"In confession a man breaks through to certainty. Why is it that it is often easier for us to confess our sins to God than to a brother? God is holy and sinless, He is a just judge of evil and the enemy of all disobedience, but a brother is sinful as we are. He knows from his own experience the dark night of secret sin. Why should we not find it easier to go to a brother than to the holy God? But if we do, we must ask ourselves whether we have not often been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God, whether we have not rather been confessing our sins to ourselves and also granting ourselves absolution.
And is not the reason perhaps for our countless relapses and the feebleness of our Christian obedience to be found precisely in the fact that we are living on self-forgiveness and not on real forgiveness? Self-forgiveness can never lead to a breach with sin; this can be accomplished only by the judging and pardoning Word of God itself...
Our brother breaks the circle of self-deception. A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person...Mutual, brotherly confession is given to us by God in order that we may be sure of divine forgiveness."
Today, I am sharing some thoughts that my girlfriend, Stacey, recently wrote on the topic of why it's important for every Christian to step up and serve the church body in some way, and what should drive the motivation to do so. I hope you are encouraged and challenged by what she's written!
-Michael
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“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” -1 Peter 4:10(NKJV)
I was thinking about serving this morning – more specifically about serving the Lord. Why do we do it? What’s the purpose behind it? Is it really necessary? If it’s so important, why don’t more people in the church do it? Why is it that in every church I’ve attended or visited, they always seem to be asking for people to step up to “serve” or “volunteer” or whatever other name they want to put to it? Shouldn’t this be something that God’s people do without prompting? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with churches announcing when they have a need. It just makes me sad when I hear the same announcement week after week without people stepping up to meet the need. Maybe I’m just idealizing here, but these are my thoughts…
In more than one place, the writers of the New Testament identified themselves as servants of Christ. Now really the word so often translated “servant” should more accurately be translated “bondservant” or “slave.” There’s a difference there: a servant voluntarily serves for compensation and can leave his or her employment at any time. A bondservant or slave has at one point come under the authority and ownership of someone else. They do whatever their master tells them, and there is no leaving. They serve their master for life. For those of us who have been around the church and church vernacular for awhile, we might understand the difference and know what is being said when we read the word “servant.” But then again, maybe some of us really don’t-- otherwise, I think we would be willing to serve a lot more.
When we accepted Christ as our Savior, it wasn’t just “fire insurance” that we were “buying into”. What happened when we were saved was essentially a transaction where our identity was removed and we were instead given Christ’s identity because we realized that our identity, our righteousness, was worthless but Christ’s identity is holy and priceless. In essence, we were saying “Lord Jesus, I belong to You now. I give up my rights, my ideas, my everything for You. Where You go, I will go. What You say, I will do. I give up my rights to follow You because I see that You are Truth and Light and are indeed a good Master.”
Does that seem a little radical? Well, it is. But you see, nowhere in Christ’s teaching do I see Him calling people to follow in moderation. It’s kind of an “all or nothing” deal. This idea that we can have Jesus and still have the world is completely wrong. As a matter of fact, Jesus had something to say about that in Matthew 6:24 & Luke 16:13:
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money].” (NKJV)
You see, no matter what, we will serve a master in this life – whether it’s money or power or the flesh or ourselves or another person or GOD Himself. And there’s no room for trying to serve more than one master. We may fool ourselves into thinking that we can balance it, having two masters, but in the end if we try to serve God AND anything else, we’re going to be pulled apart as we’re led in opposing directions. The question is – which Master do you want to serve?
My Master is good, kind, holy, righteous, fair, and powerful. And I SO desperately desire for each and every person who reads this to know Him and want to come under His authority! Now, I’m not saying I have this down. Anyone that knows me can testify to that. I struggle every day in choosing to serve God rather than this world or my flesh, and it’s only by God’s grace when I do choose to serve Him. My heart’s desire, though, is to see my life reflecting service to Him as my Master more and more each day. I’m sure that all you believers reading this have that same longing in your hearts, and I pray that it is fulfilled through the Holy Spirit working in us. :-)
But in getting back to my original thought on serving… as a slave of my Lord, He has called His people to serve Him. As the verse at the beginning of this note in 1 Peter shows, He has given each one of us a gift to use; and He commands for us to use it to minister to one another. We are called good stewards if we do, and that would mean we are bad stewards if we don’t. So I go back to my initial questions – Why don’t we serve? Why do we have to be coerced and sometimes even cornered to serve and use these gifts that we’ve been given? What’s holding us back?
Please don’t think I’m asking those questions so that people will answer me. I only bring them up so that you may search the Scriptures and bring this before God yourself. See where He would lead you, where He would have you go or what He would have you do. Remember, serving the Lord doesn’t just mean serving at your church (though that is wonderful); it’s a heart attitude for wherever the Lord would guide us to be. As Colossians 3:17 says “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”(NKJV) That’s really all that we can do – in faith look to Jesus, our Master and Redeemer, and follow Him.
