How Would God Respond?

Pain and suffering are real. In this world we experience heartache and sorrow. In a split second we can be thrust into the world of agony and mourning. Early this June I invested a week of my life to meet with over 100 people to best see how the Church can respond in times of disaster and crisis. The Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College sponsored the fourth Disaster Ministry Conference June 7-10, 2016. Attendees from over 11 countries and speakers from across the globe brought experience and insight to encourage and share with one another how to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

I wrote an article in October 2015 about how our community was responding after the active shooter event at Umpqua Community College on October 1. Dr. Jamie Atan, founder and co-director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, reached out and invited me to present at the conference.   

While I shared some specifics of our communities story, I anchored my talk around a passage of Scripture found in Exodus 3. 

“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey...”

— Exodus 3:7-8b

Three Attributes of Great Small Groups

As a leader you are responsible for the direction and outcome of your group. This is especially true for a small group leader. Whether your group is surviving or thriving, you can take your small group from mediocre to magnificent by remembering the ABC’s! (Please, don’t dismiss the rest of this post because that last sentence sounded like a lame infomercial soundbyte). Believe it or not, the first three letters of the alphabet can help you succeed in achieving your objective every time you step up to lead.

Maybe you have never stopped to consider that there is an objective or goal for leading a small group. When I started leading small groups over 20 years ago, I had no clue! As a 17 year old, fresh out of high school, I assumed my role as the leader was to set our agenda, lead our discussion, maybe sing some songs, eat snacks, and have fun. At the end of the night, if people said, “I had a good time,” I assumed I had done well as a leader. And, if people came back the next week, I figured I must be doing something right.

Although I had been a part of a small group, I had a naive understanding of what a real, life-changing small group could be and what it would take to achieve it.  Yes, I was young and inexperienced,  I was filled with arrogant confidence, too. I assumed, I had to figure this out on my own, and did not make room to seek the influence of others in growing as a leader. The way I approached the planning for my group was by focusing on the “programing” and by planning the activities I thought groups “should” do. What I was missing was a clear vision of “why" a small group should exist and what It could be.

The ABC's

 A great small group is one where authentic biblical community leads to spiritual maturity.

Acts 2:42-47 describes the experience of authentic biblical community among the earliest followers of Jesus:

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (*1)

Authentic

Simply put, an authentic person is honest about who they really are. There is no need to protect yourself, put on a show, or try to be someone you are not. Authentic people are willing to risk. In the previous passage, we see people selling their possessions and sharing the proceeds with those who were in need. What motivated people to sell their stuff? The authenticity of those who were in need! The sellers knew about the needs of others because they shared.

Authentic people do not try to hide the reality of their present condition. They speak the truth with honesty and boldness. Words like, “No, I’m fine,” do not fit the vocabulary of an authentic person. Let the group you lead be filled with authentic people.

Biblical

The influences and inputs you expose yourself to, shape you to become who you are. It doesn't take long for slight shifts of attitudes or convictions to affect and change you. The change will be revealed in your behaviors and actions. Put an onion in a refrigerator without sealing it in a container and you will see this principle at work.

The passage says, "they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers".  The apostles had invested the previous three years of their lives living with and learning from Jesus. This is what they shared as they cultivated relationships with one another, as they ate in each other’s homes, and as they prayed with and for one another. Daily they worshiped at the temple together.

God’s Word, the Bible, is to shape and influence us as people. Let the group you lead be anchored to this.

Community

Your community is the group you have invested your life in. It takes much more than a neighborhood, a shared interest, or a matching tee-shirt to forge genuine community. You know others and you are known. You help others and allow them to help you. You give of yourself and you receive from others. If the people who make up your genuine community were to disappear, you would be lost.

Did you catch that phrase in the passage? "They were together and had all things in common." The interactions these early followers of Jesus had were done in community, with mutuality. They met in homes and shared meals together. These people shared life together. Let your group cultivate relationships that reflect the unity Jesus prayed we would have as you grow together in love.

My small group has become one of the highlights of my week. We are learning to be this kind of authentic biblical community. As I cultivate intentionality as a leader, I know we can forge these attributes until they are a natural part of our DNA. And the best part, you can too.

(*1) The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ac 2:42–47). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Humble Yourself!

You probably know better than you do. I bet there are beliefs and convictions that drive you, yet you still find yourself acting as if other things are more important. Andy Stanley speaks the truth when he says, "it's your direction, not your intention, that determines your destination." You can hope to live a certain way, but if you're headed in a different direction... that's where you'll end up!

In the Old Testament book of Obadiah, God spoke to a nation that choose to place their trust in themselves rather than God. They put stock in their own might and power over a dependance and recognition for God and His purposes. The result was devastating. Their pride lead to their downfall.