Outside In
by Jim Poole
Excerpted from Willow Creek Magazine, Summer 2008
“Hey, I knew we were running late, but I didn’t think we were that late.”
Kristi and I were running up the steps because we were, y’know, late, and coming down the stairs was a guy to whom Kristi was directing her remark.
“Hey, Dude!” Kristi can be outspoken on occasion, “Is it over? Is it breaking up already?”
“Oh, uh, no.” The guy seemed startled that a stranger would be talking to him. He looked up and added, “It’s just getting started I think.”
“Well, then, you’re going the wrong way!” Kristi persisted.
“Oh, uh, well I don’t think I’m supposed to be there — you’re asking about the church group, right” He was second-guessing what was happening at the moment. He wore his coat zipped all the way up to his chin, though it was unseasonably warm, and his baseball cap was pulled down low.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s a community group kickoff,” Kristi confirmed. “And whaddaya mean you’re not supposed to be there?”
“Well, everybody else’s bringing in a dish to pass and I don’t have … ”
“Oh, rubbish, the potluck thing is just optional, just for the regulars. C’mon, let’s go in … ”
“Seems like everyone is a regular in there,” he managed a chuckle, “I just heard about this deal this afternoon … ”
“Well, it’s not like there were any formal invitations or anything,” I tried to joke.
He then held up a postcard with a graphic that depicted a formal type invitation. “They handed this to me at the door … just to me. I think everyone else knows each other … ”
Kristi interjected, “Well, what’s your name?”
“Will.”
“Hey, I’ve got a little nephew named Will,” I offered as a way to connect. “You kinda remind me of him: he didn’t want to go to his Sunday School classroom because he didn’t know any of the other kids there and …”
They both just looked at me with blank stares. Then Kristi slugged me in the arm.
“Don’t pay any attention to him. I’m Kristi and he’s a blockhead. So now you know us, let’s go in, whaddaya say?”
Kristi won Will over and introduced him to other people in the community group. He discovered several others who were there for the first time and who didn’t know anyone else either. Some even joked about being intimidated about entering the room where it looked like everyone already knew everyone else and were having a great time as old friends, when in fact it turns out half the people there were newcomers.
When you’re on the outside looking in, things can often appear to be closed and exclusive and unfamiliar and intimidating. It’s not until you’re brought inside that the scales fall away from your eyes and you see things with more clarity. Like how everyone wants to have community, a place where everyone knows your name ... and how it seems like that kind of community is ever so elusive ... and how it just takes someone to kindly usher us in from the outside.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Life Together:A Shared Life
By: Rick Warren
How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God’s people to live together in harmony! Psalms 133:1 (TEV)
*** *** *** ***
God intends for us to experience life together. The Bible calls this shared experience fellowship.
Today, however, the word has lost most of its biblical meaning. Fellowship now usually refers to casual conversation, socializing, food, and fun.
The question, “Where do you fellowship?” means “Where do you attend church?” “Stay after for fellowship” usually means “Wait for refreshments.”
Real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at services. It is experiencing life together. It includes unselfish loving, honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting, and all the other “one another” commands found in the New Testament.
When it comes to fellowship, size matters: smaller is better. You can worship with a crowd, but you can’t fellowship with one.
Once a group becomes larger than about ten people, someone stops participating—usually the quietest person—and a few people will dominate the group.
Jesus ministered in the context of a small group of disciples. He could have chosen more, but he knew twelve is about the maximum size you can have in a small group if everyone is to participate. The body of Christ, like your own body, is really a collection of many small cells. The life of the body of Christ, like your body, is contained in the cells.
For this reason, every Christian needs to be involved in a small group within their church, whether is it a home fellowship group, a Sunday school class, or a Bible study. This is where real community takes place, not in the big gatherings.
If you think of your church as a ship, the small groups are the lifeboats attached to it. God has made an incredible promise about small groups of believers: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20 NASB).
How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God’s people to live together in harmony! Psalms 133:1 (TEV)
*** *** *** ***
God intends for us to experience life together. The Bible calls this shared experience fellowship.
Today, however, the word has lost most of its biblical meaning. Fellowship now usually refers to casual conversation, socializing, food, and fun.
The question, “Where do you fellowship?” means “Where do you attend church?” “Stay after for fellowship” usually means “Wait for refreshments.”
Real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at services. It is experiencing life together. It includes unselfish loving, honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting, and all the other “one another” commands found in the New Testament.
When it comes to fellowship, size matters: smaller is better. You can worship with a crowd, but you can’t fellowship with one.
Once a group becomes larger than about ten people, someone stops participating—usually the quietest person—and a few people will dominate the group.
Jesus ministered in the context of a small group of disciples. He could have chosen more, but he knew twelve is about the maximum size you can have in a small group if everyone is to participate. The body of Christ, like your own body, is really a collection of many small cells. The life of the body of Christ, like your body, is contained in the cells.
For this reason, every Christian needs to be involved in a small group within their church, whether is it a home fellowship group, a Sunday school class, or a Bible study. This is where real community takes place, not in the big gatherings.
If you think of your church as a ship, the small groups are the lifeboats attached to it. God has made an incredible promise about small groups of believers: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20 NASB).