James 1:17 says that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
Good fathers love to give good gifts to their children. God, being the perfect Father, especially delights in blessing His children with good gifts. Though us Christians would probably all give mental ascent to this (meaning, we would all agree with it in our heads), there is sadly a sweeping tendency among many of us to functionally reject it at the heart level, because we deem ourselves "unworthy" to receive anything good from the Father above. This is especially true for those of us raised in a "religious" setting, where law abounded and grace was in short supply. We might accept the fact that God has given us His grace (grace is God's unmerited favor and gift of eternal life that He gives to us freely through Jesus), but we wrongfully, and sinfully, think that we must forsake everything else in order to stay in God's grace. This is actually legalism - when we think that our performance either merits, earns, or retains God's favor. This comes about because we sometimes forget how deep the depths of God's love for us really are.
First, let's look at grace...
We Are Unworthy
When it comes to understanding the grace of God, everyone first has to face the answer to this question: "Am I unworthy?" There is only one answer: Yes, we are all unworthy of God's love and kindness and grace. We're unworthy because we are sinners, who've offended the perfect holiness of God with our sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. Romans 3:23 tells us that "All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God."Romans 6:23a tells us that "The wages of sin is death." Put quite simply, every one of us deserves death because of our sin.
Only Christ is Worthy
In the realm of human history, there is only one man who was ever completely worthy of God's favor, because He never sinned. That man was God Himself in the flesh: Jesus Christ. Jesus succeeded where every other human being had failed... He obeyed God perfectly in thought, word, and deed. When God looked down on His Son from Heaven, he said "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). God could only say that to someone who was perfect, inside and out. The slightest, faintest, tiniest speck of imperfection would be enough to disqualify anyone from such a commendation by the Creator of the universe. But Jesus had no such blemish.
In Christ, We Are Made Worthy
Though Jesus was perfect in every way, He did not come to earth to merely show off His perfection and set a standard of righteousness that none of us would ever be able to attain to on our own-- the Law had already done that! Jesus came to save us from the effects of our failure to keep the Law-- that is to say, our sins. Remember how Romans 6:23a said that "The wages of sin is death"? Well, the verse goes on to say "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord." Jesus came to earth to rescue us from death, and to give us life. He did this on the cross by taking the punishment for our sins upon Himself. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says "For our sake, He [God] made Him to be sin who knew no sin [Jesus], so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." What this verse is telling us is that on the cross, a great exchange took place. Jesus, the perfect Son of God who had never done anything wrong, took on Himself the awful, excruciating, terrifying fury of God's righteous wrath against our sins. And we, whose very sins had nailed Jesus to that cross, received the perfect, pure, completely unblemished righteousness of Jesus in place of our sin, and the promise of eternal life. This was not because of our own merit, but because of Christ's! For those who believe this truth through faith, John 1:12 teaches that God adopts us into His family, granting us the right to be called His sons and daughters - adopted siblings of Jesus Himself (see also Hebrews 2:11)!
Receiving God's Good Gifts
How does this all relate to accepting good gifts from God? Think back to the concept of grace that was discussed briefly above. Grace is God's unmerited favor upon us, which He can give to us because of Christ's atonement for our sins. Because of grace, we are adopted as sons and daughters into the family of God. A good, loving father doesn't adopt a child and then expect him or her to live a joyless life in his house, demanding that the child continually earn their place in his house by afflicting themselves, denying any comforts, and walking around on eggshells trying not to break them. A good, loving father brings the child into his home, sits him or her down at his table for food, clothes the child, provides for the child, plays with the child, buys gifts for the child, enjoys life with the child, raises and teaches the child to be mature, loving, giving, and caring like he is; and loves him or her forever.
This is what God does with us when He brings us into His family. He is a good father who loves His children dearly, and wants to bless us as we grow and mature in our relationship with Him. To reject any expression of God's love that He wants to show to us is a grievous thing. It grieves God's heart, and hurts us in the process. Why would we want to do that to someone who has shown us so much love?
You might be thinking, at this point, that all this sounds just too good to be true. Maybe you're too caught up in the shame of your sins from the past. Let me tell you in no uncertain terms that if you are a Believer, Jesus already paid for those sins! Or do you think that what He did on the cross wasn't sufficient enough, and that you still need to add something extra to it? Remember Jesus' words on the cross: "It is finished" (John 19:30). There is nothing that can be added to what He did.
Maybe you just cannot believe that God wants you to be happy, because that sounds too much like "prosperity gospel" stuff. I'm not presenting any sort of prosperity gospel here, and I reject such crazy notions like that. But if this is you, think about what the opposite of your assumption is. Are you saying you think that God doesn't desire to see you happy (in Him)? Because that certainly isn't true.
To bring this article to a close, I want to direct you over to another blog which will wrap up this whole idea with a parable about a boy who rejected a good gift from his dad, and the sadness that came about as a result: http://pastormark.tv/2011/09/21/a-poverty-theology-parable. I think it drives the point home well.
May you rest in the fact of knowing that God is a good God, who loves you dearly; who wants to give you good gifts; and in fact has already given you His very best gift of all - His own Son, Jesus. May your response be one of simple gratitude and worship towards Him, enjoying His good gifts and rejecting the false notions of poverty theology as lies from the pit; as you remember that this grace and love from God was not because of anything you did, but only because of His own great love with which He first loved you.
