Is Your Group Too Safe

Is your group too safe? Before you answer that question, let me explain a bit. I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about the need for small groups to be “safe places.” When we talk about safe groups, we are really speaking of a place where trust is highly valued and doggedly pursued. A place where a person can be who they really are without having to worry that everyone will bail because of it. That’s a good kind of safe. But a group that doesn’t take risks? That’s too safe.

What about a group that week after week sits in a circle answering questions from a study guide but never sees the truth of God’s Word violently collide with the life they live ? That, my friend, is too safe. A group that doesn’t make time to live the curriculum they study? Too safe. A group that chooses to ignore relational conflict rather than engage in the centuries old practice of biblical restoration? Too safe. A group that has found what they were looking for, so they close the doors of community? Too safe. A group that would rather talk about the love of Jesus than live the love of Jesus? Too safe. A group where everybody is fine and no one shares their deepest struggles? Again, too safe.

In his book, “Your God Is Too Safe” Mark Buchanan writes, “The safe god asks nothing of us, gives nothing to us. He never drives us to our knees in hungry, desperate praying and never sets us on our feet in fierce fixed determination. He never makes us bold to dance. The safe god never whispers in our ears anything but greeting card slogans and certainly never asks that we embarrass ourselves by shouting from the rooftops. A safe god inspires neither awe, nor worship, nor sacrifice. A safe god woos us to borderland and keeps us stuck there. He helps us escape reality.”

God is not safe, and He hasn’t called us to live safe lives of comfort and protection—just ask the disciples. Take a risk. Be vulnerable. Reach out. Make the kingdom of God tangible to the world around you. Speak the truth. Allow the Word of God to penetrate more than your ears. Let it run wild in your life. Tell your group that you want this to be more than a two hour a week activity. Communicate the desire you have that your group won’t stop at changing your lives, but that through it, God might change the world. Do you believe He can? I do. I want my group to be a place that takes risks and launches out of the land of comfort into a place where we are absolutely dependent on God to do big things that only He can do and where we lock arms with each other, and don’t let go. How about you?

Just Thinking

Wow, it’s hard to believe that this is the first Tuesday of 2010, isn’t it? I thought we were supposed to have flying cars by now, or be living on the moon. Oh well, a guy can dream. I like the start of a new year because it provides the perfect opportunity to reflect and celebrate what God has done in the past while looking ahead toward what He might do in the future.

For me, I am looking back and celebrating things like:

*The launch of LifeSupport groups and the LifeSupport blog. Currently 50% of our groups are connected in LifeSupport and we have more than 70 subscribers to the blog.
*The establishment of our Small Group Ministry Team which meets each month. Currently seven people make up that growing team.
*The 700+ adults connected to Community Groups with many more attending men’s and women’s group here at LPC.
*Your commitment to be used by God to make a significant contribution to His kingdom.
*The stories I hear on a regular basis from Community Group members about how their group has impacted their lives, how they had the opportunity to impact the lives of others, and so on.
*The fact that everything I am celebrating is possible because of God’s grace and your investment.
*And so much more…

Take a few minutes today or this week to reflect on what God has done in 2009. Where can you trace His hand in your life, your family’s life, your Community Group? What things did He do that if you weren’t careful to observe they would slip by unnoticed? What were the wins for you in 09, how about the disappointments? Have you spoken to God about them?

Now take some time to think and pray about this coming year. Where might God be leading you, your family, your group? What areas of spiritual formation and direction do you think God may be calling you toward? Is there a particular couple in your group that would blossom if you intentionally invested your leadership in them? Is God tugging at your heart in the direction of a particular need in the church, community, or the world? What would you do to advance the kingdom of God if there was nothing to stop you from doing it?

One of the coolest things for me to think about is the fact that after all God has done in the past, all of it, we are all still here so He wants to do even more in and through us in the future. 2010 is here. Are you ready?