Thursday, August 14, 2008
2008/08/12
We Need Models and Mentors
by Rick Warren
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. Philippians 3:17 (NIV)
*** *** *** ***
For us to mature, we need models and mentors.
Many people make the mistake of thinking all they need to grow spiritually is God’s Word and prayer. But the truth is, we need people to help us grow.
Christlike character is built through relationships, not in isolation. There are many things God wants you to learn about life that you’ll never learn on your own. You’ll only learn them in community.
We always grow faster and stronger with living, breathing examples who can model for us what a purpose driven life looks like. We need more than explanations, we need examples.
Paul realized the power of a pattern when he advised, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you” (Philippians 3:17 NIV). To grow, we need to see principles in practice. We need to see what beliefs looks like when they are translated as behavior in everyday situations.
When Paul would travel to a city to start a church, he would begin by simply living among the people. He was a “living Bible,” echoing the life of Jesus, where “the word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14 NKJV).
After Paul left a city, he would write back, “Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9 NLT).
Who are your models for following Christ? Who are you watching and learning from?
Here’s a tougher question: Are you an example for anyone else? In elementary school, you probably enjoyed “Show and Tell.” As believers, we’re often better at “telling” than “showing.”
In today’s culture, the world desperately needs people who can show us how to love our spouse and make a marriage last, how to relate to our kids, how to do business with integrity, how to handle conflict in the way Jesus would. These are lessons we learn by watching others.
Not only do we need models to grow, we need mentors. Mentors are people who’ve followed Christ longer than we have and are able to share their life lessons. You’ve heard that it’s wise to learn from experience, but it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others. Life is too short to learn everything by experience! And some painful experiences can be avoided if you’re smart enough to learn from mentors in your church family.
Ask yourself this: “What’s been the greatest positive influence on my life?” Most likely it was not a sermon, seminar, or small group lesson. It was somebody who shaped your life through a personal relationship.
Can you see God’s wisdom in creating the church, a family full of mentors and models for our benefit?
That’s why being connected to a small group is so crucial to spiritual growth. It’s a regular opportunity to learn from each other.
Today, spend a few moments getting intentional about this. Write down the names of people in your church and small group that you’d like to learn from. Then identify what you’d specifically like to learn from them. Remember, they don’t have to be perfect to be a model or mentor.
To grow spiritually, you must also be willing to be a model or mentor to others. That may scare you but all it takes is being one step ahead.
People don’t expect you to be perfect – they already know you aren’t. What they want you to be is honest! So let them see your struggles, not just your successes. We usually grow as much from others’ weaknesses as we do from their strengths.
© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.
We Need Models and Mentors
by Rick Warren
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. Philippians 3:17 (NIV)
*** *** *** ***
For us to mature, we need models and mentors.
Many people make the mistake of thinking all they need to grow spiritually is God’s Word and prayer. But the truth is, we need people to help us grow.
Christlike character is built through relationships, not in isolation. There are many things God wants you to learn about life that you’ll never learn on your own. You’ll only learn them in community.
We always grow faster and stronger with living, breathing examples who can model for us what a purpose driven life looks like. We need more than explanations, we need examples.
Paul realized the power of a pattern when he advised, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you” (Philippians 3:17 NIV). To grow, we need to see principles in practice. We need to see what beliefs looks like when they are translated as behavior in everyday situations.
When Paul would travel to a city to start a church, he would begin by simply living among the people. He was a “living Bible,” echoing the life of Jesus, where “the word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14 NKJV).
After Paul left a city, he would write back, “Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9 NLT).
Who are your models for following Christ? Who are you watching and learning from?
Here’s a tougher question: Are you an example for anyone else? In elementary school, you probably enjoyed “Show and Tell.” As believers, we’re often better at “telling” than “showing.”
In today’s culture, the world desperately needs people who can show us how to love our spouse and make a marriage last, how to relate to our kids, how to do business with integrity, how to handle conflict in the way Jesus would. These are lessons we learn by watching others.
Not only do we need models to grow, we need mentors. Mentors are people who’ve followed Christ longer than we have and are able to share their life lessons. You’ve heard that it’s wise to learn from experience, but it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others. Life is too short to learn everything by experience! And some painful experiences can be avoided if you’re smart enough to learn from mentors in your church family.
Ask yourself this: “What’s been the greatest positive influence on my life?” Most likely it was not a sermon, seminar, or small group lesson. It was somebody who shaped your life through a personal relationship.
Can you see God’s wisdom in creating the church, a family full of mentors and models for our benefit?
That’s why being connected to a small group is so crucial to spiritual growth. It’s a regular opportunity to learn from each other.
Today, spend a few moments getting intentional about this. Write down the names of people in your church and small group that you’d like to learn from. Then identify what you’d specifically like to learn from them. Remember, they don’t have to be perfect to be a model or mentor.
To grow spiritually, you must also be willing to be a model or mentor to others. That may scare you but all it takes is being one step ahead.
People don’t expect you to be perfect – they already know you aren’t. What they want you to be is honest! So let them see your struggles, not just your successes. We usually grow as much from others’ weaknesses as we do from their strengths.
© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.
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