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice." Proverbs 12:15
In the book "The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham" (which I've only heard this excerpt from), the lifelong evangelist wisely offered the counsel "Turn every critic into a coach. Even if their information is erroneous, and their motives are dubious, ultimately we should take each of those criticisms and see if there is any truth in them that would make us more like Jesus and better servants of His cause."
That is a good word right there.
The idea is that even those who oppose your ideas, and do so in a harsh manner, might still have some truth within their criticism that God will use to sharpen and refine you. Don't be so proud that you refuse to listen to (or outright avoid) criticism, but instead be humble and hold everything up to the Word, every time. To quote a brother of mine, "Critics are an amazing blessing. They don’t let you get away with anything. They keep you always on your toes. They don’t overlook your compromises like friends do (especially if these friends have compromised in the same way)."
Sometimes, yes, you may find the criticisms to be empty and baseless. Other times (like I've experienced today), you might find some truth in them, start to see things differently than before, and grow to appreciate your critics a little bit more :-)
Grace and peace,
-Michael
*Edit @ 10:00pm Aug 16th: No, I didn't rip this off another blog :-) Completely unknown to me, The Resurgence published a leadership training video that covers the exact same thing as my blog article does here, on the same day at the same time. Strange coincidence, ehh?
This is an excerpt from a story I read on the AP newswire today that has still got tears streaming down my face:
DADAAB, Kenya (AP) Wardo Mohamud Yusuf walked for two weeks with her 1-year-old daughter on her back and her 4-year-old son at her side to flee Somalia's drought and famine. When the boy collapsed near the end of the journey, she poured some of the little water she had on his head to cool him, but he was unconscious and could not drink.
She asked other families traveling with them for help, but none stopped, fearful for their own survival.
Then the 29-year-old mother had to make a choice that no parent should have to make.
"Finally, I decided to leave him behind to his God on the road," Yusuf said days later in an interview at a teeming refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. "I am sure that he was alive, and that is my heartbreak."
Parents fleeing the devastating famine on foot - sometimes with as many as seven children in tow - are having to make unimaginably cruel choices: Which children have the best chance to survive when food and water run low? Who should be left behind?
There aren't even really words that come to mind which are appropriate to say when presented with a story like this. I grieve to know that this kind of thing is happening to hundreds of children and families every day as the terrible 3-year drought in the Horn of Africa continues on, and it's been weighing heavy on my heart.
As I sat trying to regain my composure after reading this, I had a brief sort of picture, or daydream, in my mind of someone standing on a small makeshift platform, preaching the Gospel to these people and urging them to call upon the Name of the Lord for rain. Many people got saved and began to earnestly pray, and God granted their request in that very hour. I am not sure if there's anything to this, or if it's wishful thinking on my part. But I want to ask anyone reading this to take some time out of your day or evening to join me in praying that this, or something like it, may happen soon.
I've been reading a great little book lately called "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23," which as title implies, is a collection of thoughts and exposition on the 23rd Psalm from that of a pastor who was also a shepherd (like, of actual sheep!).
I thought I'd share this little bit of insight into the second half of Psalm 23:1 that the Holy Spirit taught me in a very unique way after I read the chapter. It relates to giving, which is something I have been struggling to find joy in lately, until learning this. It was really amazing.
Psalm 23:1 "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."
First, let me summarize briefly the concept that the author of the book brought out regarding the phrase "I shall not want." He exposited upon the verse in such a manner that it was both clearly differentiated from the bad "poverty theology" principle while at the same time also firmly rooted in the good principle of sacrificial giving, which we're commanded as Christians to do, and which Jesus has demonstrated for us in the Gospel.
In some fringe sections of Christianity, there is a false idea called "poverty theology" which basically says that to live and exist in any manner other than a state of dire poverty (materially and financially) is bad and dishonors God. Therefore, if you happen to make a lot of money, you are supposed to give it all away and continue living in poverty to show yourself worthy of God. Some people even will martyr their desire for a spouse or child just to show that "they love God too much" to "waste time" on anything else, even a family! Just so we're clear, this is wrong.
Now, at the outset of every crazy idea I've ever heard within the large umbrella of "Christianity," there is usually some good truth at the core that's been fenced in with all kinds of legalisms and restrictions. What was once a beautiful command that revealed an aspect of the character of God had been turned into a nightmarish burden that brought only misery instead of happiness. Such is the case with this, too. The fact is that we ARE supposed to be sacrificial in how we give of the time, talents, and treasure that God alots to us (see Mark 12:41-44), because we're not owners - we're stewards. Giving "sacrificially" will always have an unmistakably noticeable impact on your life, forcing you to give up certain "wants" you have as you put them on the metaphorical altar. If your giving doesn't do that and force you to depend on God, it's not sacrificial.
But let's take a look at the other side now. James 1:17 tells us that "every good and perfect gift comes from the Father;" and Jesus confirms in Luke 11:11-13 that His Father loves to and knows how to give His children good gifts. Just as a dad delights to give his child a Christmas present and see his or her joy as they open it and enjoy it, so too God also delights in the same way when He gives us good gifts.
