Growth Groups

Some time ago, I published a post called Sunday School: The Original Small Group Experience. In that post, I stated that "Small Groups fail to promote genuine fellowship and spiritual growth". I've been in several small group settings in which the fellowship was forced, the leadership was inadequate, and the content was shallow. Therefore, my view of small groups is very tainted.

I recently finished How to Break Growth Barriers, and it challenged my experience and my assumptions about small groups. In that book, the authors (Carl George and Warren Bird) advocate the use of small groups as an essential system for a church so that it can scale its operation to any size.

My perspective on small groups expanded as they included Sunday School in their definition of small groups. 

In Southern Baptist circles, with the encouragement of Lifeway Resources, churches have renamed many of their Sunday school classes as on-campus Sunday morning small groups, and with weekly circles and "cottage prayer meetings renamed as home-based small groups. The shift from instructional formatted meetings toward more relational settings quieted the contention between Sunday school and small group advocates with widespread benefits. In such settings, believers are directed to participate in weekly "big church" worship, intimate small-groups, and a third point of participation in some serving role.

At Hunter Road Bible Church, the church where I serve as Pastor, this 3-pronged approach is where we are headed. Our mission is "to make disciples who worship God, grow in their faith, and serve others". The church's leadership feels compelled to provide avenues for each of these elements. In the area of worship, our members can participate in worship through attending our weekly Worship Gathering. We have opportunities to serve in the church and in the community, including Wheeler Mission and Lowell Elementary School.

When it comes to helping our people grow in the faith, we've considered many options. (And there are innumerable options for curriculums out there!) We've chosen to keep it simple and encourage our members to can grow in their faith by engaging in Growth Groups. This includes meeting one-one-one with another believer for the purpose of growing. It includes "Sunday School", and roughly half of those who attend the weekly Worship Gathering attend Sunday School.

In August, we will offer a new avenue for growth. "Foundations" will meet for 12 weeks in the Fall and 12 weeks in the Spring for 2 years. The material covers spiritual disciplines, hermeneutics, Bible survey, and basic Christian theology. At the end of the 2 years, each member will be asked to start or join another Growth Group.

Despite my previous insistence that small groups are ineffective, I now view small groups as a legitimate avenue for growth. I no longer need to pit small group vs. Sunday School. I need only to ensure that qualified leaders are equipped to lead these groups. According to Ephesians 4:12, that is my job after all: "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ". I believe that my recent change in perspective will allow me to equip the saints better for the work ministry. For that, I am grateful to authors like George, Bird, Geiger, and others.

Beware of The Shack

I have not read The Shack. I have not seen the movie The Shack. Since the book's release in 2008, I heard from too many other brothers and sisters in Christ that it promoted a view of God that was unhealthy at best and heretical at worst. Personally, I just didn't think I could stomach reading it. And I definitely couldn't stomach watching it.

This is not, then, a book review or a movie review on The Shack. From what I understand, it's a great story of forgiveness. It is helpful to hear about forgiveness, and it may be edifying to see forgiveness in action.

Forgiveness, though, only comes through the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross. According to Hebrews 9:22, "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." True forgiveness is not possible without the intentional work of God the Father sending His Son to die for us. What is deeply troubling to me about The Shack is the words of its author William Paul Young in his book Lies We Believe About God:

Who originated the Cross? . . . If God did, then we worship a cosmic abuser, who in Divine Wisdom created a means to torture human beings in the most painful and abhorrent manner. Frankly, it is often this very cruel and monstrous god that the atheist refuses to acknowledge or grant credibility in any sense. And rightly so. Better no god at all, than this one.

I'm not sure how to square his claim that God the Father did NOT send Jesus to die for us. As generous as I'd like to be, I can't do anything with his teaching except to say that it is a false Gospel that he promotes. In fact, it is anti-Gospel. As you watch The Shack, as with all movies (even so-called "Christian" or "inspirational" movies), please use discernment. As Charles Spurgeon wisely said, "Discernment is not knowing knowing right from wrong. It is knowing right from almost right." 

Don't let the ("almost right") forgiveness offered in The Shack keep you from seeing the ("the right") beautiful, costly forgiveness that God the Father offers through the violent, bloody Cross of His Son Jesus Christ.

Too Much Bible Study?

I believe there is such a thing as too much Bible study. There--I said it, but before you question my commitment to God's Word, please hear me out.

I've spent 8 out of the last 17 years in a "Bible Church". Just like the name indicates, Bible Churches focus on... um... well, the Bible. (There are some Bible Churches here in Indianapolis that don't exactly fit the mold, but that's another post.) It's common to find sermons, Sunday School classes, Sunday evening services, Wednesday evening services, Bible quizzing, and men's and women's Bible studies that are focused on going through a book of the Bible. Add your personal Bible reading and you're inundated with Scripture. That's a good thing, right?

Well, it can be a bad thing. James writes that we are to "be doers of the Word and not just hearers only" (James 1:22). We are to be sponges of the Word. But think about a sponge. It soaks up water, but then you use it to clean surfaces. The sponge fulfills its design only when the water comes out.

That's a good picture of the function of the Bible. Yes, we are to soak it in. But I feel we are in danger if we do not let it out into our lives and the lives of others. I'm not necessarily arguing for less time in God's Word (though the elimination of programs and ministries can be healthy for a church). What I am fighting for is 3 simple words that are often neglected. Jesus taught:

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24). 

It is not just hearing God's Word that matters. That is only the first step towards the life that God desires for us. We must obey everything that Christ taught (Matthew 28:20). The only healthy Bible intake is the reading or study that leads to obedience. Anything less is building our house on the sand.