Community To What End?
I’m in dialogue with a peer about the importance of life groups/small groups that have real, authentic, raw community with each other. It’s more than just Bible study, it’s doing life together. It’s uncomfortable, edgy, messy life.
That we agree on. To what end is where we found ourselves disagreeing. His slant is so that people can figure out who they are and how they wired. A safe place for them to discover who God has created them to be. Where they find freedom from legalism and religion.
I say the point of community is for us to push each other to be more like Jesus – spiritual formation. I don’t need to find my inner Grant. I need my inner Grant to find Jesus and become more and more like Jesus. That’s life, abundant and meaningful.
To some who have no framework of God or discipline – they need some law, some boundaries. To others who are Pharisees, they need some freedom. It’s not a one size fits all commodity. Some need a hug, others need a kick in the hindparts. All need love. All need to serve. All need to worship.
As our conversation continued, I realized how important the distinction is and how that single question sets your life groups for either success or failure. If your Life Groups are basically supper clubs, when hard conversations arise – they either don’t happen or they destroy the group. Because likability and niceness is the goal…not spiritual transformation. If the goal is just to find yourself, you’ll miss Jesus. It makes birthing and reproducing leaders almost impossible because you don’t want to leave that cocoon of niceness. There is no need to stretch or grow once you’ve find ‘it.’
Having spiritual transformation as the end goal makes everything harder and simpler. Now we know we meet and we give people permission to kick over the dark places of our hearts, exposing it to the light of Jesus. Painful? Uncomfortable? You bet. But the purpose isn’t our comfort, it’s to become more like Jesus. Simple to understand…hard to achieve. That becomes the ‘trump card’ of the group. We do what we do because it leads us to spiritual transformation. If it doesn’t – we should not do it. We will choose to do some things that are hard because they lead to Christ-likeness.
So where will we go from here? I’m not sure what the answer is for him and his congregation. I know what it is for me. We’ll choose transformation. It’s harder, slower, and riskier. But it’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s where life, abundant life is.
8 Responses to “Community To What End?”
Are you really as far away from your peer as you think? What if on the way to finding who God wired you to be you discover that (1) you aren’t there yet and (2) your wired to be more like Jesus in the context of whatever He’s called you to do with your life. This requires spiritual transformation. The goal is growth in either case, right? I am missing your link between seeking out how God wired you and the “niceness” that you mention. I don’t disagree with your end goal for life groups, I just don’t see the stark difference. Of course I’ve only read a small portion of what I assume was a long discussion.
my education prof said about discipleship: “its like being pregnant and having a kid. it takes time, its painful and messy, but in the end worth it.”
Gene – yeah, I think we are apart and it is significant. In your definition the end goal is still Jesus. Who we are is measured and evaluated to Jesus.
Without Jesus, there is the danger that our faults are seen as ‘personality’ or ‘that’s just who I am.’ That is not acceptable to me. It isn’t right to excuse my sarcasm or lack of mercy as ‘that is just how God made me’ and not having the end goal as life transformation leads to that.
ok, so i’m seeing that you’re similar in a completely different way–that as you walk the path of trying to be like Christ, you’re going to figure out who you are in Him. As you figure out your ministry and how you can serve, you see more about yourself. for example, i’m “wired” for loving on the “stray puppies” that we get in youth ministry. part of that is how i was raised, but its all how God is using me and my talents.
One other point about small groups. Sitting around talking week in and week out, no matter how vulnerable you are, is limited from a spiritual formation standpoint.
btw, you make a good point about spiritual formation being a unifying element. Just the other day, we had a discussion about what we mean by community. There are different sorts of community, which is what your post is about. I think each group needs to decide what it is about. You can have real, authentic and raw groups with different ends. What that is will shape what the group does. A group with a focus on spiritual formation is going to be different than an encounter group (finding out who you are).
Mark E – agreed with “just sitting around” has limited return on investment.
Serve, worship, minister….serve is external of group, no strings attached. Worship – vertical, minister is to each other – vulnerability, pushing, pulling each other towards Jesus.
Great stuff Grant. I’m wrestling with this stuff with our small groups/ABFs. Everybody is doing their own thing and yet, no one is about transformation. It’s more about information rather than transformation.
That’s what I’m helping them to understand – we are to be about making disciples of Christ – people who reflect His character and nature through Bible study, walking through life with each other, ministering outside the walls of the church, worshiping God – personally and corporately, and having an impact in their community – whatever that is for them.
Some of our folks are just getting that – actually it’s been fun watching them wrestle with this stuff. I think wrestling is good – but that’s for another post.
Good stuff, brother.