How are we to reconcile both of these concepts??? It seems a little hard at first, until we break it down. From the "shepherd's perspective" in the book I mentioned, he spoke of how he provided everything his sheep needed, because sheep are incapable of providing just about anything for themselves. Because a shepherd loves his sheep and deeply cares for them, he makes sure to provide for them completely, so that they lack nothing. At the same time, he also makes sure not to "spoil" them in such a way that they may begin to take their provisions from him for granted, and wander away. It would be dangerous for them to wander away, for they would be outside of his protection where they would most certainly be killed by wild animals. So in a shepherd's provision, he also makes sure that his sheep know that he is the provider, and that they depend on him for everything they need. If they depend on him, they'll stay near to him, and remain safe and cared for.
Now here is where the rubber meets the road: The idea being conveyed about the phrase "I shall not want" in Psalm 23:1 is one of being content with whatever the "Good Shepherd" (God) provides for us, and desiring nothing more. At the same time, it also conveys the idea about not being greedy with what He does provide for us, because we trust in his ability to always be able to meet our needs and care for us no matter what. Since God is the King of the universe and owns EVERYTHING in it, He has every resource that He wants at His disposal to meet our needs. Thus, to approach the topic of giving by asking questions like "How much should I give?" or "How much should I keep?" is to approach the whole topic in the wrong spirit entirely. As the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 95:6-7) we should instead approach the topic of giving with this thought process: "My Master owns everything. I shall not want, because He gives me everything I need. If He gives something to me that I notice someone else needs, I should just give it to them. If it turns out I needed whatever it was that I gave away, my Master will make sure I still have it."
In this way, we can show by our actions that we really do depend on God, not ourselves. Remember, He owns everything, and so He lacks no ability to provide for you in whatever way you need. But He won't spoil you either, lest you take His good gifts for granted and then wander away from His protection. He wants you to stay close to him and dependent upon Him, because He knows that you aren't safe if you don't. It's an act of His love.
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In a very vivid and tangible way, the principle of God's ownership of everything, and my task of being a steward of His resources, was illustrated to me just yesterday. I was coming home from a quick trip up in the Seattle area, and someone up there gave me a large sum of cash to take back home with me, along with instructions about what I was to do with it. Some was to be given to someone else, and some of it was for me to keep. So when I got back home, I immediately went to see the person to whom a portion of the money was for, pulled it out of my wallet, and happily gave it to him! I didn't hesitate to do this, because I knew that portion of the money was not for meant for me. I didn't even "want" that money, I wanted to obey the instructions of the guy who gave it to me. If I hadn't carried out my instructions with that cash, I'd be in very big trouble with him!
That's a perfect mini-illustration of this whole principle. We're all just stewards of God's property here on earth. Some of it, He gives with specific instructions that it's for us (e.g., "Here, I've specially picked out this person to be your spouse" or "Use this time I'm giving you to just rest up and relax a bit; you are tired and you need it"); while other times He tells us specifically to use His property on others (e.g., "Take this money and give it to the beggar at your street corner" or "Use this time I'm giving you to go help that new person at your church move into their new apartment. I know you'd rather lay down right now, but I'll give you the strength you need").
When we're fully trusting God to meet our needs, we become good stewards who can both enjoy and thank Him for all of His good gifts, and yet also be totally sacrificial in our giving and sharing at the same time. Because in the end, it comes down to an issue of simple obedience. Are you being obedient to what God is telling you to do with His resources? Everything belongs to Him anyways, so why should you worry or freak out? God knows what you need, and He'll always make sure to provide it. When we understand this, we can truthfully declare "The LORD is my Shepherd, and I shall not want."
This morning as I was reading Psalm 72, I saw that this is a Psalm all about Jesus. Thought to have possibly been penned by Solomon as he adapted it from a prayer by his father David, it struck me because the more you read it, the more you almost cannot help but realize that this is no mere earthly ruler being spoken of here. Furthermore as a Messianic Psalm (meaning it points us to the Messiah, Jesus), it looks through not only to Christ's first coming, but His second as well -- the day when all things sad become untrue, and all nations worship Him.
Psalm 72:1-19
O Elohim, give the king Your right-rulings, And Your righteousness to the Son of a king. Let Him rule Your people with righteousness, And your poor with right-ruling. Let the mountains bring peace to the people, And the hills, by righteousness. Let Him rightly rule the poor of the people, Save the children of the needy, And crush the oppressor.
Let them fear You with the sun, shining And before the moon, in all generations Let Him come down like rain upon the mown grass. Like showers, watering the earth. Let the righteous flourish in His days, With plenty of peace, Till the moon is no more.
And let Him rule from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. Let those dwelling in the desert bow before Him, And His enemies lick the dust. Let the kings of Tarshish and of the isles bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. Let all kings bow down before Him, All nations serve Him.
For He delivers the needy when he cries, And the poor, who has no helper. He spares the poor and the needy, And He saves the lives of the needy. He redeems their life from oppression and from violence; And their blood is precious in His eyes.
And He shall live, And the gold of Sheba be given to him, And prayer be made for Him continually; Let Him be blessed all day long. Let their be plenty of grain in the earth, On top of the mountains, Let its fruit wave like Lebanon, And those of the city flourish like grass of the earth. Let His Name be forever, His Name continue before the sun; And let them bless themselves in Him; Let all nations call Him blessed.
