Leaving Small Group

Some good friends just left our small group. And they aren’t coming back. 

It’s been a little over six months since we invited them. Over that time we have had them in our home, barbecued together, and vacationed together. We celebrated together and walked through difficult situations together — taking our turns at both high fives and tears. We shared the joys and struggles of marriage and parenting. We pored over God’s Word and poured our hearts out in prayer. 

I guess you could say we shared a good deal of our lives with them during this period of time.

So what happened?

They grew. 

And they left. 

They were supposed to.

It would have been easy to stay. And comfortable too. For all of us. Truth be told, our small group is different now. But — and don’t miss this — so are they. 

They saw the growth in themselves and their relationship with God. They understood following Jesus and being a disciple in a new way — and they owned it. And when they sensed a call, they mustered the courage to answer it. As a result they’ve gone from from invitees to inviters, from participants to leaders, from disciples to disciple makers, and a new small group was born.

Six months ago, they were intimidated by the idea of sharing God’s Word with someone and wondered whether they belonged. Today they are sharing His Word and what He is doing in their lives — and helping others find a place to belong.

The reality is this: they are going to reach people that they never would have reached had they remained in our group. They already have! It’s a big loss for our small group, but a big gain for the Kingdom. And that is what it’s all about: The Kingdom.

What did Jesus have in mind when He called the twelve disciples — and formed the New Testament's first small group? A group that would stay together forever? Or more of an incubator where people would grow for a time before being released? Did they exist for themselves? Or for the purpose of reaching and impacting the world around them? (Jesus’ recruiting invitation in Matt 4:19 may help answer these questions.)

While Jesus and His disciples formed lifelong relationships, the focus was always on impacting others in the same way that Jesus had impacted them. They would carry His message, use His methods, and continue His mission. The future of the Kingdom and the Church depended on it.

Fortunately for us, the original disciples eventually came to understand this.

I was thinking this morning: what would it have looked like if the 11 remaining disciples had simply chosen to keep their tight knit group together and “do life” while waiting for Jesus to return?

Don’t get me wrong, eleven families doing life together and worshipping Jesus is a beautiful thing. But who would they have reached? How would it have had the Kingdom-expanding impact that Jesus intended for His disciples?

What if a small group was the vehicle Jesus intended to use to reach the world? Was it? How would it be different if your small group and your home became the way more and more people were introduced to a life of knowing, following, and being on mission with Jesus?

I can offer some ideas from the past six months. It would look like people growing in their faith. It would look like people finding purpose in the mission of Jesus’ church. Like people taking chances and seeing God use them. Like people discovering the joy of giving themselves away for the sake of another — and then someday releasing that “another” to go and do likewise.

These friends left our small group, but we haven’t left each other. We’re as committed to one another as we ever have been! We will continue to meet regularly to encourage and disciple them, take phone calls when they have questions, gather in our backyard for barbecues, and celebrate what God is doing in and through them. And, over the course of time, we will meet those they have reached and hear the stories of how their lives have been transformed.

This is discipleship. This is being the Church.

The message of Jesus. The methods of Jesus. And the mission of Jesus.

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Interested in reading more about how the early church reached the world around them?

https://churchleaders.com/smallgroups/small-group-articles/285398-early-church-small-groups-larry-kreider.html

Drilling Deeper: Humility

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said,“Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus in Matt 18:2,3

Faith.  Trust.  Peace.  Power.  Compassion.  Many outstanding attributes of character marked the life and ministry of Jesus.  But one stood at the center, serving as the catalyst for the rest: humility.

Humility.  Jesus lived it and modeled it as the one who came not to be served, but to serve.  He preached it to his disciples as a prerequisite for those who would enter the Kingdom.  Paul held it up as the path to glory for Jesus and a key to living within the body of Christ.

So, what is humility?

I have heard many definitions and reminders of humility.  I’ve even taught some of them.  One common saying goes like this: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.”  This is practical and even helpful, but I’m afraid it doesn’t go deep enough. It is a practical reminder of brotherly love – which is the fruit of humility – but it doesn’t drill down to the core of what humility is.  Fortunately, Jesus does.

In Matthew 18, Jesus addresses his disciples.  Interestingly, he chooses to put a child in their midst as a model of humility.  Did I read that right?  Jesus put a child in their midst as a model of what?  Humility? And then he says this: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” [Matt 18:4]

  Unless children were different in Jesus’ day, he certainly didn’t have that earlier saying about humility in mind when he chose a child as his architectural blueprint.

I know this because I have four children.  And I have been living with these creatures for almost fourteen years now. “…Thinking of yourself less?”  Is that typical of children?  Not the ones I know and love.  They think of themselves first when it comes to almost everything – where they sit in the car, who gets to play the game, who gets to go first, who gets to go at all.  It’s me, myself and I.  And every “I” for himself.

So what did Jesus have in mind when it came to children and humility?  How can we “turn and become like children?”  I think back to the days after our firstborn – Elizabeth – came into the world.  I remember one moment like it was yesterday.  I was holding this tiny, five-pound baby in my arms, looking into her sweet little face, when a monumental reality hit me: I was the only father she had.  In that moment, two things became sharply apparent: my responsibility and her dependency. 

For the next few years, she would depend on the love, care and compassion of others for her very survival.  She was born with two hands, but they were empty hands. Empty hands that could do nothing – for herself or anyone else.  Empty hands with nothing to offer.  Whether she knew it or not, she was desperate.

