because you know where things are going, and can help make it happen.


GG Leadership Training
March 3^rd & 10^th
5-7pm
Room 300

Together, with all God's people

“I pray that you may receive power and strength…together with all of God’s people” – Ephesians 3:18

I recently read through Paul’s inspirational prayer he wrote out for the Ephesians in his letter to them. Here’s the guy who’s the founder and architect of their church, having been around since their inception, heavily involved in their growth and development, now pouring his heart out to them.

It’s an inspirational, moving passage, full of desire, hope, and as Pastor Brian likes to say, vital optimism. Paul dreams the big dreams of what he envisions for their lives, and allows them to see that this is near and dear to his heart for them. He shares with them what he most desires for them – a life full of the presence and power of God.

One detail I missed was the phrase that pops up embedded in the middle of verse 18 – “together with all God's holy people”. I never noticed that before. That verse seemed to linger with me after I finished reading it. I found it repeating itself through my ensuing days. I sat with that verse for a while and considered what God was impressing upon me.

When Paul talks about being rooted and established in love, it’s not merely a symbolic or ethereal term for him. He’s not waxing eloquent about some kind of vague knowledge that few grasp. He’s being very concrete about it. Follow me as a lay out what I think Paul is pointing to.

Being rooted is an agricultural reference that most people can quickly understand. When we are rooted in something we stay committed to it; we lock in and are able to withstand any attempts to pull us apart. We endure all kinds of flack and nonsense because what we’re connected to is worth it.

So what are we being rooted in? Love. Doesn’t strike you yet as compelling? What if I substituted the word “relationships” for “love—how does that sound? Paul is very clear in his allusion to love that it’s not something vague and nebulous we are to do throughout the day. He wants us to love people…in relationships. The way we treat our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, even strangers is the focus and target of our love. We are to be anchored with each other as we together seek the fulfillment of this gripping vision. When we are rooted in healthy relationships, we are experiencing and reflecting our ultimate design by God. It’s at those moments where we see the complete fulfillment of the Great Commandment in our lives, as we simultaneously love God and love our neighbor.

What Paul prays for is also compelling. It’s as if Paul is audaciously asking the Lord to grant us the knowledge of something so wonderful, it seems to be beyond human comprehension. Getting our brains wrapped around the ginormous weight and scope of God’s love is incredible. Most of us marvel as to why and how God loves us. We mostly settle for a “He just does” when we ask, because the beauty of it seems to melt us and blow our minds. This seems to be the ultimate, most prized, greatest understanding anyone on earth through the history of man could get a handle on. And yet, this is the very thing Paul prays. What would be the very best for us is the very thing dearest to Paul’s heart.

It’s not just the select few, the elites, the super-saints who are encouraged to experience this. Just like when the temple veil was torn in two at the moment of Jesus’ death, and the barrier between God and man was lifted and ripped away, Paul is espousing a radical notion that every single one of us – from the smartest to dullest, most experienced to least, most likely to the unlikeliest – is now eligible for this beautiful treasure. No one gets left behind. The love of God for us is open for all to experience, to be thrilled with, to delight in.

So all of us, every last one of us, are on the list. No one is exempt. Nobody gets left behind. Nobody is left out in the cold. “All the saints” is how one translation goes – that pretty much means every single person who’s given their life to Christ.

May you live your day in the warm beauty of this compelling truth and vision. And may you actively love those around you and in your growth group, so they too can experience the joy of experiencing God’s love for them.

What makes a group "great"?

What does a “great group” look like? What would you see happening in a group that is hitting on all cylinders, eagerly seeking God’s joy and glory, and experiencing life changing moments of personal transformation?

We asked each other this question in our monthly coaches meeting just last week, and what follows is a compilation of some of the answers and opinions that were shared around the room.

Obviously, we’ll include some of the basics like a solid attendance record, people actively working through the material of study during the week around meeting nights, and people praying and caring for each other. I would say those things are actions and indicators of what a group does – but what makes it special, stand out, tremendously dynamic in the lives of all the members?

The first special indicator for me is relational credibility. A great group is one that has a deep and rich level of relational integrity – meaning, they’ve forged a cohesive bond that is strong and enduring, that is greatly elastic and flexible, and has a high level of value. This kind of group is one that has earned the right to be heard, can speak the truth in love with one another, has safely allowed sincere moments of total transparency, and can lean on each other when the crisis times emerge. This group knows their members’ stories, knows their pain, and has personal friendships that exist and interact outside the meeting times throughout the rest of the week. This group has its relational action down.

 

The second indicator may be a surprising one: it’s experiencing suffering together. Groups that have had awkward, uncomfortable, even painful moments with each other—and have responded to that painful stimulus in the right way—are groups that have opened a whole new universe of experiences they can share together. A group that has walked the journey of hurt with a member (or a few of them) develops the heart of Jesus in the process, and when that happens, the group elevates its game to a whole new level.

 

This doesn’t have to be simply suffering by an individual about something outside the group. It can also encompass pain and discomfort in the form of conflict within the group. Two people could be at odds over something, and it could end up being the catalyst towards growing intimacy versus remaining distant. Conflict can be a relational generator – again, handled in the right manner. It’s a pity most Christians run for the hills and avoid conflict like Bubonic plague.

 

The third indicator is a group that is experiencing transforming moments with Jesus Christ through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. As people have the truth of Jesus light up their hearts and give them joy, peace, strength, cleansing, healing, forgiveness, power, and more, they are indelibly changed. They may never be the same again. Factor in that there could be more than one person experiencing this, and you have a catalytic opportunity in your group for tremendous spiritual growth like some spiritual version of a greenhouse.

 

The big question that begs to be asked is – where is your group in these areas? If each indicator was on a spectrum from “very little like us” to “completely like us”, what might you say your group was like? How far along that spectrum are you? What kinds of experiences have you had that might help you move along further down the route? Are there ones you’ve shied away from because they were, to be honest, intimidating and challenging?

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Reply to me or post your comments on the GG Page on Facebook.