Blessed be יהוה Elohim, Elohim of Yisra'el, He alone is doing wonders! And blessed be His esteemed Name forever! And let all the earth Be filled with His esteem. Amen and Amen.
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Adapted from the TS98 translation - "sovereign" when used as a noun was changed to "king" to help with readability.
I've been reading up in an awesome little book lately called "Why Small Groups?" which was written by several pastors and teachers, and edited by C.J. Mahaney (a Christian author and pastor). The reason I've been reading it is because I presently help co-lead one of over 80 community groups (smaller gatherings of 6 - 15 people that meet throughout the week for more personal discipleship and growth) that are part of my church, and by God's grace we have grown big. Soon, I'll be branching out with a couple guys to plant a new group with a missional focus in an older, more run-down section of my city. This is a good thing, and we do it so that the growth and multiplication process of community groups in our city can continue. As I have been beginning the preparations for this with a core team of godly guys, and under the direction and leadership of my church, I started to really reflect on the question which was also presented at the outset of Mahaney's book, “If we don’t know God’s purpose for Community Groups, how can we achieve it?”
After some time spent in prayer and the Word looking for direction, I got a strong sense that we needed to make sure we were established in a clear, Gospel-centered vision moving forward. Now you might be asking such questions as, "Why should churches have community groups?" or "Aren't large gatherings on the weekend good enough?" Some people may offer excuses like, "Bible study groups are only for the 'Bible geeks' or the Christians who have lots of time on their hands. I wish I had the time, but with my family and my job, life is just too busy. We go to church on the weekend, and that seems good enough."
Or maybe you swing the other direction, and are more of the kind of person who thinks that small, individual community groups need to replace so-called "brick-and-mortar" churches altogether. You like the idea of community groups and smaller gatherings, but resist the idea of being under the leadership and authority of a local, Gospel-preaching church; and/or having a leadership structure within the community group as well.
I have come to firmly believe that either of the above approaches are not quite right, and that the solution is a bit more along the center-line. Inasmuch as it is possible (and I recognize that in other countries and cultures, especially those under heavy persecution, it may look different than this), I think community groups thrive the best when they are centered on the Gospel; under Biblically-qualified leadership (pastors / elders / overseers) of a larger local church body, who of course fully submit to Christ Jesus as the Chief Shepherd and Lead Pastor over everything. I know for a fact how thankful I am for the leadership of my church and the vision that they communicate down to us about why we have community groups as one of our primary strategies for discipling Christians, and getting the Gospel more and more into our city. My hope, and main point of this article, is to expound and pass on this vision in hopes that others can benefit from it too. If you're not involved in a community group at your church, but your church has them (or something similar), you should get involved with one. If your church doesn't do anything like this, maybe you can ask your pastor(s) about it.
So, back now to the main question of "Why community groups?" and "For what purposes do they exist?"
On the broader scale as Christians, and as part of the church, we recognize that we exist both individually as Christians and corporately as the church to worship and glorify God; and through that, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and make disciples. This is directly in line with what Jesus pointed out as being the greatest two commandments (Matthew 22:36-40); as well as the Great Commission He gave to us before He ascended into Heaven after resurrecting from the dead (Mark 16:15).
How does this play out in Community Groups? These first four main purposes below are drawn from the first chapter of Mahaney's book that I mentioned earlier (though the discussions under each come more from me thinking those things out a bit); the fifth and sixth main points are what I believe the natural outflow of these purposes will be; and additionally the sixth point is also the overarching purpose that ties it all together: Community Groups are one of the ongoing ways in which we can worship, glorify, and proclaim the greatness our God, through building up more true disciples of Christ. The Gospel (the Good News of what Jesus has done for you and I) is the power that drives and equips us through it all.
Need a quick refresher on the Gospel? Check out this great spoken word presentation of the core message of the Gospel by Odd Thomas:
Defining a Couple Concepts: Before we jump into these purposes, let's make sure that we get a few big words defined that are going to be essential to our understanding of the first purpose listed below. If we confuse them, we can get into some trouble really quickly. Our Salvation is often theologically broken down into three "phases" (drawing from verses like Romans 8:28-30) called "justification," "sanctification," and "glorification."
Our "justification" refers to us being declared legally “right” in God’s eyes, freed from our sin, and the debt we owed for it (Romans 6:23), because the payment for our sin was made by Jesus Christ's shed blood on the cross. For Christians, that is the moment we received Christ's righteousness in exchange for our sinfulness, and became saved. This is NOT due to anything we did (Ephesians 2:8-9) but ONLY from what God did for us! It is at that very point that our destiny to spend eternal life with Him is secured forever, and it cannot be lost.
Our "glorification" refers to the day in which we as Christians receive our unstained, unmarred, sinless, perfect resurrection bodies as a gift from Jesus, when He comes back to earth as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to set up His Kingdom forever; where we will spend eternity worshiping and rejoicing and serving in the very presence of God! I wish I could be talking to you in person about this right now, so you could share in my tears of joy and yearning as I look forward to this day, even while typing these words about it.