Jesus said that turning and becoming like children was a requirement for entering the kingdom.  So how do we become like children?  We stand before God with empty hands.  Empty hands that have let go of everything we thought we had to offer:  pride, self-reliance, performance, good character or anything else.  Realizing that, in and of ourselves, we have nothing to offer; nothing to commend ourselves to God, other than complete dependence upon him.  We stand with empty hands.

The authors of We Would See Jesus describe this key to entering the Kingdom so well:

“Grace permits us to come (nay, demands that we come) as empty sinners to be blessed: empty of right feelings, good character and satisfactory record, with nothing to commend ourselves but our deep need, fully and frankly acknowledged… The struggle, of course, is to believe it and to be willing to be but empty sinners to the end of our days, that grace may continue to match our needs.”

Did you notice that word “struggle”?  The “struggle” to be “willing to be but empty sinners to the end of our days.”  Oh, how true it is – even in the Christian life.  We start out with empty hands before God and then, before we even realize it, we have begun to pick things up and hold them in our hands: good works, good character, changed lives.  We think we have become something.  We think that we have something to offer.  Something to offer God and others.  That’s called pride – the chief nemesis of humility!

Ironic isn’t it?  That the very fruit of God’s work in our lives can become a barrier to true fellowship with him?

It’s time to take a look at our hands.

Young or old.  Rich or poor.  New believer or mature Christian.  All must approach God the same way – every day – with empty hands. 

Receiving the Light - Part 1

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  John 8:12

Effective teachers do more than convey information.  They ask questions.

Jesus was famous for asking questions.  As a matter of fact, He made answering a question with a question somewhat of an art form.  That’s because Jesus understood an important principle: Asking a person the right question often has far greater benefits than simply handing him the right answer.  Questions require thinking and analysis.  They push people toward an answer – toward a decision.  And Jesus is all about decisions.

The eleventh chapter of Luke paints an interesting scene.  Beginning in verse fourteen, we see a crowd of people witnessing an exorcism.  Jesus is confronting a demon that has silenced a man’s ability to speak.  I imagine that was something to see.  But unlike some of Jesus’ other demonic encounters, we don’t get a lot of details on the exorcism itself.  Instead, Luke’s focus is on the varied reactions of those present.

Some questioned Jesus’ power and authority saying that they came from Satan himself.  Some people marveled – they were intrigued by what they saw.  While others wanted more of a show – they wanted Jesus to show them more miracles.  They were curious, but they wanted more proof.

People respond to Jesus in similar ways today – marveling, questioning, and even demonizing.  But according to Jesus it’s not enough to marvel at the miracles He performed.  Nor is it enough to like Jesus or to enjoy listening to His teachings.  Surprisingly, it’s not enough to publicly praise Jesus (Lk 11:27,28) or even to be freed from demonic possession (Lk 11:26).  Jesus pushes his hearers beyond all of these things.  Jesus pushes those who would listen towards one goal: the decision to receive Him.

In this passage, Jesus likens himself to a lamp that has been placed high on a stand for all the world to see.  He has come to enlighten the world to spiritual truths that cannot be perceived with the naked eye or understood with bare human intellect.  And one of these truths is the very real existence of two unseen, spiritual kingdoms:  One a kingdom of darkness, the other a kingdom of light. One the kingdom of Satan and the other the Kingdom of God. One the kingdom of Hell, the other the kingdom of Heaven.

In Luke 11:21-22 Jesus tells a short parable of a king and his kingdom. He describes this king as a strong man, fully armed guarding his own palace.  His army and his kingdom have been secure and at peace – that is until one stronger than he arrives and attacks his kingdom.  This stronger man overpowers the king, overthrows his kingdom and divides the spoils of battle.

In this parable, the “strong man” is Satan and the palace he was guarding is this world.  Jesus is the one who is stronger – the one who has attacked Satan’s kingdom and has overcome him.  Jesus’ miracle proves the point:  The man with the demon is evidence of the reality of Satan’s kingdom and the exorcism is proof that Jesus is “one stronger than he.”  Satan is overcome by Jesus and the kingdom of darkness is overcome by the light.  The kingdom of God has arrived and Jesus is the Commander in Chief.

Jesus has both the power and the authority to overthrow Satan’s kingdom but, as in any war, the people must choose sides.  Which kingdom and army will they support?

Jesus asks the question and then adds, “Whoever is not with me is against me.”  Whoever does not choose to side with Jesus remains on the side of the enemy.  There is no middle ground (Lk 11:23).

Too often, people want to sit on the fence.  They want to avoid making a commitment, making a decision to receive Christ.  But Jesus warns us that the unseen battle is real, though we cannot see it.  The lines between these two kingdoms have been drawn though we cannot always perceive them.

We must choose sides.  We must answer the question:  What are you going to do with Jesus?  What are you going to do with the light?  Will you join him?  Or will you be part of the resistance?  An insurgent for the kingdom of darkness?

The default setting on the human heart is darkness.  We all begin there for that is the kingdom we are born into.  The question is, “Where are you today?” The answer to that question makes a world of difference – the difference between heaven and hell. 

There is only one way to know: Have you received the light?  Have you chosen to receive Jesus and the redemption that He offers?  It is the only way out of the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of Hell. 

If you are not with Jesus, you are against Him (Lk 11:23).  But to all who do receive Him, who believe in His name, He gives the right to become children of God – children of the kingdom (cf. John 1:12).  Receive Him today.

"I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.”  Acts 26:17-18 (The Message)

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”  1John 5:20