In between these two words is where the process of our "sanctification" is happening, and is a gradual process that goes on throughout our present lives as Christians where God makes us more Christlike and less sinner-like. Just like the other two words, it is every bit as rooted in the Gospel as they are. Some people merely think of sanctification as "just trying to do more good works" but that is so far off from the truth. It is by Christ we are justified, through Christ we are sanctified, and for Christ we are glorified. If we mix up our justification and our sanctification, we fall into legalism (trying to earn salvation through good works). If we mix up our sanctification and our coming glorification, we fall into license (thinking that because there is grace, it's okay to continue in sin because we've got those sinless bodies coming later). We need to recognize our sanctification as distinct from those other two words and view it through the lens of the Gospel so that we can properly understand how it plays out.
So, now that you've gotten a little theology lesson in for the day, let's take a look at what I've come to believe are six primary purposes of doing a community group:
Purpose Number 1: Our Sanctification Drawing from Scripture, Wayne Grudem (a Christian theologian) defines sanctification as “A progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.” This is accomplished through the work of God the Holy Spirit in us as Believers, empowering, leading, and compelling us to grow towards maturity in Christ (If you skipped reading the above section that differentiated between justification, sanctification, and glorification-- go back up and read it before continuing).
Though our own personal responsibility to this process is of great importance, it is also not something we can do if we isolate ourselves from a local church Body. In Mahaney's book, he points out how nearly all the commands about growing in personal holiness were plural in nature-- that is to say, they were given corporately and not individually to people in the church. In the specific context of a community group, where an especially close degree of Biblically-intimate relationships can be fostered well, how do we do pursue sanctification and encourage it in one another practically, and in a Gospel-centered way?
First, by being intimately familiar with the Gospel; and aware and repentant over our own sin and daily need of the Gospel’s saving power.
Being open and honest with each other about our struggles and our victories with sin.
Both of these things can be tough to do. Nonetheless, you may be accustomed to at least the idea (if not the practice) of being open about your struggles with sin, but have you ever considered being open about your victories over it too? You might be tricked into thinking that it's prideful to share about a way that the Holy Spirit helped you to experience a victory, but I don't think that is always the case-- if you point to God as the one who gave it to you. These are opportunities to praise God, and by sharing them with one another we can rejoice together and praise God corporately for the good things He works in us.
Lovingly, firmly confronting sin in other group members when we see it; and lovingly leading them back to the Gospel because the Gospel alone can break them from that sin(You yourself cannot make anyone stop sinning).
Not being tolerant of ongoing, unrepentant sin in each other (Romans 6:1-2).
Being humble enough to not only not get offended when someone points out sin in our own lives (even if their motives or method of doing it may not have been right), but welcome it from each other; and heartily desire and seek to change our behavior because we know it’s God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.
Encouraging and helping one another in the practice of spiritual disciplines (more about this towards the end of the article)
Praising God, rejoicing, and encouraging one another whenever good works happen (Matthew 5:16).
Considering how we may stir each other up towards more love and good works (Hebrews 10:24)
Why go about pursuing and helping each other pursue sanctification? Because the Gospel frees us to be able to do it, and it is God's will and plan for us that we grow in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 4:11-16 and Romans 8:29). Why do we do it in a group setting? In Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Solomon says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.”
Proverbs 14:14 says (in a more direct Hebrew translation) "A backslider in heart is satisfied with his own ways, but a good man is satisfied from his." The wording difference between the two verses is slight, but I've always looked at it as pointing out how we ought to be able to look back over the recent months and years of our lives (at any point in time) and see that since then, by the grace and work of God in us, we have been growing in personal holiness. If we don't see that growth, and instead find ourselves complacent with where we're at (i.e., no indications of, will for, or desire towards forward motion in Christ), we just might be backsliding in our hearts.
Purpose Number 2: Mutual Care In John 13:34, Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another.”
What was "new" about this commandment? I ask because we can go to the Old Testament and quickly find lots of commandments about loving one another (such as Leviticus 19:18). But just like with the issues of murder and adultery in Matthew 5:21-30, I think Jesus is raising the bar here on how we're to love by redefining His disciples' idea of what love is. He said "Just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another." How much did Jesus love his disciples? Self-sacrificially with complete humility. He loves us in that same way too. He proved this on the cross; and He calls us to show that same kind of self-sacrificial, humble love to others-- even the ones who we think don't deserve it. Romans 5:8 says that "God shows His own love for us in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Here are some additional verses to consider too:
Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” The verses here then go on to talk of Christ’s ultimate example of humility: He let go (for a time) of His rights to be worshiped in glory as the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient Creator of the universe; so that He could come dwell in mortal flesh, submit to corrupt human authorities and rulers, be mocked, wrongfully accused, bruised, scorned, spit on, whipped, beaten beyond recognition, murdered on a cross, and then resurrected three days later... so that we could be spared from the wrath of the Father, if we only believe in Him.
Jesus sets the example, and leads by it; so that because of what He did for us, we are able to and compelled to show the same kind of selfless love towards one another.
Purpose Number 3: Fellowship First off, fellowship is not merely a synonym for socializing. It's a word that means “to participate together in, and communicate about, that which is held in common with each other.” As fellow Believers, the chief thing that we hold in common is our relationship with God the Father, through God the Son, by God the Holy Spirit; and that comes by way of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Practically, this means that in all our interactions, we seek how to always preach the Gospel to one another (because we never outgrow our need for it); and encourage one another in the Gospel as well. It means that we seek to turn our interactions into those that build each other up in their love and passion for the things of God. It means we seek to share evidences of God's grace in our lives with each other at every opportunity we get! This can happen easily in our weekly meetings during the teaching and Bible discussions, but it should also be happening whenever community group members are interacting with each other and other Believers throughout the week too.
Consider how we might apply the words of Ephesians 4:29 to how we interact and speak with each other: “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
Purpose Number 4: The Ministry of the Holy Spirit (Exercising Spiritual Gifts) The Bible says that spiritual gifts are given for the building up of the Body (Ephesians 4:12). The Bible also says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-26). That means that when the Spirit is active, His fruit will be visible. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we can simply muster up these things inside of ourselves and overlook the Spirit-- but we can't, and must take care not to let this happen. Community groups are a place where we can both learn about, and have constant opportunities to practice our God-given spiritual gifts-- and encourage each other in the same. While I simply don't have the space to go into a full-length discussion on spiritual gifts in this particular article (otherwise it would become a short book-- and though one day I hope to write some books, that day is not today), this is one very helpful resource you can look at if you want to know more about them (the articles are in reverse order on that website, so start on page 2).
These are three practical steps we can take, both and outside of community groups, which help promote health in this area:
We must develop the habit of communing with the Holy Spirit (see here for a little more on this topic specifically, and check out the free eBook linked at the bottom of that article for a more comprehensive resource for learning about the Holy Spirit)
We must avoid grieving the Holy Spirit (sinning)
We must avoid quenching the Holy Spirit (neglecting the Spirit's leading when we feel it)
Again, I have to emphasize that the sole motivation and ability to do these things comes from the Gospel. We are simply too broken and too weak and too feeble as human beings to pursue these things under our own strength! When we do, we either burn out, or begin to mix the concepts of justification and sanctification-- which was discussed earlier (and often, burnout and legalism come hand-in-hand). We need to keep Jesus at the center constantly, and get our strength from what He did for us.
Purpose Number 5: Missional Activity (Loving others, specifically in the context of non-believers) One of the greatest demonstrations of love we could show to a non-Christian is to share the Gospel with them. A true disciple of Christ grows, shares the Gospel, and makes more disciples; who in turn will grow, share the Gospel, and make more disciples; and the process continues to self-replicate.
Practically, this happens when those people within the community group are working, both individually and together, to foster intentional relationships with non-Christians in their lives and communities so that they can bring the Gospel to ears that have not heard it. Focus on that for a moment: "...bringing the Gospel to ears that have not heard it." We need to remember that it's not our job to convict or convince the people that the Gospel is true-- that's the Holy Spirit's job! But Jesus did command us to proclaim the Gospel truth-- that is to say, we are to tell of it and share it with people! And that means using not only actions, but words too (see here for more on that topic)! As people get saved and grow in the Gospel as true disciples, the process then starts over again.
In Matthew 28:20, Jesus commanded, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The last part of that verse is so key: we have to remember that we are not alone when we do this! Jesus promised He would be with us; and additionally He has also given us the Holy Spirit as our Helper. He knows how big of a task that is, and being such the good Lead Pastor that He is, makes sure that we're well-equipped for our task!
Purpose Number 6: Worship Activity (Loving God) Brethren, this is what ties everything together for why we have community groups! Our God alone is worthy to be praised and worshiped with our every moment of life that He has given to us! In a recent conference hosted by my church, which I had the privilege and great pleasure of attending, Jeff Vanderstelt (Acts 29 Vice President) remarked that “Worship, at it’s core, is an acknowledgement of our utter and total dependence on God.” That is so true. In addition, I would add that it’s also an acknowledgement, and corresponding action we do, that shows that we regard His will, desires, and purposes to take precedence and priority over our own. It is a lifestyle demonstration of submission to God that comes out of the inward change in us produced by the Gospel.
As we keep one another accountable and grow in our sanctification, we become more Christlike and bring more worship and glory to God.
As we care for one another, we demonstrate the Gospel and bring more worship and glory to God.
As we fellowship with one another, we help each othergrow in the Gospel and bring more worship and glory to God.
As we exercise spiritual gifts, we build up the Body of Christ and bring more worship and glory to God.
As we get out on mission in our families, jobs, cities, and the world; we make more disciples so that more people in more places in more tongues can bring more worship and glory to God!!!
Practically speaking, I believe that in addition to everything described in this article, healthy worship activity will also be apparent in the lives of everyone in the community group by the presence of spiritual disciplines being practiced-- not out of religious duty, but out of Gospel-motivated, joyous desire. It includes, but is certainly not limited to the regular practice of such things as:
Confession of sins
Obedience to God's Word
Private and corporate prayer
Bible reading, study, meditation, and memorization
Sacrificial giving (of money, time, and talents)
Serving (in the church, the city, and the world)
Fellowship with other Believers (Large worship gatherings, small gatherings, and more...)
So there you have it. I'm sure that as time moves forward, this vision will evolve more, and might even undergo some change, as God continues to direct and lead and guide. But I hope that, by His grace and for His glory, I've done at least a decent job of hashing out a plan that will help foster health in my own community group, and in many others too. If you want to go even deeper into this idea of community groups, I really encourage you to get yourself a copy of the book that spawned this article ("Why Small Groups? Together Towards Maturity"). The authors of that book go into much more detail than I do here, and I guarantee that the time you take to read and study it will be well-spent.
To wrap up this article, I just want to put forth the reminder that we don't pursue to do these things to earn some kind of merit or special favor with God. We do it simply in response to what He's already done for us through Jesus Christ: that is that He secured our salvation for us, because we could not do it on our own. Our hope is that our King is returning soon, and on that day there will finally be no more sin, no more tears, no more pain, no more struggles, and no more death; and we will get to see our Savior and our King face to face! My desire between now and when that day comes is to see more and more people get saved and discipled so that more and more people can also experience the awesome joy that will come in that day! Biblical community groups are just one of the effective tools that God can and does use to bring this about!
I now leave you with this most excellent rendition of a great worship song, that beautifully articulates where our hope is found, which is the reason we do what we do.
Idols are sneaky things. They enter in to our minds often undetected, set up shop in a corner of our hearts, and begin to grow. We hardly ever notice them there, because they seem so harmless and often temporarily bring us a lot of joy and happiness. They become part of us, and it seems so natural. But the joy and happiness they bring is not eternal; it is fleeting. It will not ultimately satisfy us, nor will it do us any good from an eternal perspective. Worst of all, they lead us away from trusting in Christ alone and seeking first the Kingdom of God.
As a practical example, let me briefly share a story from my own life:
One of my own idols used to be the comfort and security of having a decent amount of “rainy day” money set aside. Every month I’d watch it grow a bit more, and I’d become more comfortable the larger it got. I was putting my trust in it for security on this earth, not in my God who’s money it actually was.
But then, an extremely large chunk of that money was stolen from me. I won’t go into details, but when the loss of it rocked me, I realized how futile it was of me to have been putting my trust in a measly cash reserve in the first place, instead of God. I had to repent and turn back to trusting only Him.
The issue wasn't that I was setting aside so-called "rainy day" money. In fact, most Christian (and non) financial advisors will tell you that it's a wise thing to do. The issue was that I was putting my trust in, and finding comfort from, that money. But you see, material things are passing away. That’s why Jesus taught us to build up for ourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, nor where thieves can break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20). Our idols — whatever they may be — prevent us from building up treasures in Heaven by pulling our main focus downward towards the things below. Sometimes we think we can serve God in addition to also fulfilling our idolatrous desires, but not according to Jesus. He taught us that we cannot serve two masters. That is to say, we cannot serve both God and [insert idol here] (Matthew 6:24). We must make a choice as to which master we will serve; it cannot be had both ways!
My brothers and sisters, if we tarry in putting our idols to death now, but still try and claim to be trusting only in God; God in His holy discipline and loving mercy might decide to step in and forcefully remove them from us (why? see Isaiah 42:8). If He does, make no mistake, this will hurt! (see Hebrews 12:5-11) But we ought to never purposefully wait for things to get to that point first. That's like when a child purposefully does something that they know goes against their parent's instructions, even after being warned repeatedly not to. In what ways has God possibly been warning you? Willful disobedience generally incurs swift discipline from a loving parent. That is why we need to take seriously the Good News of Jesus, and think through the implications of it in our lives. If you have been saved by Jesus, then you have already been given something far greater to put your trust and your hope in than anything this world can offer you. Anything. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Do you get that?
What follows at the bottom of this article are eleven very helpful questions to ask yourself if you want help in determining what your own personal idols are. As you begin to identify them, repent from your idolatry and turn back towards Jesus! He is so much better than they are. Seriously - can the greatest of your idols do anything about the eternal state of your soul? Can they do anything to even pay the penalty for one of the thousands of sins you have committed? Are any of them indestructible or un-losable? No. Jesus alone has that kind of power! He will forgive you for misplacing your trust (1st John 1:9). Nothing and no one else can do that!
After you have repented from your trust in your idols, I would strongly urge you to share these answers with a few others from your church, perhaps a leader, whom you can seek prayer from for healing (James 5:16). Then, actively take practical steps in re-prioritizing God (who He is), the Gospel (what Jesus did for you that you could not do for yourself), and Mission (what Jesus told us to do, see Matthew 28:19-20) to be at the center of your heart’s desires. This may mean making some tough sacrifices, and they will likely be uncomfortable at first. But if your heart is set towards the Lord and His Kingdom, He will reward your obedience. See Matthew 5:2-12.
For Determining Personal Idols, Some Questions to Ask Yourself:
(taken from David Powlison's Seeing With New Eyes)
What do I worry about most?
What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to feel that I did not even want to live?
What do I use to comfort myself when things go bad or get difficult?
What do I do to cope? What are my release valves? What do I do to feel better?
What preoccupies me? What do I daydream about?
What makes me feel the most self-worth? Of what am I the proudest? For what do I want to be known?
What do I lead with in conversations?
Early on what do I want to make sure that people know about me?
What prayer, unanswered, would make me seriously think about turning away from God?
What do I really want and expect out of life? What would really make me happy?
